Two highly-anticipated sequels reach theaters this weekend, and both have a legitimate shot at opening north of $50 million.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is debuting at 4,253 locations, which is one of the widest releases ever. Meanwhile, comedy sequel 22 Jump Street reaches 3,306 theaters.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 flies in to theaters four years after the original How to Train Your Dragon, which opened to $43.7 million in March 2010. The movie held remarkably well from there, and wound up with $217.6 million. Outside of the Shrek series, that's the biggest total ever for a DreamWorks Animation movie. That strong hold can be chalked up to the movie's warm reception from critics and audiences: it scored an impressive 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and has a spot in the IMDb Top 250 (a rare feat for animated movies).

Considering how well-liked the first movie is, it's fair to assume that the second movie will open higher. Marketing has focused on the movie's action, which seems to be significantly bigger this time around. It's also made clear that Hiccup's mother will be involved, which is an interesting twist (though many have complained that it's a pretty big spoiler as well).

The most successful animated movies tend to have marketing campaigns that focus heavily on laughs: that was the case, at least, with recent hits Monsters University, Despicable Me 2 and The LEGO Movie. While Dragon 2's marketing does have some humor, it isn't front-and-center, which calls in to question whether it can attract the younger audience that's needed to push it to the next level.

The four-year gap between installments is also slightly concerning. The franchise has managed to stay relevant in part thanks to the DreamWorks' Dragons TV show, which has aired 40 episodes since 2012. That's a double-edged sword, though: while it keeps the brand in people's minds, it also turns the movie in to less of an event.

Still, Dragon should benefit from a lack of competition: with Pixar taking the year off, Dragon is one of only two major animated movies this Summer. While Maleficent did reach some families in the past two weekends, Dragon does seem well-positioned on the schedule. The movie is also riding strong reviews: as of Thursday afternoon, it had a 92 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Dating back to 2008, six animated movies have opened in the month of June. DreamWorks Animation's Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted had the lowest opening of the bunch—$60.3 million—and it's hard to imagine Dragon starting off below that level. At the same time, it would be surprising if it wound up close to last year's Monsters University ($82.4 million).

There is a chance that Dragon does wind up below $60 million this weekend. Fox is modestly expecting mid-to-high $40 million this weekend. Meanwhile, Fandango says Dragon is selling better than Rio 2, The Croods and Hotel Transylvania, none of which opened above $45 million.

While Dragon might not make big strides at the domestic box office, it is poised to improve immensely on the first movie's $277 million foreign total. The international marketplace has grown significantly in the past four years, and 20th Century Fox's international division is particularly adept at selling animated movies (the last two Ice Age movies earned over $690 million each).