The Fort Worth Press - 'How to Train Your Dragon' holds top spot in N.America box office

The family-friendly film from Universal and DreamWorks Animation tells the story of a Viking named Hiccup (Mason Thames) who strikes up a friendship with Toothless the dragon.

Its $37 million haul was enough to beat out Columbia Pictures' zombie sequel "28 Years Later," which took in $30 million despite coming nearly two decades after the last release in the trilogy, "28 Weeks Later."

"This is an excellent opening for the third episode in a horror series," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

"The weekend figure is above average for the genre, and pending final numbers it's approximately three times the opening of the last episode."

Critics' reviews and audience ratings have been strong for the Danny Boyle-directed threequel, which picks up -- as the title suggests -- more than a generation after the initial outbreak of the Rage Virus.

"The long layoff has had no negative impact; in fact, it's given the sequel time to add a new younger age group to the audience," Gross added.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend was the poor performance of Pixar Animation's "Elio," which limped into third place with $21 million in ticket sales, on a $150 million budget.

Gross said that while the tally would be respectable for most animation studios, it was the lowliest theatrical debut in Pixar's history -- despite excellent reviews.

Disney's "Lilo & Stitch," another live-action remake, added $9.7 million in its fifth week, extending a triumphant run for the film about a Hawaiian girl (Maia Kealoha) and her blue alien friend (Chris Sanders).

The fourth-placed entry has now grossed a whopping $910 million worldwide, according to Exhibitor Relations.

In fifth place -- and also in its fifth week -- is "Mission: Impossible -- The Final Reckoning," the latest, and supposedly final, entry in the hugely successful Tom Cruise spy thriller franchise.

The Paramount film took $6.6 million in North America, pushing it to $540 million worldwide.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Materialists" ($5.8 million)

"Ballerina" ($4.5 million)

"Karate Kid: Legends" ($2.4 million)

"Final Destination: Bloodlines" ($1.9 million)

"Kuberaa" ($1.8 million)

A.Maldonado--TFWP