LOS ANGELES  — How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World has topped the North American box office for a second straight weekend, losing a bit of altitude but still edging the latest Tyler Perry film, according to industry estimates.

Universal’s final installment in the Dragon trilogy is expected to earn US$30 million for the three-day weekend, down 45 percent from last weekend but still bringing its North American total earnings to nearly $100 million, Exhibitor Relations reported yesterday.

The movie, voiced by Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett and F Murray Abraham, recounts the tale of young Hiccup and his dragon Toothless as they go in search of a hidden world reputed to be a dragon’s utopia.

Lionsgate’s release of A Madea Family Funeral marks the end of a highly profitable 15-year Madea franchise, according to producer/director Tyler Perry, one of the highest-earning men in the entertainment world.

Funeral, with Perry again playing the tough, elderly title character, took in an estimated $27.1 million, pushing the total earnings of all Madea movies past the half-billion-dollar mark, according to the Box Office Mojo website.

In third place, down one spot from last weekend, was Fox’s Alita: Battle Angel, at $7 million. It now has worldwide earnings of $350 million. The sci-fi fantasy stars Rosa Salazar as a nearly human cyborg who has lost her memory.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part from Warner Bros. placed fourth at $6.6 million. The animated tale about an apocalyptic toyland features the voices of Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks and Will Arnett.

In fifth place  — after the big bounce that only a best-film Oscar can provide  — was Universal’s Green Book, taking in $4.7 million in its 16th weekend out. Its total foreign and domestic earnings are just under $150 million.

The film tells the tale of a celebrated black pianist (played by Mahershala Ali, who won a best-supporting-actor Oscar) and his white driver (Viggo Mortensen, who got a best-actor nomination) as they tour the segregated American South in the 1960s.  — AFP