'Dragon' Beats 'Panda'
How to Train Your Dragon has inched past Kung Fu Panda to become DreamWorks Animation's highest-grossing feature outside of the Shrek series.
Taking 95 days to reach the milestone, How to Train Your Dragon's total climbed to $215.5 million on Monday. Kung Fu Panda made $215.4 million in its 126-day run. It wasn't a slam dunk for Dragon to pull this feat off when Shrek Forever After opened on May 21, taking Dragon's 3D presentations and family attention when it still had around $4 million to go. Dragon took a massive hit that weekend, but leveled off and remained in enough theaters. This latest weekend saw business spike 186 percent, thanks to a second-run infusion at 333 theaters.
In terms of estimated attendance, Kung Fu Panda still rates insurmountably higher than How to Train Your Dragon, as do Madagascar, Shark Tale, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Over the Hedge. Adjusted for ticket price inflation, Panda grossed the equivalent of $240 million, while Dragon would be demoted to around $175 million, due to its 3D ticket price premium (3D accounted for nearly two thirds of its business).
Speaking of Shrek, the series' latest and presumably final entry, Shrek Forever After, was trumped on Monday. Toy Story 3's total reached $235.8 million in just 11 days, surpassing Shrek 4 to become the third highest-grossing movie of 2010, behind Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Iron Man 2. With $230.1 million in 39 days and business at a crawl since Toy Story 3's opening, Shrek 4 will go down as by far the least popular Shrek movie, and the only one with lower attendance than other movies in the DreamWorks Animation stable, like Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar.
More 'Dragon' Analysis:
• 5/20/10 - Special Report: How to Gain from 'Dragon'
• 1/15/10 - 2010 Preview: 'How to Train Your Dragon'
• 3/25/10 - Briefing: 'How to Train Your Dragon'
• 3/29/10 - Weekend Report: 'Dragon' Takes Flight in Its Opening
• 4/26/10 - Weekend Report: 'Dragon' Dominates by Default
Taking 95 days to reach the milestone, How to Train Your Dragon's total climbed to $215.5 million on Monday. Kung Fu Panda made $215.4 million in its 126-day run. It wasn't a slam dunk for Dragon to pull this feat off when Shrek Forever After opened on May 21, taking Dragon's 3D presentations and family attention when it still had around $4 million to go. Dragon took a massive hit that weekend, but leveled off and remained in enough theaters. This latest weekend saw business spike 186 percent, thanks to a second-run infusion at 333 theaters.
In terms of estimated attendance, Kung Fu Panda still rates insurmountably higher than How to Train Your Dragon, as do Madagascar, Shark Tale, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Over the Hedge. Adjusted for ticket price inflation, Panda grossed the equivalent of $240 million, while Dragon would be demoted to around $175 million, due to its 3D ticket price premium (3D accounted for nearly two thirds of its business).
Speaking of Shrek, the series' latest and presumably final entry, Shrek Forever After, was trumped on Monday. Toy Story 3's total reached $235.8 million in just 11 days, surpassing Shrek 4 to become the third highest-grossing movie of 2010, behind Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Iron Man 2. With $230.1 million in 39 days and business at a crawl since Toy Story 3's opening, Shrek 4 will go down as by far the least popular Shrek movie, and the only one with lower attendance than other movies in the DreamWorks Animation stable, like Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar.
More 'Dragon' Analysis:
• 5/20/10 - Special Report: How to Gain from 'Dragon'
• 1/15/10 - 2010 Preview: 'How to Train Your Dragon'
• 3/25/10 - Briefing: 'How to Train Your Dragon'
• 3/29/10 - Weekend Report: 'Dragon' Takes Flight in Its Opening
• 4/26/10 - Weekend Report: 'Dragon' Dominates by Default
