Paramount scored another hit at the North American Box Office with No Strings Attached starring Natalie Portman. The sole wide release for this weekend easily topped a box office that continues to lag 27% behind last year’s numbers thanks to a combination of brutally cold winter weather, NFL Playoffs, a so-so selection of films and, of course, the continued absence of an event picture like James Cameron’s Avatar.
It really is good to be Natalie Portman these days. She has the Best Actress Oscar pretty much sewn up with her hit thriller Black Swan, she recently became engaged and pregnant (congrats on both, Nat) and now, she has a number one hit with the Paramount romantic comedy No Strings Attached. Directed by Ivan Reitman and produced for a moderate $25 million, the R-rated comedy that co-stars Aston Kutcher arrived on 3,018 screens to score a solid $20.3 million in its first three days.
The lack of romantic comedies in the marketplace, combined with Portman’s recent surge in popularity thanks to Swan, provided a perfect window of opportunity for Paramount to debut the film. Reviews were mixed but fans of Portman and Kutcher as well as those couples looking for a date night movie of a romantic favor could care less about what the critics had to say. A whopping 70 percent of the audience consisted of women over the age of twenty.
In second place for the weekend with an estimated $18 million from 3,584 screens was last weekend’s number one film, Sony’s 3D action comedy The Green Hornet. Off a respectable 46% from last weekend (credit those 3D and IMAX ticket prices for cushioning the fall), the Seth Rogen film has amassed a solid $63.4 million in its first ten days and, depending on how it holds over the next few weeks, could finish near the $100 million mark.
Ron Howard’s critically-panned comedy The Dilemma also sustained an acceptable drop (47%) from its mediocre bow with an estimated $9.4 million from 2,943 screens for a new ten-day total of $33 million. The Universal film is on track to finish up with an underwhelming $50-55 million in domestic sales, a far cry below what leads Vince Vaughn and Kevin James normally see from comedies they star in.
If it’s good to be Natalie Portman these days, it’s really great to be The King. The Weinstein Company’s breakout hit The King’s Speech added 100 screens to its distribution (up to 1,680) while taking advantage of lead Colin Firth’s Golden Globe win for Best Actor and very strong word-of-mouth from viewers. The Oscar contender lost no ground from last weekend’s haul, adding $9.1 million to bring its overall domestic total to $58.6 million so far. The film also won the coveted Producer’s Guild award for Best Picture Saturday night which gives the drama a far stronger chance of nabbing Best Picture at the Academy Awards than previously thought. Should that happen, the box office could double its current gross quite easily.
Still hanging tough in fifth place for its fifth weekend was Paramount’s True Grit. Rooster Cogburn and company rode the box office range to the tune of $8 million which brings its total to the $138.3 million mark. In sixth place was Natalie Portman’s other top ten hit Black Swan with $6.2 million and a new to-date total of $83 million. Portman’s recent Golden Globe win for Best Actress helped keep traffic streaming in prior to the Oscar nomination announcements this week. Paramount’s “The Fighter” kept its gloves swinging in seventh place thanks to Christian’s Bale Golden Globe win for Best Supporting Actor. Off a mere 11%, the sports drama added an estimated $4.5 million to bring its total to $73 million. The film still has a shot at reaching the $90-95 million mark depending on how it does at the Oscars.
Rounding out the top ten were three holiday hits. Warner’s 3D family hit Yogi Bear fell slightly (off 24%) to land $4 million to bring its total to the $89 million. Yogi and Booboo should finish their trip to the box office with a solid $95-100 million domestically. In ninth was Universal’s holiday comedy hit Little Fockers which ebbed 44% to add $3.9 million from 2,979 screens to bring its overall total to the $141 million. In tenth spot was Disney’s sci-fi hit Tron: Legacy with $3.7 from 2,018 screens in its seventh weekend. Off 34%, the other Jeff Bridges film in the top ten has earned a big $163.2 million to date domestically. The sequel should finish its domestic run around the $170 million mark and be announced for Blu-ray and DVD within the next month or so.
Next weekend, CBS Films debuts the 2011 remake of the Charles Bronson 1970s starrer The Mechanic starring Jason Statham and Ben Foster, while Warner Brothers (via New Line) opens the Anthony Hopkins thriller The Rite.
– Shawn Fitzgerald
