Los Angeles, June 22, 2025 – The North American box office is buzzing with excitement as three big movies, Sony’s horror sequel 28 Years Later, Pixar’s new animated adventure Elio, and Universal’s live-action How to Train Your Dragon, fight for viewers this packed summer. Early reports show 28 Years Later made $5.8 million in Thursday previews, and Elio earned $3 million in previews, paving the way for a competitive weekend where only one film is expected to reign supreme, the fire breathing How to Train Your Dragon.
A Three-Way Battle at the Box Office
How to Train Your Dragon is expected to stay on top at the box office this weekend, with experts saying it could bring in another $35 to $43 million, but the real excitement is in the battle for second place between 28 Years Later and Elio. Both films have lots of people talking, though it won’t be easy to beat the popular one already making money.
28 Years Later is the much-anticipated follow-up to the cult zombie hit, with Danny Boyle directing and Alex Garland writing. The film’s Thursday preview gross was 5.8 million dollars, making it one of the strongest horror previews this year, even though it still fell behind the genre hit Final Destination Bloodlines, which had a 5.5-million-dollar preview and went on to open with a franchise record of 51.6 million.
Industry experts point out that horror films tend to draw big audiences right away, but that buzz dies down soon after. 28 Years Later is expected to bring in around $28 million to $30 million when it hits theaters, and some experts say it might even cross $35 million if people keep talking about it. The movie has won over critics, getting a big 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, the highest score the series has ever had in 23 years. But the audience seems less impressed, giving it a 67% score, which shows there might be a gap between what critics love and what regular viewers enjoy.
Elio’s Cosmic Adventure Lands with a Bang
Pixar’s Elio, however, is taking a more hopeful route for fresh animated movies in a market that’s mostly full of sequels and remakes. Directed by Adrian Molina, Madeline Sharafian, and Domee Shi, the film earned 3 million in preview screenings, ahead of Elemental which did 2.4 million, Wish with 2.3 million, and The Wild Robot reaching 2 million. Getting an “A” CinemaScore, the film stands beside Inside Out 2, Toy Story, and Finding Dory, showing strong approval from audiences and good chances for a long run in theaters.
As one industry insider said, “The most effective promotion for Elio is the film itself,” which points out how hard it has become to release fresh animated films in such a packed market. Elio is expected to open in the 27 to 32-million-dollar range here in the US with global hopes set above 50 million for the weekend.
With a big budget of $150 million, the film needs to keep attracting viewers to earn back its cost, but early signs are good, like an 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, hinting it could repeat what Elemental did by making $154.4 million in the US despite a slow start.
Behind the Scenes: Themes, Tensions, and Trilogies
Viewers are as curious about 28 Years Later’s storytelling as they are about how well it might do in theaters. In a recent talk, Alex Garland, the film’s writer, said, “One of the things we’re doing in this is shortening the distance between the humans and the infected. We’re acknowledging that they’re not different from us. They have an illness which a doctor would look at in a different way to the way we would instinctively react to it.” He wants people to see the infected more like sick people than scary monsters. Inspired by old coming-of-age movies such as Kes, Garland and Boyle filled their horror with real emotions and social hints.
The film shows that the infected aren’t some spooky zombies but just people hit by a virus, making it hard to see who’s really different. “If you analyze the films closely, this rage exists within all of us,” Boyle noted. It’s not portrayed as a disease that afflicts outsiders; it’s not something they have that we don’t. Every character showcases a part of this potential within themselves.”
With such deep meaning and 28 years since the first outbreak, the filmmakers can show how people remember, mix up, or ignore parts of the past.
Garland added, “For me, it’s about how in the past 10 to 15 years we’ve increasingly focused on looking backward rather than forward, reminiscing about how things used to be. But when we delve deeper, we must consider how much of that is due to selective amnesia, ignoring certain aspects of the past, misremembering events, or simply cherry-picking memories.”
Looking Ahead: Box Office and Beyond
As the weekend unfolds, How to Train Your Dragon should remain number one, while its live action version has already earned over two hundred million dollars globally. The fight for second place between 28 Years Later and Elio will be something to watch closely, as both movies show brave creative moves in a market that often goes for what people already know. Both movies have great early numbers, solid reviews, and deep stories, so they’re ready to shake up not just the box office, but also the bigger talk about what’s next for films.
