The Rite starring Anthony Hopkins had an okay opening to land in first place while the Jason Statham remake of the Charles Bronson action flick The Mechanic didn’t rev up too many filmgoers engines in its first three days at this past weekend’s box office. While the top ten this weekend was up 6% over last weekend, the box office continued to lag from last year (15%) at this time.
If he could scare the daylights out of us as a well-mannered cannibal, why not a possessed priest? That is exactly what Sir Anthony Hopkins did to those who attended Warner/New Line’s The Rite this weekend, debuting on 2,985 screens for a an estimated $15 million. Directed by Michael Hafstrom (1408) and co-starring Alice Braga, Ciaran Hinds and Rutger Hauer, The Rite received largely negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes (17%). The $38 million production is based on the novel ‘The Making of a Modern Exorcist’ by Matt Baglio.
After an okay bow last weekend to the tune of $19.6 million, the Natalie Portman and Aston Kutcher romantic comedy No Strings Attached held up very nicely on its second date with moviegoers, apparently benefiting from positive word-of-mouth from opening weekend crowds. The Ivan Reitman-directed comedy eased a mere 30% to an estimated $13.65 million from 3,022 screens to bring its ten-day total to $39.7 million. Produced for $25 million, the comedy could see a nice little spike come Valentine’s Day and make it to the $70 million mark.
Two action-oriented films tied for third place, each with an estimated $11.5 million take. CBS Films opted to use this quiet sports weekend (well, quiet until today that is) to lure male viewers back into theaters with its remake of The Mechanic. The remake of the Charles Bronson and Jan Michael Vincent action thriller, now starring Jason Statham and Ben Foster, launched on 2,703 screens and averaged an okay $4,255 per screen. Directed by Simon West (Con Air) and co-starring Donald Sutherland, The Mechanic received a 48% approval from the nation’s critics on Rotten Tomatoes but should prove profitable since CBS Films apparently only dished out a mere $5 million for domestic distribution rights.
The Mechanic tied for third with Sony’s action comedy hit The Green Hornet whose three-week total now stands at approximately $79 million. The Seth Rogen-starrer may make it to the $100 million threshold thanks to those two saving graces of any film these days, 3D and IMAX surcharges.
It won the Producers Guild award for Best Picture a week ago and its director, Tom Hooper (John Adams) nabbed Best Director last night at the Director’s Guild Award. So what else does The King’s Speech need to keep its regal box office earnings rolling in? How about a dozen Academy Award nominations? While the awards make the film pretty much the movie to beat at the Oscars, the number of nominations and viewer word-of-mouth are helping the movie become a blockbuster. Now on 2,557 screens and up 41% from last weekend, the Colin Firth/Geoffrey Rush drama nabbed $11.1 million this weekend for a new to-date gross of $72.2 million. The movie should have no problem cruising past the $100 million mark domestically.
Nabbing ten nominations of its own, including a Best Picture nod, was Paramount’s True Grit. Given that the movie has been a box office monster long before the nominations were announced, the financial spike wasn’t as big for True Grit as it was The King’s Speech. Still, the movie added another $7.3 million to its coffers, up four percent from last weekend, to bring its domestic total to a superb $149 million. Pre-inflation adjustment, the Coen Brothers Western is currently the second-highest grossing genre picture of all time right behind 1990’s Dances With Wolves.
Universal’s comedy The Dilemma was off 40% in round three to land in seventh while adding $6.1 million from 2,901 screens to bring its total to the $40.6 million mark. A $50-55 million final gross is possible for the Ron Howard flick. Fox Searchlight’s Oscar contender Black Swan actually lost a bit of steam post-Oscar nominations, albeit a very small amount (-13.1%). Landing in eighth place in its ninth weekend of release, the movie added another $5.1 million to its domestic total, which now stands at $91 million. The movie should pass the $100 million mark within the next two weeks.
Rounding out the top ten were two holiday holdover hits, one an Oscar contender and the other decidedly not. Paramount’s sports drama The Fighter scored seven nominations and added another $4 million to its total, which now stands at the $78.7 million mark. Depending on how it does on February 25th, the film could still go the box office distance to earn $95 million domestically. In tenth place with a modest drop of 17% was Warner’s 3D family comedy Yogi Bear. Despite its wobbly pre-Christmas start, the movie has outlasted most of its box office competition from the holidays. With another $3.1 million in the bank, the domestic total for Yogi, Booboo and Ranger Smith now stands at a healthy $93 million.
For Super Bowl weekend, Screen Gems will roll out Single White Female 2011, I mean, The Roommate on 2,400 screens while Universal debuts the James Cameron-produced 3D drama Sanctum on 2,700 screens.
– Shawn Fitzgerald
