'How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World' Soars At International And Early Access Screenings, 'Glass' Stays Strong Domestically
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is flying high at the box office, and it hasn't even hit U.S. theaters yet. But while Glass holds strong at the domestic box office for a third weekend in a row, it better prepare to deal with a fiery competitor, as How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World rakes in millions at the overseas box office and at early access screenings.
It's three weeks away from the U.S. release of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, but expect it to blast away all the competition when it hits theaters at the end of February. The third and final film of Dreamworks' acclaimed How to Train Your Dragon franchise is already soaring at the international box office, raking in $40.2 million in 23 foreign markets this past weekend, according to Variety. It has already generated $84.4 million overseas ahead of its February 22 launch in North America. The animated film performed best at in Mexico, where it debuted with $7.7 million, followed by the United Kingdom ($6.8 million), Korea ($4.6 million), and Italy ($3.4 million).
With its massive overseas success, it broke Glass's current hold on the international box office. The M. Night Shyamalan's thriller brought in another $12.2 million from 54 foreign markets, and currently maintains its No. 1 spot at the domestic box office with a $9 million U.S. haul, but it looks like that streak won't last long after How to Train Your Dragon hits theaters.
And if foreign success is not an indicator of great domestic success for the How to Train Your Dragon The Hidden World box office, the showings at its early access screenings cement it. Deadline reports that the animated feature directed by Dean DeBlois earned $2.5 million in Universal-Fandango early access screenings Saturday. That's more than the Amazon Prime previews for Sony's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ($1.86 million) and Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation ($1.28 million).
Early access screenings have become a popular tool for studios to build buzz for a film lately, but with the success of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, it could be a potential box office predictor. The buzz is already sky-high for the final chapter in the trilogy, which currently holds a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World flies into theaters on February 22, 2019.