Image Credit: DreamWorks AnimationIf only Kick-Ass had been in 3-D maybe we would have had a different outcome. But instead, the DreamWorks Animated 3-D flick How to Train Your Dragon squeezed out a surprise come-from-behind first-place finish with an estimated $20 million take in its fourth weekend in release. Falling only 20 percent, Dragon‘s total now stands at $158.6 million; a dearth of competing kids’ movies has been beneficial to the well-reviewed Viking flick. Lionsgate’s Kick-Ass grossed an estimated $19.75 million for a second place spot. (With estimates showing spots one and two separated by a remarkably small $250,000, Monday’s final results may give us a different outcome.) In 3,065 theaters, Kick-Ass averaged $6,445, not a bad debut for a film that only cost $28 million to make, but not reaching the high expectations for the film, which has been gathering buzz among the fan boys for the last month. In fact, the movie only generated a B from Cinemascore, suggesting that some audiences aren’t quite getting director Matthew Vaughn’s irreverent take on the superhero genre. The R rating may have also depressed the film’s box office, keeping its core fan base of teen boys out of the ticket lines.
Third place belonged to holdover Date Night, which grossed $17.3 million, or only a 31 percent drop — quite strong for a comedy that generated middling reviews when it opened last weekend. The PG-13 rated flick from director Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) has now grossed close to $50 million after ten days of release. Chris Rock’s R-rated comedy Death at a Funeral grossed an estimated $16.4 million. The remake of the 2007 British film of the same name bowed to strong reviews, and a B+ Cinemascore, so perhaps it will hold strong in coming weeks. From director Neil LaBute, Death only cost $21 million to make and generated the highest per-screen average in the top ten with $6,913. Spot five went to Clash of the Titans, which grossed an additional $15.7 million. The movie fell 41 percent in its third week of release, and its gross now stands at $133 million.
The Last Song took 6th place with $5.8 million, bringng its total to around $50 million, while Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too earned 7th spot with $4.1 million and a total of $54.8 million. Hot Tub Time Machine is hanging in there, neck-and-neck with Alice in Wonderland for 8th. Both films have grossed around $3.5 million for the weekend. For Hot Tub, it was a drop of just 35 percent in its fourth week of release, raising its gross to $42.5 million. Alice, in its seventh weekend, has now earned an impressive $324 million. The Bounty Hunter rounds out the top 10; the Jennifer Aniston-Gerard Butler starrer has now earned $60 million after adding another $3.2 million in its fifth weekend of release.
I knew everyone was over estimating Kick-Ass.That R rating was a killer,and the general movie goer probably isn’t going to see it.I think it looks pretty good,but will wait for the DVD.
I ended up seeing Kick-Ass three times and loved it each one. It deserves to make at least 200 Mil.
Kick Ass deserved a bigger box office. It’s a shame garbage like the Twilight series prospers instead. It just goes to show you the stupidity of the audiences in this country.
Nerwen, I saw it once, but I’ll see it again. It was pretty good. They even layed the ground work for a sequel.
Go see it. It’s very entertaining.
stay classy.
Someone needs a man..
“…my gash some wet loving…” Good Lord that was hilarious!
Kick Ass was successful. It’s an Indie film with a budget of only 30 mil. It’s already earned over half of that back.
I think that everyone forgets about overseas money with movies. Yss in America alot fo movies are or can be duds, but with overseas money some movies (Avatar, Posiedon, Inheart, old dogs) HAve a chance of making there money back! The Tooth Fairy! Just saying this is already passed 30 million with over seas.
I completely agree. Kick Ass has already made over 17 mil internationally and over 19 mil in the US. It’s earned back the 30 mil for it’s budget and I’m sure it will continue to make money. It did just come out. America is too focused on immediate success. Let’s not forget that Avatar started out very slow at the box office.
Aaron Johnson is very hot.
I saw it 3 times also. I was dragging people to go see it because I feel it needs to be watched. Hopefully word of mouth will give this movie legs. I highly recommend watching it.
Kick-Ass was AWESOME. I am SO not the target audience (25 and female) and I just LOVED it. I was so pumped up leaving the theater and recommended it to everyone I know. I think it’s going to have serious legs on DVD.
Chris Mintz-Plasse cleans up remarkably well. You’ll be suprised.
G Rated movies always have the advantage, Dragon’s a really good movie anyway, so it’s not so bad. Going to Kick Ass tomorrow night and really can’t wait to see it.
