The song goes, there’s nothing like a dragon.
Just ask HBO. They’ve been dragon the line for years with “Game of Thrones” and “House of the Dragon” (the latter is not a Chinese restaurant).
So Universal’s live action reboot of “How to Train Your Dragon” went through the roof this weekend. Total $83 million. Should hit $100 million by mid week. Sequels being written now.
“Dragon” doesn’t have any stars except Gerard Butler. Everyone else, no one’s heard of. Mason Thames? Hello?
But it’s those titled creatures. Played right, they bring in the eyes. And cash. God bless. You’d think there would be a union for them by now. (Why am I sounding like Cindy Adams right now?)
Not dancing is the John Wick movie “Ballerina.” The poor thing attempted a jeté and fell flat. Ouch! No more twirls despite Ana de Armas being pawned off as Tom Cruise’s girlfriend in tabloids. Totals fell 63% from last week. Maybe modern dance was the way to go.
Elsewhere, “The Materialists” made $12 million, third highest opening for A24. But now what? Audience score fell to 69% on Rotten Tomatoes. People are liking it less once they see it. Doesn’t bode well. This is one we’ll be keeping an eye on.
This coming week: “28 Years Later,” from Danny Boyle and Alex Garland. Big cast including the probable next James Bond, Aaron Taylor Johnson. This should be a big opening weekend if Sony Pictures plays it right. And for Sony, no Spider Man involved is a big deal!
