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With two major sequels hitting theatres this weekend, it was a foregone conclusion that box office numbers would be impressive.  What was much less conclusive was which of those two sequels would ultimately wind up in first place.  Between How to Train Your Dragon 2 and 22 Jump Street, most box office watchers had their money on DreamWorks’ Dragon for first.  See how much we know?  In what is shaping up to be one of the biggest debuts ever for an R-rated comedy, Sony’s 22 Jump Street began its run with an estimated $25 million from 3,306 locations.  How to Train Your Dragon 2 opened in almost 1,000 more locations but came in second with an estimated $18.5 million.

Details and Friday’s top five after the jump.

Back in March of 2012, the big screen adaptation of 21 Jump Street took in over $36 million on its debut weekend.  That was a big deal at the time, and Sony quickly announced that stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill would return for a sequel.  With worldwide grosses of over $200 million, 21 Jump Street was a big enough hit to guarantee that sequel a summer opening; though Sony remained cautious, announcing that they were expecting no more than $50 million this weekend.  Instead, 22 Jump Street is now on track for over $60 million through Sunday.  If realized, that will make it the second-biggest R-rated comedy debut of all time, behind 2011’s The Hangover Part II.

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For what is widely expected to be one of the biggest titles of the summer, the opening day of How to Train Your Dragon 2 was a bit underwhelming.  The sequel to 2010’s surprise blockbuster earned $18.5 million from a giant 4,253 locations, which points to a three-day total of $53 million.  That’s far below the $70 million that many of us projected, though still an improvement over the original film’s $43.7 million.

For its part, Fox played it safe by announcing they were expecting no more than $50 million.  Even if the sequel gets showed up by Jump Street in its domestic debut, the studio should feel safe in their long-range prospects.  Like this year’s Frozen, the original How to Train Your Dragon became a hit by maintaining excellent holds week after week – and with virtually no competition this summer, there’s no reason to believe the sequel won’t fly even higher.

  Title

Friday

Total

1.

  22 Jump Street

$25,000,000

$25

2.

  How to Train Your Dragon 2

$18,500,000

$18.5

3.

  The Fault in Our Stars

$6,350,000

$72.3

4.

  Maleficent

$5,844,000

$150.3

5.

  Edge of Tomorrow

$4,560,000

$45