Universal’s “How to Train Your Dragon” spread its wings across Friday and preview screenings with $35.6 million from 4,356 North American locations. That’s the fourth-biggest opening day figure of 2025, behind just “A Minecraft Movie,” “Lilo & Stitch” and “Captain America: Brave New World.” Meanwhile, A24‘s love-triangle comedy “Materialists” is eyeing a third place debut.
The PG-rated “Dragon” is now projecting a three-day gross of $82.7 million, forecasting above earlier projections for an opening between $70 million and $80 million. That’ll easily become the biggest debut ever for the franchise, topping 2019’s “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” ($55 million).
That all spells a successful stateside launch for “How to Train,” which cost $150 million to produce and is helmed by franchise director Dean DeBlois. It also shows that Universal can turn out its own live-action remakes of animated favorites. (The studio has already scheduled a sequel for June 2027.) Like Disney’s May blockbuster “Lilo & Stitch,” which pulled from a 2002 animated feature, “How to Train a Dragon” is playing on a more millennial-friendly property; the original DreamWorks Animation production opened in 2010. Reviews have been positive and early audiences think the film delivered too, as indicated by moviegoer pollster Cinema Score’s glowing “A” grade.
Meanwhile, A24 is also beating out industry projections with “Materialists,” writer-director Celine Song’s follow-up to her Oscar-nominated debut “Past Lives.” The romantic comedy, which stars Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal, earned about $5 million from 2,844 domestic venues across Friday and preview screenings. That puts it on track for a three-day showing around $12 million, north of initial forecasts for a seven-digit debut gross. It’d be A24’s third-biggest opening ever, behind “Civil War” ($25.5 million) and “Hereditary” ($13.5 million).
Critics loved “Materialists” and but it’s less of a crowdpleaser for general audiences, with Cinema Score turning in a middling “B-” grade. But at a production budget of $20 million, the A24 release is well-positioned as blockbuster counter-programming for the weeks ahead.
The top of the charts remains dominated by live-action remakes, with Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” sliding to second after spending its first three weekends at No. 1. The family-friendly feature earned another $4.7 million on Friday, down 50% from its daily total a week ago. Its domestic total is now at an impressive $355 million.
Fourth and fifth is a tighter race. Lionsgate’s R-rated actioner “Ballerina” has the edge for now, but it’s taking a serious fall in its sophomore outing. The first “John Wick” spin-off feature earned $2.35 million on Friday and is now projecting a second weekend of $8.7 million, which would be down a sizable 64% from an underwhelming $24 million debut. Total domestic gross is expected to hit $41.1 million through 10 days of release — a disappointing result for a franchise film with a $90 million production cost.
Just below is Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” which earned $2.2 million more on Friday. Total gross is projected for $165 million through Sunday, pacing ahead of its franchise predecessor “Dead Reckoning” ($151 million in the same time) but behind the prior entry “Fallout” ($181 million).
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