Dragon's Hold

B.O. Mojo displays and explains the numbers:

Weekly Report: ... How to Train Your Dragon dropped 34 percent to $30.1 million. ... For the second week in a row, How to Train Your Dragon had the best hold of any nationwide release, though its 34 percent week-to-week drop was more severe than its 14 percent weekend dip. This is mainly attributable to the Easter holiday boosting mid-week numbers last week: Dragon's Monday-Thursday grosses were down 68 percent. Through three weeks, Dragons sits at $138.6 million, off $11 million from Monsters Vs. Aliens at the same point last year.

HTTYD has steadily closed on Monsters vs. Aliens domestic numbers since its tepid opening weekend. The feature likely stands a good chance of passing MvA's stateside gross in the next seven to fourteen days.

A few stats: Monsters ended its run with 52% of its worldwide total ($381.5 million) coming from U.S. and Canadian theaters.

Dragon reverses that, with 46% of a $300.5 million take (so far) coming from Canada and the U.S. and Canada.

HTTYD has had strong legs, which can be attributed to a solid story structure and first-rate execution. We can blame its under-powered opening on a publicity and advertising campaign that didn't click until it was rejiggered a week before Dragon's premiere. (Add to that a crowded 3-D field. Monsters, by contrast, had the -- somewhat smaller -- 3-D racetrack to itself*.)

* It's always fun to armchair quarterback after the fact. If DreamWorks Animation's latest had opened with a $70 million haul, I'd be saying how the savvy promotional campaign really kicked the movie into overdrive ...