'How To Train Your Dragon 3' Soars To The Top Of The Weekend Box Office

It's official: people really want to learn how to train their dragons. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, the third and final entry in the animated franchise, won the weekend box office, hauling in $55.5 million. This is the best debut of any film in the series, probably because audiences couldn't resist seeing hot older Hiccup and his CGI beard. Meanwhile, Alita: Battle Angel dropped to second place, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part came in third, and Fighting With My Family wrestled its way to fourth place.

Congrats, How to Train Your Dragon 3: you're number one at the box office, and number one in our hearts. Variety says the animated sequel took in $55.5 million during its opening weekend, making it the biggest opening weekend of the year to date.

"We've been eagerly awaiting our first DreamWorks Animation release, and it's great to celebrate this milestone with a No. 1 opening," said Jim Orr, head of domestic distribution, Universal. "[Director] Dean DeBlois has delivered a stunning film for a franchise that's truly beloved."

The film is also doing well internationally, earning $216 million so far – and it hasn't even opened in China yet (that happens March 1).

While How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World was dominating the weekend, last weekend's winner, Alita: Battle Angel, fell to second place, the result of a 58% decline in attendance. Still, the sci-fi flick has done much better than predicted, and is making a killing overseas.

While Alita is performing above expectations, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is performing below. The animated film is in third place, earning $10 million. The total so far – $83,619,039 – is well below the earnings of the first Lego Movie. Perhaps audiences just weren't interested in returning to this world.

Fighting With My Family, a wrestling movie that stars Florence Pugh and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, opened in limited release last weekend, and made $8 million.

This upcoming weekend will see the release of Greta, starring Isabelle Huppert and Chloe Grace Moretz. I'm pretty sure it won't be a mega-blockbuster, but I could be wrong. Also opening: Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral, which will probably do well, as all Madea films do.

The real weekend to watch, though, is next weekend. Audiences will have a Marvel movie on their hands – Captain Marvel. This will no doubt boost what has been a sagging 2019 box office. The Brie Larson superhero flick is tracking for a $140 million-plus opening weekend.

Here's the top 10 films of last weekend's box office (via Box Office Mojo):

1. How to Train Your Dragon 3 – $55.5 million

2. Alita: Battle Angel – $12 million

3. The LEGO Movie 2 – $10 million

4. Fighting with My Family – $8 million

5. Isn't It Romantic? – $7.5 million

6. What Men Want – $5.2 million

7. Happy Death Day 2U – $5 million

8. Cold Pursuit – $3.3 million

9. The Upside – $3.2 million

10. Run the Race – $2.3 million