‘Kick-Ass’ claims No. 1 box-office spot in photo finish with ‘How to Train Your Dragon’

‘Kick-Ass’ claims No. 1 spot over ‘Dragon’

LOS ANGELES — The top movies at the weekend box office have flip-flopped again, with the superhero comedy “Kick-Ass” edging out the animated adventure “How to Train Your Dragon.”

Final studio numbers Monday have Lionsgate’s “Kick-Ass” at No. 1 with $19.8 million. DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon,” distributed by Paramount, ran a close No. 2 with $19.6 million.

On Sunday, Paramount had estimated “How to Train Your Dragon” took in $20 million, good enough for the No. 1 spot, but the final number came in $400,000 lower.

The same thing happened the previous weekend, when 20th Century Fox’s “Date Night” was reported as No. 1 based on Sunday estimates. Final numbers Monday gave the box-office victory to the Warner Bros. release “Clash of the Titans.”

1. “Kick-Ass,” Lionsgate, $19,828,687, 3,065 locations, $6,469 average, $19,828,687, one week.

2. “How to Train Your Dragon,” Paramount-DreamWorks Animation, $19,633,320, 3,825 locations, $5,133 average, $158,251,066, four weeks.

3. “Date Night,” Fox, $16,720,038, 3,380 locations, $4,947 average, $48,666,799, two weeks.

4. “Death at a Funeral,” Sony Screen Gems, $16,217,540, 2,459 locations, $6,595 average, $16,217,540, one week.

5. “Clash of the Titans,” Warner Bros., $15,385,491, 3,753 locations, $4,100 average, $132,600,220, three weeks.

6. “The Last Song,” Disney, $5,962,916, 2,767 locations, $2,155 average, $50,187,855, three weeks.

7. “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?”, Lionsgate, $4,098,898, 1,859 locations, $2,205 average, $54,801,812, three weeks.

8. “Alice in Wonderland,” Disney, $3,656,442, 2,024 locations, $1,807 average, $324,131,301, seven weeks.

9. “Hot Tub Time Machine,” MGM, $3,490,471, 2,308 locations, $1,512 average, $42,449,935, four weeks.

10. “The Bounty Hunter,” Sony, $3,084,020, 2,475 locations, $1,246 average, $60,261,888, five weeks.

11. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” Fox, $2,790,042, 2,142 locations, $1,303 average, $57,090,186, five weeks.

12. “Avatar,” Fox, $1,002,814, 500 locations, $2,006 average, $745,023,267, 18 weeks.

13. “The Ghost Writer,” Summit, $681,271, 480 locations, $1,419 average, $13,251,944, nine weeks.

14. “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” Music Box Films , $631,021, 152 locations, $4,151 average, $3,026,200, five weeks.

15. “Letters to God,” Vivendi, $620,580, 714 locations, $869 average, $2,020,830, two weeks.

16. “Shutter Island,” Paramount, $522,049, 602 locations, $867 average, $125,800,945, nine weeks.

17. “The Perfect Game,” Slowhand Releasing, $510,000, 417 locations, $1,223 average, $510,000, one week.

18. “The Joneses,” Roadside Attractions, $509,689, 193 locations, $2,641 average, $509,689, one week.

19. “Greenberg,” Focus, $320,111, 172 locations, $1,861 average, $3,400,874, five weeks.

20. “Hubble 3D,” Warner Bros., $307,794, 41 locations, $7,507 average, $3,279,965, five weeks.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

On the Net:

www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney’s parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

Eds: CORRECTS total for “Shutter Island” in 20th graf. Moving on financial and entertainment services.