‘Kick-Ass’ Barely Slays ‘Dragon’ At Box Office
Update: weekend estimates were off for “Kick-Ass,” which wound up in the top spot in its opening weekend. While the final tally was far lower than early predictions, the amount earned from the Thursday night midnight screenings was enough to edge “How To Train Your Dragon.”
Here’s the final Top Five:
| Position | Title | Weekend Gross |
Per-Screen Average |
Total Box Office Gross |
Budget (Millions) |
Weeks In Release |
| 1 | Kick-Ass | $19,828,687 | $6,469 | $19,828,687 | $30 | 1 |
| 2 | How to Train Your Dragon | $19,633,320 | $5,133 | $158,251,066 | $165 | 4 |
| 3 | Date Night | $16,720,038 | $4,947 | $48,666,799 | $55 | 2 |
| 4 | Death at a Funeral (2010) | $16,217,540 | $6,595 | $16,217,540 | $21 | 1 |
| 5 | Clash of the Titans (2010) | $15,385,491 | $4,100 | $132,600,220 | $125 | 3 |
A clever marketing campaign and mountains of Web buzz weren’t enough to drive mainstream movie fans into the theater to see “Kick-Ass” on its opening weekend. The “superheroes without superpowers” action flick opened with a paltry estimate of $19.8 million, landing in second place behind the $20 million earned by “How To Train Your Dragon.”
It’s reminiscent of “Snakes On A Plane.” The Web buzz for the Samuel L. Jackson high-concept fangfest was massive, but could not be converted to box office dollars. While “Kick-Ass” is a better film all around, this may be yet another case of signal-to-noise ration in the Web film press realm. “Kick-Ass” garnered mixed-to-strong reviews, and decidedly mixed audience polling after screenings. Estimates for the movie were as high as $36 million prior to Friday, then adjusted down sharply once the Friday results were tallied.
The other major release of the weekend, “Death At A Funeral,” landed in fourth place with an estimated $17 million, in line with pre-weekend prognostication.
Here’s the top ten, courtesy of Exhibitor Relations:
1. How to Train Your Dragon, $20 million
2. Kick-Ass, $19.8 million
3. Date Night, $17.3 million
4. Death at a Funeral, $17 million
5. Clash of the Titans, $15.8 million
6. The Last Song, $5.8 million
7. Why Did I Get Married Too?, $4.2 million
8. Hot Tub Time Machine, $3.545 million
9. Alice in Wonderland, $3.54 million
10. The Bounty Hunter, $3.2 million
