‘How to Train Your Dragon’ claws its way back to the top of the box office

‘Dragon’ conquers box office once more

LOS ANGELES — “How to Train Your Dragon” scratched and clawed its way back to the top of the box office, earning about $15.4 million in its fifth week of release.

The family adventure from DreamWorks Animation opened at No. 1 in March, then fell back for a few weeks before returning to first place, according to final studio numbers Monday. It topped new releases including “The Back-up Plan,” the Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy from CBS Films, which opened weakly at No. 2 with just over $12 million.

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:

1. “How to Train Your Dragon,” Paramount-DreamWorks Animation, $15,350,213, 3,665 locations, $4,188 average, $178,345,927, five weeks.

2. “The Back-up Plan,” CBS Films, $12,201,710, 3,280 locations, $3,720 average, $12,201,710, one week.

3. “Date Night,” Fox, $10,461,223, 3,294 locations, $3,176 average, $63,332,819, three weeks.

4. “The Losers,” Warner Bros., $9,406,348, 2,936 locations, $3,204 average, $9,406,348, one week.

5. “Kick-Ass,” Lionsgate, $9,342,398, 3,065 locations, $3,048 average, $34,708,222, two weeks.

6. “Clash of the Titans,” Warner Bros., $8,924,180, 3,271 locations, $2,728 average, $145,563,557, four weeks.

7. “Death at a Funeral,” Sony Screen Gems, $8,022,762, 2,459 locations, $3,263 average, $28,471,939, two weeks.

8. “Oceans,” Disneynature, $6,058,958, 1,206 locations, $5,024 average, $8,525,488, one week.

9. “The Last Song,” Disney, $3,760,816, 2,794 locations, $1,346 average, $55,459,487, four weeks.

10. “Alice in Wonderland,” Disney, $2,264,097, 1,385 locations, $1,635 average, $327,537,023, eight weeks.

11. “Hot Tub Time Machine,” MGM, $2,007,125, 1,787 locations, $1,123 average, $45,730,500, five weeks.

12. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” Fox, $1,886,464, 1,605 locations, $1,175 average, $59,628,408, six weeks.

13. “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?,” Lionsgate, $1,727,505, 1,251 locations, $1,381 average, $57,484,421, four weeks.

14. “The Bounty Hunter,” Sony, $1,570,695, 1,581 locations, $993 average, $62,742,023, six weeks.

15. “Avatar,” Fox, $920,204, 438 locations, $2,101 average, $746,365,137, 19 weeks.

16. “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” Music Box Films , $621,749, 181 locations, $3,435 average, $3,886,128, six weeks.

17. “The Ghost Writer,” Summit, $497,257, 445 locations, $1,117 average, $13,984,486, 10 weeks.

18. “Hubble 3D,” Warner Bros., $394,977, 47 locations, $8,404 average, $3,928,045, six weeks.

19. “The Secret in Their Eyes” Sony Pictures Classics, $360,056, 33 locations, $10,911 average, $592,864, two weeks.

20. “City Island,” Anchor Bay, $314,007, 77 locations, $4,078 average, $1,240,311, six weeks.

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.