‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Is No. 1; ‘Madea’ Gives Chase

(Bloomberg) -- “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” led the North American box office for a second-straight weekend, beating a new Tyler Perry movie and enjoying a last moment in the limelight before “Captain Marvel” grabs audiences on March 8.

• The feature from Comcast Corp.’s DreamWorks Animation took in $30 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, Comscore Inc. said Monday. Analysts were forecasting as much as $32.5 million.

Key Insights

• “How to Train Your Dragon” has been a decent performer, with $379 million in global ticket sales heading into the weekend. But keep in mind the studio paid $129 million to make the picture -- plus millions more for advertising -- and must split the revenue with theater owners. Still, it’s only been out in the U.S. for two weeks and will get more screen time.
• “Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral,” meanwhile, is the final installment in a lower-budget franchise from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. It opened with sales of about $27.1 million, ahead of estimates for as much as $22.8 million. Only 40 percent of reviewers recommended the movie, according to Rotten Tomatoes, but the series has generally been critic-proof.
• “Captain Marvel” is going to steal most movie fans’ attention starting next Friday. Walt Disney Co. has a series of big budget films lined up, starting with the new Marvel superhero movie starring Brie Larson in the title role of “Captain Marvel.” That’s followed by a live-action “Dumbo” movie on March 29 and the widely anticipated “Avengers: Endgame” on April 26.

Get More

• North American ticket sales through the first two months of the year are down 26 percent from a year ago, according to Comscore. See the weekend release schedule here.
• See RottenTomatoes ratings for top movies.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Golum in Los Angeles at rgolum@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Kevin Miller

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