‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Stays No. 1 as ‘Elio’ Earns Pixar’s Lowest Box Office Opening

Universal/DreamWorks’ “How to Train Your Dragon” will hold on to the No. 1 spot at the box office with a $35 million second weekend, topping the estimated $30 million opening of Sony’s “28 Years Later” and the studio-worst $20 million start of Disney/Pixar’s “Elio.”

The “How to Train Your Dragon” remake is dropping 58% from its opening weekend for a 10-day domestic total of $159 million. It needs to pass $217 million to become the top domestic grossing film in the “HTTYD” franchise before inflation adjustment.

With families flocking to the familiar face of the dragon Toothless on the big screen, Pixar’s “Elio” is having a harder time drumming up interest as an original animated film with just $9 million earned on its opening day from 3,750 theaters. As a result, its $20 million estimated opening weekend has passed the $29.6 million opening of “Elemental” for the lowest opening ever for a Pixar film.

If this result holds, “Elio” would have a lower opening weekend than the $22 million that last year’s “Inside Out 2” made in just its first Monday in U.S. theaters following its $154.2 million opening weekend.

While Disney was hoping for an opening closer to what “Elemental” earned, the poor start of that film followed by its lengthy box office run has prepared them and theaters for the possibility of a rebound for “Elio.” And the good news is that like “Elemental,” reception for “Elio” has been very strong with an 85% Rotten Tomatoes score and an A from audiences on CinemaScore.

For Disney, the hope now is that this strong audience buzz will reach the ears of audiences who either don’t have “Elio” on their movie radar or went to go see “How to Train Your Dragon” first will come back around to see this original film based on its word-of-mouth, particularly during Fourth of July weekend.

Things are looking better for “28 Years Later,” Sony/Columbia’s legacyquel to Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s famed 2002 horror film “28 Days Later.” The $30-31 million start is consistent with pre-release box office tracking and puts it on pace for a decent theatrical run against its $60 million budget.

The bigger question is whether this film will drum up enough sustained interest for Boyle and Garland to turn it into a trilogy. The second installment, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” is set to come out this winter, but the third film has yet to be greenlit.

While critics have praised the film with a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score, its more cerebral nature and unexpected tonal shifts have left audiences mixed with a 66% RT audience score and a B on CinemaScore. Whether that causes its theatrical run to be more frontloaded remains to be seen.

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