But when a G rated movie has a coincidental upswing 4 weeks into its run at the same time that a much-hyped R rated movie comes out…? EW commented on the likelihood of people buying tix to ‘Dragon’ and sneaking into Kick-Ass at multiplexes when they posted the Friday night numbers, and that is likely the explanation.
How to train your dragon is a great family film, kick ass is a borefest, by the numbers, with a “let’s shock the audience” attitude that is so laughable.. expect this junk to be gone from the cinemas in 3 weeks
You didn’t even see Kick-Ass. What a faker.
No, you didn’t see kick ass… what a mindless tweep
Ok techdrive – if you did indeed see it – what did bore you about the best movie of the year so far? KICK-ASS KICKED ASS.
Watched Kick Ass and I would have to confirm that they are scared of showing actual violence.
Decapitations, deaths all cut to another shot within a 10th of a second. Not to mention movies with FPS style views remind me too much of horrible movies such as DOOM.
Very little action compared to the amount of talking they do.
Very boring tries so hard at being different they literally have to narrate it to you.
It is a poor replacement for the more stylish R rated action movie it so desperately attempts to be.
Not to mention ripping off so much music it’s not funny.
I have no idea what you are talking about. Kick-Ass was not scared of showing violence.
And I don’t even know what you mean by “tries so hard at being different they literally have to narrate it to you”
I’m pretty sure that a LOT of the deaths were shown without cutting away, so I’m not sure what you’re talking about. People literally exploded in blood for various reasons, throats were ripped out, legs chopped off, swords stabbed through assorted body parts – you see it all in bloody detail. Also, many action hero origin stories start out with lots of talking and setup before you get to the climax of Bad Guy Smackdown, and this had plenty of action even before the final battle. ALSO, a lot of movies are narrated – that’s not necessarily a bad thing unless it’s used as a crutch because the film can’t express itself visually, and I didn’t feel that that was the case in Kick-Ass. It was just a nice supplement. FINALLY also, I’m not sure what you mean by ripping off music. Sure, it used a lot of outside music, but all was credited at the end of the movie, as is appropriate. Why should this movie use only an original score? I thought the music it included was generally used well.
So…I’m not really understanding you. It feels like we saw different movies, because I thought it was a really enjoyable movie with a lot of great humor and a lot of b*tchin’ violence. To each his own, I guess!
Funny you brought up the FirstPersonShooter scene… I saw KickAss on Friday and liked it (didn’t love it, had alot of flaws but was an overall fun time at the movies) but all I could think about after the movie was how they ripped-off Doom!!!
Doom was a horrible movie but that made it’s FPS scene even better because it knew it was cheesy!
KickAss seems like it took that scene seriously while Doom had the sense to know it was bad, therefore, I bought it and enjoyed the cheesiness.
Actually I did see it. Enjoyed it. Go watch “Two and Half Men.” That’s probably more your speed.
Techdrive sounds like a tool.
No a “tool” is a simpleton that can’t think for himself and just follow the masses.. sorry, I just didn’t drink the kool aid like you people and bought into this horrid film
Why, because they don’t agree with you about a movie? That’s a pretty idiotic way to look at it.
Old techdrive didn’t see Kick-Ass. He probably had to shave his dad’s back this weekend.
Well, techdrive, I believe if Kick-Ass had gotten bad buzz you’d be defending it. Another one of you people that trash anything and then claim the rest of us are drinking the koolaid. Idiot. By the way I enjoyed everything about the movie except the uneven tone. And I did see a couple of teens get busted trying to sneak into the movie. I’m sure some of that $ that dragon got was from kids seeing Kick-Ass.
I saw Kick-Ass and I do not know how you could be bored by it. It is really one of the most entertaining movies I’ve seen in a long time. The film is pretty engaging, well directed and the dialogue is great. How could you possibly be bored. And also you don’t know the definition of the word tool.
I agree. I loved it! It was funny, it was jam-packed with blood and violence and death, the lead guy is pretty hot (sorry – sometimes a girl wants some eye candy), and Hit-Girl was AWESOME. That girl made me want to raise child actors so that I could be the cool parent that lets them film crazy sh*t like what this kid got to do – and “crazy sh*t” is totally meant as a compliment. My husband and I laughed with joy to see that girl utterly destroy rooms full of heavily armed men.
