Nearly a month into its theatrical release, Universal’sHow to Train Your Dragonis still going strong at the box office, having lost very little altitude despite fresh reptilian competition last week. The movie faced off against fellow Universal releaseJurassic World Rebirth, which delivered a massive haul in its opening weekend.How to Train Your Dragonretained a spot in the top five list, as itpassed one of the MCU’s earliest off-beat hitsat the global box office. The movie in question is the firstAnt-Man, which debuted at a rather prosperous time for the franchise, when it seemed like it couldn’t put a foot wrong.
StarringPaul Ruddin the titular role, a role that he’d go on to play numerous times in the franchise,Ant-Manopened to mostly positive reviews in 2015. It waspraised for its comparatively contained narrative, and for providing a much-needed relief from the franchise’s dense earlier hits. ButAnt-Manwasn’t without controversy. The movie was famously set to be directed byEdgar Wright, who dropped out mere weeks before filming after being given one too many script notes by the Marvel top brass. When he quit,The AvengersandAvengers: Age of UltrondirectorJoss Whedonposted a picture of a Cornetto ice cream on social media, in honor of Wright’s memorable Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy.Peyton Reedwas hired as Wright’s replacement.
Produced on abudget that has been reported to be as high as $170 million,Ant-Manconcluded its run with around $519 millionworldwide. It has now been overtaken byHow to Train Your Dragon, which recently also overtook the animated original upon which it is based.Ant-Manscored mostly positive reviews, and currently holds an 83% score onRotten Tomatoes. Reed and Rudd returned for two further sequels:Ant-Man and the Wasp, which grossed over $600 million worldwide, andAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which made under $500 million globally.
‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Holds a 97% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes
Quantumaniawas released during a particularly difficult period for the MCU, which it still hasn’t been able to emerge from. The franchise’s two releases so far this year —Captain America: Brave New WorldandThunderbolts*— both underperformed at the box office. Meanwhile,How to Train Your Dragonavoided the fate of Disney’s recentSnow Whitelive-action remake, and was received warmly by audiences, who awarded ita near-perfect 97% scoreonRotten Tomatoes. You can watch the film in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
How to Train Your Dragon
