'How to Train Your Dragon' soars to the top of box office

By Sarah Sluis

How to Train Your Dragon easily landed in first place its opening weekend with a $43.3 million gross, two-and-a-half times the take of the first runner-up, Alice in Wonderland ($17.3 million). Despite strong reviews, the family-skewing animated movie earned far less than Alice's opening weekend. Like Alice, it should have strong grosses week-to-week, but will have to overcome one significant challenge. Clash of the Titans opens in 3D this Friday, taking away screens from Dragon. This could push the per-screen gross up higher, but it also means there will be fewer time slots and more crowding for Dragon.

Hot Tub Time Machine debuted third with $13.6 million. The retro-themed plot drew in males aged twenty-five and up, many of whom lived through the '80s and enjoyed the comedic rehash of the era. Though not a flop, the movie just barely edged out the second-week performance of The Bounty Hunter ($12.4 million), a romantic comedy with broader appeal.

Greenberg added 178 playdates to its run to end the weekend with $1.05 million, ending with a strong $5,000 per-theatre average. The steamy art film Chloe opened to $1 million, but its per-theatre average was a bit lower, $2,000 per screen. The Runaways hasn't been as catchy as Apparition may have hoped, dropping in its second week even as it added screens. The teen rock biopic made $445,000 and fell 44% from last week.

In just five locations, Disney documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty debuted to $33,000, with a respectable $6,600 per screen.

This Friday, 3D Clash of the Titans will open alongside Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? Disney's The Last Song will jump the gun with a debut this Wednesday, certain to draw in hordes of Miley Cyrus fans.