Kick-Ass defeats Dragon

How to Train Your Dragon was declared the weekend’s box office winner prematurely as final numbers have Kick-Ass scooping up the top box office spot. With a difference of only $200,000, it was reminiscent of a recent Dragon box office battle that saw Date Night declared last week’s box office winner.

In a repeat of last week’s early box office misfire, a morning’s worth of news stories reported the wrong winner. With the official report out, Kick-Ass hauled in $19.8 million to Dragon‘s $19.6 million. That’s not a huge lead, but certainly affords Kick-Ass the crown.

Based on the comic series Kick-Ass, the violent comedy about everyday teens-turned-superheroes had gotten a lot of hype. Many box office experts had projected the movie would bring in twice its actual opening take, but it just didn’t get the, well, Kick-Ass opening it was hoping for.

How to Train Your Dragon, meanwhile, has more than exceeded expectations in its fourth weekend. The 3-D DreamWorks Animation hit premiered in first place, but dropped to number three last week. Clearly, viewers weren’t done with it. The film has grossed $158.6 million thus far.

Based on the April 9 through 11 projected numbers, the battle for third was equally as tight as for the top spot. Steve Carell and Tina Fey’s Date Night held on with $17.3 million. The new release Death at a Funeral, with Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence and Tracy Morgan, came in a mere $300,000 behind for fourth.

Clash of the Titans took fifth with $15.7 million.

It was a big financial drop into the bottom five. The Last Songbrought in $5.8 million for sixth, while Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too? took $4.18 million for seventh.

In another hot fight for a spot, Hot Tub Time Machine ($3.545 million) came in eight, beating out Alice in Wonderland ($3.54 million) by a mere $5,000. The Bounty Hunter stayed in the game, closing out the top ten with $3.2 million.

Next week, the much anticipated release of The Losers, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Avatar‘s Zoe Saldana, hopes to take the box office crown. Jennifer Lopez’s The Back-Up Plan may inspire some ladies’ nights and also land in the top five, but the chick flick isn’t likely to take number one.