Despite a couple of big releases hitting the US last Friday, it was How To Train Your Dragon, in its fifth weekend in cinemas, that went to the top of the box office. Although the animated hit was initially reported to have come out at number 1 last weekend, when the final tallies were added up it was Kick-Ass, but this weekend it’s a full $3 million ahead of its nearest competition.
However with a take of only $15 million, it’s more a sign of the overall weakness of the box office than anything else.
The main competition came from J-Lo’s first film in four years, the rom-com The Back-Up Plan. It failed to set the box office on fire, taking only $12.2 million in its first three days, but that was enough for a second place finish. However it did better than the other major openers. The graphic novel adaptation The Losers made only $9.6 million to land at number 4 on the list, which is likely to be seen as a disappointment after a major marketing push. The only other opener in the top 10 was the documentary Oceans, which came out last Wednesday, just in time for Earth Day. It made $6 million over the weekend, which is incredibly good for a non-fiction film.
While the makers of Kick-Ass had hoped strong word of mouth would keep it alive at the box office, that hasn’t happened and it dropped 51% in its second weekend in US cinemas. However with low production costs of only around $30 million, it’s still likely to take a profit.
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of April 23rd-25th.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | How To Train Your Dragon | $15.0 | $178.0 |
| 2 | The Back-Up Plan | $12.2 | $12.2 |
| 3 | Date Night | $10.6 | $63.4 |
| 4 | The Losers | $9.6 | $9.6 |
| 5 | Kick-Ass | $9.5 | $34.8 |
| 6 | Clash Of The Titans | $9.0 | $145.6 |
| 7 | Death At A Funeral | $8.0 | $28.4 |
| 8 | Oceans | $6.0 | $8.4 |
| 9 | The Last Song | $3.7 | $55.3 |
| 10 | Alice In Wonderland | $2.2 | $327.4 |