Wonder how much of the “Dragon” money was from teenagers buying a ticket to that and sneaking into Kick Ass.
More than most people think, I suspect.
haha, you’re smart.
Silliest myth ever – who works at movie theaters? Oh yeah, teenagers… so to conceive that a teen wouldn’t let another teen into an R-rated is foolish.
No, it’s foolish to think the majority of teens will be able to buy tickets to a R-Rated movie.
RyRy, you would be surprised…I’ve watched teens do it. Plus, there is also the classic *Pay for one movie and then see two*
More like date night money. I think if they went to see dragon they might have actually stayed.
I hated to see Kick Ass perform below expectations. I truly thought it would be a hit. It was incredible stuff, and I hope the word of mouth makes it more money.
I hated to see Kick Ass not kickass at the box office. I truly thought it would be a hit. It was incredible stuff, and I hope the word of mouth makes it more money.
it is a hit. What wrong with you people – a movie that cost 30 million to make and its made 20 mil already, not to mention overseas.
I smell sequel…..
Hooray for family fare! Hopefully, Hollywood will get the message that not all of us want to see some ultra-violent comic book movie with foul language. Go Dragon!!
Yeah, because there really aren’t enough kids movies being made are there!
I would watch any good movie. And it could be rated G to R it doesn’t matter to me.
And good movie is dependent on if the movie can deliver on what it promises. Taken is a great example of a movie that is so action packed and hilarious because it tries to look serious. (Didn’t get too good a rating but that’s because it wasn’t in the right category)
Jeremiah,
No one said you had to see Kick-Ass. That’s why there are lots of options out there, and not some ‘evil Hollywood scheme.’
By the way, I saw How to Train your Dragon AND Kick-Ass and thought they were both excellent.
Will has common sense.
Kick-ass ruled!!! its all about hit-girl!! nerd nation,go see it! Kick-ass FTW!!!
I’ll see Dragon again this week but have no desire to see Kick-Ass. 2D or 3D doesn’t matter; it was just a good movie. I can’t see spending my money on a movie that shows young kids glorifying violence. I love a good comic book adaptation, too, just not one like this.
I really enjoyed Kick Ass, it was just a fun time at the movies. Ill most likely be going back. I also really liked How To Train Your Dragon, either way, two very good movies at the top this week.
Uhhh, Nicole, Check out how Death at a Funeral is doing on rotten tomatoes, those reviews are not as strong us you say they are.
Right? Date Night has a 66% on RT (not to mention a quite good 71% from “Top Critics” on the site) while Death at a Funeral has a pretty bad 39%. Yet Date Night is characterized as having “middling reviews” while Death at a Funeral is characterized as having “strong reviews.”
She’s probably taking the target audience into consideration. Let’s be honest, black movies very rarely get good reviews. I’m not saying never, but it’s certainly uncommon.
I think Nicole is basing the reviews of Death at a Funeral off of Roger Eberts oddly glowing review. Otherwise, most reviews have been quite mediocre at best.
“We become clockwork oranges if we accept all this pop culture without asking what’s in it. How can people go on talking about the dazzling brilliance of movies and not notice that the directors are sucking up to the thugs in the audience?”
I love you, Pauline. I always have and I always will and I miss you terribly.
You know why directors and writers suck up to the thugs sometimes? Because nice average people are boring and don’t make for good fiction. As a good, average person, I’m okay with this. Bad people who do bad things are a good source of compelling drama. Good people who do bad things are good too. And bad people who do good things. But, honestly, good people who do good things tend to result in dull, sentimental movies.
Pixar films are cinematic gold. Dreamworks flicks and ice age sequels are pure pop trash!!
Pixar films are politically correct, Sarah Palin-y trash.
Let’s not in any way associate Pixar films with Sarah Palin.
R-rated movies hardly ever hold the top spot for long.
Give Kick-Ass a little longer. It’s spring break in the northeast. That movie’s time in the spotlight is definitely approaching.
The two movies are completely different, and shouldn’t be compared. With Dragons it’s an automatic 1 adult and an average of 2 children tickets. Kick Ass it’s probably 1 adult ticket, plus anyone under 18 not allow in,but as someone mentioned, sneaking in. The numbers will be misleading.
I saw HTTYD with a group of 4 other people, all over 25. Just because it’s animated, doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to be a kids movie. Pixar has really changed that standard in the last 10 years, and I think this movie shows that Dreamworks is finally warming to that trend.