Michał Stekla
Dragons are returning to the big screen — and everything indicates that they will return with a bang. The live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon is gearing up for a very strong opening. In the United States alone, the film could earn between $65 million to as much as $75 million in its opening weekend. Globally? Predictions suggest about $175–185 million. And that’s without Japan, which will join in September.
We don’t have a repeat of Gus Van Sant’s “Psycho” here — that is, a shot-for-shot remake taken from the animation. Dean DeBlois, the creator of the original, is behind the camera, but the new version has plenty of freshness. Mason Thames and Nico Parker as Hiccup and Astrid bring their own style to the familiar roles, and the flight scenes look fantastic. Toothless? Still charming, but he’s not an animated decal.
Reviews? On Rotten Tomatoes, we have 81% “fresh.” That’s less than the 99% of the original, but still very solid. The film is releasing wide — IMAX, 4DX, ScreenX, and in PLF format.
Dragon Offensive Abroad
On the international side, How to Train Your Dragon is starting off very well — the previews alone have already brought in $21.8 million. By Sunday, the total from outside the USA should reach $110 million.
Where is it doing best?
Korea — $4.3 million after 4 days, 99% Egg Score.
UK and Ireland — $1.2 million on Monday, the leader of the day.
Germany — $1.1 million.
France — $1.4 million.
Brazil — $2.7 million.
Mexico — $2.1 million.
This is good news, as the How to Train Your Dragon series has been strong in foreign markets for years — out of the total $1.7 billion globally, as much as $1.1 billion has come from outside the USA.
The Chinese market is as always a mystery, but pre-sales are strong. The previous HTTYD installments have totaled $120 million there (historically). On the plus side — Universal has themed HTTYD attractions in Beijing, which boosts the hype.
In the USA? A little battle Stitch vs. Dragons
In the USA, How to Train Your Dragon will launch on Thursday starting at 2 PM. In theory, the only real competitor is Lilo & Stitch, which, despite being in its fourth weekend, might add $20 million. Both films have a similar yet different target audience. There will definitely be enough seats in theaters to fill them up again. However, what's interesting is that the Super Bowl did its job. The HTTYD spot alone garnered over 370 million views on YouTube, and the total promotional materials have exceeded 750 million views. The campaign is working, and the hype before the premiere in the USA is really solid.
What will compete with the premiere of Dragons?
Materialists from A24 (romantic comedy starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans) has a chance to debut with $7–8 million. Ratings on Rotten Tomatoes: 89% fresh. The film mainly targets a female audience.
Ballerina (spin-off of John Wick) aims for $11 million in its second weekend, after opening at $26.5 million.
When all is said and done...
If nothing goes wrong at the last minute — How to Train Your Dragon should take one of the best openings of the summer box office 2025 this weekend. After successful launches in Korea and Latin America, as well as a very solid start in the UK and Germany, Universal can be fairly confident.
This is not a film that is going to break records set by Barbie or The Avengers — but for a live-action adaptation of an animated film (and outside of Disney!), this will be a strong result.
Source: deadline.com
