'Wonderland' Slain by 'Dragon'

Paramount & DreamWorks' mega-budgeted 3D animated film How To Train Your Dragon started its run with a strong (but not record-breaking) $43.3 million this weekend.  With a $165 million budget, their timing is perfect; much of the target audience is on Spring Break and the Easter long weekend is coming up.  As is the norm these days for tent pole pictures, much of the gross came from 3D and IMAX 3D screens.

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's Alice In Wonderland fell to second place, dropping by half to $17.3 million.  The picture also lost more than 300 of its 3D screens to Dreamworks' upstart.  Don't feel too bad for Burton and Depp, though; Wonderland has brought in $293 million so far, and another $363 million overseas.  Expect the fantasy picture to take another hit this weekend as Clash of the Titans takes even more of its lucrative 3D screens.

MGM's John Cusack film Hot Tub Time Machine opened softly, with $13.6 million in its opening weekend.  With a modest $36 million budget and a holiday weekend coming up, the film should become profitable, but won't likely be a runaway hit like The Hangover.

The Bounty Hunter with Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler fell 40% to $12.4 million in its second weekend for a cumulative gross of $38.8 million over its first two weekends.  With a $40 million budget, it'll be in the black by the end of the Easter weekend.

Finally, in fifth place is Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  The picture fell 54% in its second weekend, with its target audience being dragged away to Dreamworks' heavily marketed dragon movie.  With another $10 million this weekend, the film has brought in $35 million against its $15 million budget so far.