Moviegoers got a 3D lesson in pet care at the theaters this pre-Easter weekend with How to Train Your Dragon [HTRYD]. The DreamWorks Animation film opened with an impressive $43.3 million at the box office. The film unspooled in 3D format in 2,178 of its 4,055 theaters. With the Easter holiday and spring break season, How to Train Your Dragon should have good legs for the coming weeks.
Alice in Wonderland [ALCNW] fell to second place behind Dragon. The Tim Burton [TBURT]/Johnny Depp [JDEPP] extravaganza took in another $17.28 million. The film lost many of its 3D screenings to Dragon.
In third place is the weekend’s other new release Hot Tub Time Machine [HOTUB]. The MGM R-rated farce had much buzz and opened the weekend with $13.65 million. It seems the 3D film outed this one from the top stop and in overall box office earnings. The ensemble comedy starred John Cusack [JCUSA], Rob Corddry [RCORD] and Craig Robinson [CROBI] as three buddies who get zapped back in time to their womanizing days. Their means of transport is a Hot Tub.
Jennifer Aniston [JANIS] is still on the run from her ex Gerard Butler [GBUTL] in the romantic comedy The Bounty Hunter [BOUNT]. The film took in another $12.40 million to finish in fourth place.
Finally, youngsters are still keen on reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid [WIMPY] from Fox. The film came in at fifth place this weekend with $10 million.
| Rank | TITLE | F-S-S | TOTAL |
| 1 | HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON | $43,300,000 | $43,300,000 |
| 2 | ALICE IN WONDERLAND | $17,284,000 | $293,111,000 |
| 3 | HOT TUB TIME MACHINE | $13,650,000 | $13,650,000 |
| 4 | THE BOUNTY HUNTER | $12,400,000 | $38,812,000 |
| 5 | DIARY OF A WIMPY KID | $10,000,000 | $35,776,429 |
| 6 | SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE | $3,526,000 | $25,601,000 |
| 7 | GREEN ZONE | $3,349,670 | $30,440,195 |
| 8 | SHUTTER ISLAND | $3,175,000 | $120,600,000 |
| 9 | REPO MEN | $3,047,990 | $11,342,205 |
| 10 | OUR FAMILY WEDDING | $2,200,000 | $16,785,923 |
| 11 | AVATAR | $2,015,000 | $740,408,054 |
| 12 | REMEMBER ME | $1,900,000 |
$17,001,142 |
Tag(s): HTRYD, ALCNW, TBURT, JDEPP, HOTUB, RCORD, CROBI, JANIS, GBUTL, BOUNT, WIMPY