The live-action How to Train Your Dragon has officially taken flight at the global box office, pulling in a soaring $197.8 million in its opening weekend. That includes a solid $83.7 million domestically and an impressive $114.1 million from international markets.
With a reported production budget of $150 million and an estimated $100 million in marketing costs, Universal will need the film to approach the $500 million mark globally just to break even after accounting for theater revenue splits.
Fortunately, the film’s strong debut has it on track for a projected worldwide total between $600 million and $700 million, well into profitable territory. With numbers like these, it’s increasingly likely that Toothless and Hiccup will be returning for more live-action adventures in the not-so-distant future.
In terms of box office competition for the film, Pixar's Elio opens next weekend, followed by Jurassic World: Rebirth on July 02, Superman on July 11, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps on July 25.
How To Train Your Dragon stars Mason Thames (The Black Phone) as Hiccup. Astrid will be played by Nico Parker (daughter of Thandie Newton), who played Sarah Miller in The Last of Us.
Gerard Butler, who previously voiced Stoick the Vast in the How To Train Your Dragon animated film series will be reprising the role for the live-action remake.
Additional cast include Nick Frost as Gobber the Belch, Julian Dennison as Fishlegs Ingerman, Gabriel Howell as Snotlout Jorgenson, Bronwyn James as Ruffnut Thorston, Harry Trevaldwyn as Tuffnut Thorston, and Ruth Codd as Phlegma.
How To Train Your Dragon Official Synopsis: A winning mixture of adventure, slapstick comedy, and friendship, How to Train Your Dragon rivals Kung Fu Panda as the most engaging and satisfying film DreamWorks Animation has produced. Hiccup (voice by Jay Baruchel) is a failure as a Viking: skinny, inquisitive, and inventive, he asks questions and tries out unsuccessful contraptions when he's supposed to be fighting the dragons that attack his village.
His father, chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), has pretty much given up on his teenage son and apprenticed him to blacksmith Gobber (Craig Ferguson). Worse, Hiccup knows the village loser hasn't a chance of impressing Astrid (America Ferrera), the girl of his dreams and a formidable dragon fighter in her own right. When one of Hiccup's inventions actually works, he hasn't the heart to kill the young dragon he's brought down. He names it Toothless and befriends it, although he's been taught to fear and loathe dragons.