After three weeks at the top of the box office charts, Lilo & Stitch‘s reign has come to an end, as it’s been topped by another live-action remake of an animated classic. Universal’s How to Train Your Dragon is set to win the weekend. Per Deadline, it’s projected to earn around $82.7 million domestically over its first three days. That is easily the strongest debut for any film in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, besting the $55 million posted by How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World in 2019. The live-action remake is also expected to earn over $200 million worldwide this weekend.
Lilo & Stitch is set to come in second place with an estimated $14.6 million. In third place should be new arrival Materialists; director Celine Song’s romcom is on pace to gross $12 million in its debut. A pair of action films rounds out the top five, with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning coming in fourth ($9.3 million) and From the World of John Wick: Ballerina in fifth ($8.7 million).
The How to Train Your Dragon remake was always expected to be a sizable box office draw. Heading into its premiere, initial projections had it pegged for a debut of $75+ million domestically, so the film exceeded those early expectations. Universal is already moving ahead with a live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon 2, which is currently scheduled to hit theaters in 2027.
In addition to being a new take on a beloved property, How to Train Your Dragon was also bolstered by solid word of mouth. Though the remake’s Rotten Tomatoes score is a new low for the franchise, its 77% mark is still good enough to be Certified Fresh. Reviews also consider it to be an example of live-action remakes done right — even if it doesn’t always capture the magic of the original.
With Lilo & Stitch en route to possibly pass the $1 billion mark, it was worth wondering if there would be high enough demand for another family-friendly live-action remake so soon after Disney’s blockbuster made a splash. It’s encouraging to see that How to Train Your Dragon not only set a new franchise mark at the box office, it surpassed the original projections. That bodes well for its long-term success. Next weekend sees the release of Pixar’s Elio, which is also targeting families, so it was important for How to Train Your Dragon to get off to a strong start. Its production budget is just $150 million, so it should be well on its way to turn a profit. Even if Elio surpasses it for the top spot next week, How to Train Your Dragon is in excellent shape, especially considering the international grosses.
Universal was clearly confident in the viability of a live-action How to Train Your Dragon series, and that has paid off handsomely. Not only can the studio now move forward in earnest with the direct sequel, director Dean DeBlois told us there’s the possibility for live-action spinoffs that further explore the property’s rich mythology. As Universal looks to make How to Train Your Dragon one of its premiere franchises, anything is on the table, and it’ll be exciting to see where the filmmakers go from here.
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