How To Train Your Dragon soars past Pixar’s Elio in US box office battle

DreamWorks has scored a summer win, with How to Train Your Dragon continuing its box office dominance in its second weekend. The live-action adaptation of the beloved 2010 animated classic pulled in an impressive $37 million across US and Canadian cinemas, holding firm at the top of the box office despite competition from major new releases. Directed by Dean DeBlois, who also helmed the original trilogy, the updated Dragon tale has proved a worthy revival of the franchise. It has already raked in $358.2 million globally, with a sequel reportedly in early development.

DreamWorks’ flying Viking returns in style while Pixar faces a rocky start with its new release, ‘Elio’

Meanwhile, Pixar’s latest feature, Elio, had a much less triumphant debut. The space-set coming-of-age film about a young boy transported into an alien world opened to just $21 million—making it the lowest opening weekend in Pixar’s history. For context, even 2023’s slow-starting Elemental launched with $29.6 million before picking up momentum later on.

Elio’s production journey has been far from smooth. Originally slated for an early 2024 release, the film saw a last-minute creative shuffle. Coco co-director Adrian Molina was replaced mid-way by Turning Red filmmaker Domee Shi and Burrow writer Madeline Sharafian. Some of its early buzz—such as America Ferrera’s D23 announcement as Elio’s mum—didn’t even make it to the final cut, as the character was removed entirely. Despite receiving a respectable CinemaScore grade of “A” and generally positive reviews, Elio is trailing well behind Pixar’s previous hits like Inside Out 2, which notched $1.7 billion globally. With a production budget of $150 million, the film’s lukewarm $14 million international haul does little to ease concerns.

Elsewhere in the rankings, 28 Years Later—the long-awaited third entry in Danny Boyle’s apocalyptic zombie series—landed at No. 2 with $30 million. The Sony Pictures release, which picks up nearly three decades after the rage virus outbreak, has earned praise from critics (90% on Rotten Tomatoes) but garnered a mixed “B” CinemaScore from audiences. Other notable performers include the fifth-week run of Disney’s Lilo & Stitch live-action remake, still drawing family crowds with $9.7 million, and A24’s slow-burning romance Materialists, which has made $24 million to date. With F1 and Megan 2.0 set to drop next weekend, the summer box office race is just heating up.

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