‘How to Train Your Dragon’ holds top spot in N America box office

WASHINGTON: “How to Train Your Dragon,” a live-action reboot of the popular 2010 animated film, set the North American box office ablaze again in its second week, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The family-friendly film from Universal and DreamWorks Animation tells the story of a Viking named Hiccup (Mason Thames) who strikes up a friendship with Toothless the dragon.

Its $37 million haul was enough to beat out Columbia Pictures’ zombie sequel “28 Years Later,” which took in $30 million despite coming nearly two decades after the last release in the trilogy, “28 Weeks Later.”

“This is an excellent opening for the third episode in a horror series,” said David A Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

“The weekend figure is above average for the genre, and pending final numbers it’s approximately three times the opening of the last episode.”

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Critics’ reviews and audience ratings have been strong for the Danny Boyle-directed threequel, which picks up — as the title suggests — more than a generation after the initial outbreak of the Rage Virus.

“The long layoff has had no negative impact; in fact, it’s given the sequel time to add a new younger age group to the audience,” Gross added.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend was the poor performance of Pixar Animation’s “Elio,” which limped into third place with $21 million in ticket sales, on a $150 million budget.

Gross said that while the tally would be respectable for most animation studios, it was the lowliest theatrical debut in Pixar’s history — despite excellent reviews.

Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch,” another live-action remake, added $9.7 million in its fifth week, extending a triumphant run for the film about a Hawaiian girl (Maia Kealoha) and her blue alien friend (Chris Sanders).

The fourth-placed entry has now grossed a whopping $910 million worldwide, according to Exhibitor Relations.

In fifth place — and also in its fifth week — is “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” the latest, and supposedly final, entry in the hugely successful Tom Cruise spy thriller franchise.

The Paramount film took $6.6 million in North America, pushing it to $540 million worldwide.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

“Materialists” ($5.8 million)

“Ballerina” ($4.5 million)

“Karate Kid: Legends” ($2.4 million)

“Final Destination: Bloodlines” ($1.9 million)

“Kuberaa” ($1.8 million)