With movie ticket prices rising almost as frequently as Nicholas Cage makes movies, it’s no wonder that theater attendance is down 12 percent from the same time last year. Despite this drop, there are still some things that never change. A good animated film will always make money, studios love making sequels (especially in 3-D) and James Cameron will find a way to make more money. Here’s what’s going on right now in film.

BOX OFFICE RECAP

Last week’s box office hero, “Kick-Ass” got its ass kicked and the new action flick “The Losers” fittingly lost, as “How to Train Your Dragon” soared back into the top spot and gobbled up $15.4 million over the weekend. It’s quite rare for a film to open No. 1 and then regain that position weeks later, so attribute its success to both positive word-of-mouth and an extremely weak crop of other films opening. This was by far the lowest-grossing weekend of the year.

“Kick-Ass” earned a mere $9.3 million, plummeting all the way to fifth place in what has been perhaps the most disappointing performance by a film so far this year. Getting generally positive reviews, it looks like the film has suffered from poor marketing, which advertised it as a straightforward action-comedy instead of a Tarantino-esque flick filled with over-the-top violence and obscenities. The critically panned rom-com “The Back-up Plan” opened in second place with $12.2 million, while “The Losers” settled for fourth place with $9.4 million.

MOVIE NEWS

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones have reportedly both agreed to don their black suits and Ray-Bans one more time for a third “Men in Black” film. Barry Sonnenfeld will direct once again and Sony plans to release it in 3-D. Hopefully Sonnenfeld will improve upon the horrendous “Men in Black 2” because that’s one movie that nobody would have minded having their memory “flashy-thinged” after viewing.

In a not-so-surprising move, Lionsgate has announced that there will be another movie in the gross-out horror franchise “Saw” and it will be in 3-D. “Saw VII 3-D” will bring back Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) from the first film and will be about a group of survivors from previous Jigsaw traps who seek the support of another mysterious survivor. It’s pretty safe to assume, though, that plot will take second billing to gruesome death traps and sharp objects obnoxiously flying out of the screen.

“Avatar” already holds the record for the highest-grossing film of all time, but it has now become the fastest-selling home video release in history as well. What is not very shocking is that it has claimed this title, but rather how fast it has broken the old record, held by “The Dark Knight.” “Avatar” has sold four million DVDs and 2.7 million Blu-Ray discs in just four days. That’s right, four days. With sales totaling $130 million, James Cameron should be able to afford to charter a spaceship to Pandora.