Sweeping in to breathe fire over (and steal 3D screens from) Alice In Wonderland, the latest DreamWorks 3D CG effort, How To Train Your Dragon, took the top spot at the US box office this weekend with $43.3 million based on early estimates.
It’s not exactly the company’s highest flier – it didn’t perform like a Shrek or even Monsters Vs Aliens – but given the added competition for 3Ds screens and Alice still doing solid business, it’s not a bad start for a film without a hugely well-known source or big-name voice cast. Given that the buzz on it should be good, expect it to hold reasonably well next week too. Wonderland held on to enough cinemagoers to survive in second place with $17.3 million after four weeks.
Raunchy comedy Hot Tub Time Machine couldn’t quite ride the buzz, launching in third with $13.7 million (so unless it develops Hangover-style legs, it’s pretty much done) and **The Bounty Hunter **took fourth with $12.4 million.
Rounding out the top five was Diary Of A Wimpy Kid, which added $10 million to its running total of $35.8 million.
The rest of the chart runs down with** She’s Out Of My League** at sixth, **Green Zone **seventh, Shutter Island in eighth, Repo Men at ninth and Our Family Wedding as the 10th. The only other main release for the week was Atom Egoyan’s latest, erotic thriller Chloe, which arrived on limited screens in 15th place.
To get your full weekend chart fix, head over to Box Office Mojo.