'Dragon' kicks 'Kick-Ass' to box office curb

'Dragon' kicks 'Kick-Ass' to box office curb If only "Kick-Ass" had been in 3-D maybe we would have had a different outcome.DVD Ripper But instead, the DreamWorks Animated 3-D flick "How to Train Your Dragon" squeezed out a surprise come-from-behind first-place finish with an estimated $20 million take in its fourth weekend in release.

Falling only 20 percent, "Dragon's" total now stands at $158.6 million; a dearth of competing kids' movies has been beneficial to the well-reviewed Viking flick.

Lionsgate's "Kick-Ass" grossed an estimated $19.75 million for a second place spot. (With estimates showing spots one and two separated by a remarkably small $250,000, Monday's final results may give us a different outcome.) In 3,065 theaters, "Kick-Ass" averaged $6,445, not a bad debut for a film that only cost $28 million to make, but not reaching the high expectations for the film, which has been gathering buzz among the fan boys for the last month.

In fact, the movie only generated a B from Cinemascore, suggesting that some audiences aren't quite getting director Matthew Vaughn's irreverent take on the superhero genre. The R rating may have also depressed the film's box office, keeping its core fan base of teen boys out of the ticket lines.

Third place belonged to holdover "Date Night," which grossed $17.3 million, or only a 31 percent drop -- quite strong for a comedy that generated middling reviews when it opened last weekend.DVD Ripper The PG-13 rated flick from director Shawn Levy ("Night at the Museum") has now grossed close to $50 million after ten days of release.

Chris Rock's R-rated comedy "Death at a Funeral" grossed an estimated $16.4 million. The remake of the 2007 British film of the same name bowed to strong reviews, and a B+ Cinemascore, so perhaps it will hold strong in coming weeks. From director Neil LaBute, "Death" only cost $21 million to make and generated the highest per-screen average in the top ten with $6,913. Spot five went to "Clash of the Titans," which grossed an additional $15.7 million. The movie fell 41 percent in its third week of release, and its gross now stands at $133 million.

"The Last Song" took 6th place with $5.8 million, bringng its total to around $50 million, while "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too" earned 7th spot with $4.1 million and a total of $54.8 million.

"Hot Tub Time Machine" is hanging in there, neck-and-neck with "Alice in Wonderland" for 8th. Both films have grossed around $3.5 million for the weekend. For "Hot Tub," it was a drop of just 35 percent in its fourth week of release, raising its gross to $42.5 million.

"Alice," in its seventh weekend, has now earned an impressive $324 million.

"The Bounty Hunter" rounds out the top 10; the Jennifer Aniston-Gerard Butler starrer has now earned $60 million after adding another $3.2 million in its fifth weekend of release.