It’s a healthy enough Father’s Day weekend with all movies doing around $155M, and though down from last year’s massive near $214M (that was due to Pixar’s Inside Out 2), we’re 14% ahead of the pre-COVID 2019 Poppa holiday frame which did $135.9M (when Sony’s Men in Black: International was leading).
Give Universal a big shiny IP, and they know how to bring moviegoers in with their NBCUniversal machine Symphony Program. How to Train Your Dragon is now looking at $83.7M after a $26.5M Saturday, -26% from Previews/Friday of $35.6M. That’s higher than where tracking was seeing it ($65M-$75M). Know that only big exhibition (who are never good at forecasting despite having access to advance ticket sales) was gunning for a $100M opening. For a movie shot with a $150M net production cost, and a great near $200M+ opening ($197.8M), the Dean DeBlois-directed title is in great shape.
EntTelligence reports that HTTYD‘s opening weekend translates into 5.8M admissions off an average ticket price of $15.10 for general audiences, $12.89 for kids, and $13.45 for seniors. Of course, most of the foot traffic came before 5PM at 54% — it’s a family film. Imax contributed $8.1M or close to 10% of the weekend, HTTYD being a ‘filmed for Imax’ title.
Beamed Universal Domestic Distribution President Jim Orr, “Just a tremendous debut for How to Train Your Dragon this weekend as our incredibly talented filmmaker, Dean DeBlois, crafted such an exciting, emotional, action-packed joyride back to Berk. Audiences of all ages across the globe embraced this heartfelt tale, and with reaction scores that point to a long, successful run through the summer.”
We already told you that HTTYD trailers racked up a great three quarters of a billion views to date. The campaign sought to not only stoke fans, but find a new audience for the brand. Of note on the digital side, Roblox launched a How to Train Your Dragon integration that invited players around the world to navigate the pic’s world of Berk, bond with dragons and experience epic battles. Since its launch, the game has seen over 10M plays and is on-pace to be Universal’s most-played Roblox integration to date, with players averaging 25 minutes in the game.
Promo partners included Burger King with a custom menu, toys and custom spots with Toothless:
Gerard Butler also contributed his Stoick voice to 150 million users on Waze’s ‘Customize Your Drive’ experience. Lush had a line of Viking-themed self-care products, and there were product launches for LEGO and Funko. Additionally, the Ad Council supported the film’s reflection on fatherhood with a special PSA featuring footage of Hiccup and Stoick.
As far as linear pushes went, HTTYD spots aired during The Voice, Survivor, American Idol, America’s Got Talent and MasterChef, as well as a strong presence during the NBA Conference Semifinals and Finals—supported by a surround on ESPN and TikTok—as well as the Premiere League Championship, UEFA Champions League Finals, WNBA season opener, Liga MX and UFC.
Among the Symphony marketing pushes for the film, Toothless was featured in a WWE co-promo (see below) on Peacock, and NBC aired a half-hour primetime event special, Soaring to Life: The Making of How to Train Your Dragon, on the film’s release date that chronicled DeBlois and his journey to reimagine the animated franchise in the world of live-action.
NBCUniversal Destinations and Experiences opened their first major US theme park in nearly 25 years, Epic Universe, before the pic’s opening, which featured numerous immersive worlds from the movie, including the Isle of Berk. There’s also Dragon Rider, Hiccup, Night Fury and Toothless roaming around the park. DeBlois and stars Mason Thames and Nico Parker attended the park’s grand opening, with their reactions to the park’s Isle of Berk, Hiccup and Toothless animatronic inspiring viral social moments, including ‘Hiccup meeting Hiccup’ which amassed over five million views on TikTok.
At a time when congloms are busting up in a streaming era, there’s something to be said about vertical integration still working. That was the reason why these studios merged with networks back in the 1990s.
A24 is calling The Materialists at $12M. In regard to fare for older women this summer, there isn’t any, so let’s see how their relationship with this Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, Dakota Johnson movie pans out. George Clooney and Julia Roberts’ Ticket to Paradise eased -40% in its second weekend while Anyone But You benefited from the year-end holiday boom in 2023 with a +45% spike. In typical A24 fashion though, Materialists isn’t an overall crowd pleaser: While I think it’s a genius ode to the battles of the sexes, others can’t wrap their heads around Pedro’s character and what he did to his legs in the film (a surgery which is par for the course at a Midsommar getaway). Note, I didn’t chase fireflies out of the theaters on this movie, rather, I reacted like an excited Dachshund jumping up at the screen at the great performances. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a summer rom-com. Materialists in its specialty play brings to mind 2009’s 500 Days of Summer, which had a very different rollout (granted COVID and the shuttering of arthouses in NYC and LA changed the distribution landscape): Searchlight’s 500 Days of Summer was platformed with an $834K opening at 27 theaters ($30K screen average) over July 17-19. Theater count stood at its widest point at 1,048 in its fifth weekend. The most that movie ever made in a given weekend was $3.7M in its fourth frame at 817 locations. Final domestic was $32.3M and the pic scored two Golden Globes noms for Best Comedy/Musical and Best Actor Comedy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and also enabled music video director Marc Webb to turn the corner into a major feature filmmaker. If A24 gets the $20M-costing Materialists to that final threshold, I think they’d do donuts in front of their offices on 27th Street in Manhattan.
1. How to Train Your Dragon (Uni) 4,356 theaters Fri $35.6M Sat $26.5M Sun $21.7M 3-day $83.7M/Wk 1
2. Lilo & Stitch (Dis) 3,675 (-510) theaters, Fri $4.7M (-50%) Sat $6.4M Sun $4.4M 3-day $15.5M (-52%), total $366.3M/Wk 4
3. Materialists (A24) 2,844 theaters, Fri $5.1M Sat $3.8M Sun $3M 3-day $12M/Wk 1
4. Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning (Par) 2,942 (-554) theaters Fri $2.2M (-44%) Sat $3.7M Sun $4.2M, 3-day $10.3M (-31%), Total $166.3M/Wk 4
5. Ballerina (LG) 3,409 theaters, Fri $2.35M (-78%) Sat $3.6M Sun $3.4M 3-day $9.4M (-62%), Total $41.8M/Wk 2
6. Karate Kid: Legends (Sony) 3,008 (-851) theaters, Fri $1.25M (-49%) Sat $1.8M Sun $1.8M 3-day $5M (-41%), Total $44.1M/Wk 3
7. Final Destination: Bloodlines (NL) 2,138 (-729) Fri $1.22M (-37%) Sat $1.5M Sun $1.1M, 3-day $3.9M (-40%), Total $130.6M/Wk 5
8. The Phoenician Scheme (Foc) 1,731 (+53) theaters, Fri $880K (-66%) Sat $1.1M Sun $1M 3-day $3M (-51%), Total $12.7M/Wk 3
9. Life of Chuck (NEON) 1,072 (+1056) theaters, Fri $1M (+708%) Sat $585K Sun $497K 3-day $2.1M (+838%), Total $2.4M/Wk 2
10. Sinners (WB) 951 (-567) theaters, Fri $450K (-47%) Sat $600K Sun $420K 3-day $1.47M (-48%), Total $275.4M, Wk 9