Weekend Box Office

Weekend Box Office (February 22 - 24, 2019)

THIS WEEKEND Nearly five years after the last film in the series, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World crushed the competition with a franchise best $55.5M opening, according to estimates, nearly matching the rest of the top 10 combined. Critics and fans both adored the film as it stands at 91% positive on Rotten Tomatoes and received an A CinemaScore. With no direct competition for a few weeks, Dragon 3 should easily surpass part 2, which ended with $177M in the summer of 2014, and could pass the original, which ended its run with $217.5M back in 2010. Overseas the film currently stands at $217M for a worldwide total of $272.5M.

Last weekend's top film Alita: Battle Angel took a big tumble, falling nearly 58% in its second weekend to an estimated $12M, bringing its cume up to $60.7M. A finale in the $85-90M region seems likely. Internationally the film opened at #1 in China with $62.2M bringing its overseas total to $202M for a worldwide cume of $263M.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part continued its slide falling 52% in its third weekend to an estimated $10M, bringing its cume up to $83.6M, almost exactly $100M behind the original at the same point in its run.

Fighting with My Family expanded into wide release and took in a decent $8M, according to estimates, from 2,711 theaters for a per screen average of $2,955. The story of WWE Superstar Paige has gotten great reviews, currently standing at 91% positive on Rotten Tomatoes.

A couple of romcoms followed led by Isn't It Romantic which fell 47% in its second weekend to an estimated $7.5M, bringing its total up to $33.7M. Look for a final total in the $50M range. In sixth place was What Men Want which made an estimated $5.2M this weekend, raising its cume to $45M after three weeks.

Horror entry Happy Death Day 2U dropped 47.5% in its second weekend to an estimated $5M, bringing its cume up to $21.6M. It's currently running about 47% behind the original, which ended its run with $55.7M. At this rate the sequel should see a final total in the $30M range.

The Upside continued its solid run taking in an estimated $3.2M in its seventh weekend, bringing its total to just under $100M.

Rounding out the top 10 was the faith-based Run the Race, executive produced by Tim Tebow, which grossed an estimated $2.2M from 853 theaters for a per screen average of $2,665. Critics weren't too kind as it sits on the lower end of mixed with 40% positive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $112M which was down 36.7% from last year when current Oscar Best Picture nominee Black Panther remained in the number one spot with $111.6M; but up 8% from 2017 when Get Out debuted on top with $33.3M.

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Watch the trailer for Hobbs & Shaw.

THIS WEEKEND'S TOP 10

This column is updated three times each week: Thursday (upcoming weekend's summary), Sunday (post-weekend analysis with estimates), and Monday night (actuals). Opinions expressed in this column are those solely of the author.

Last Updated: February 24, 2019 at 2:45PM ET