Holiday holdovers True Grit and Little Fockers swapped positions atop the North American box office as new releases were met with modest business. Kidpics suffered the worst declines coming off of the New Year’s holiday session while awards hopefuls held up the best as audiences caught up on buzzworthy films getting the most acclaim. Overall it was a sluggish session with the top ten slumping to the worst showing in 11 years for the first weekend of January.
The Golden Globes snubbed the Western True Grit but moviegoers sent it across the $100M mark this weekend as the Coen brothers hit dropped only 39% in its third frame for an estimated $15M take. Paramount’s critically acclaimed drama rose to $110.4M becoming the first film ever from the Oscar-winning brothers to join the century club. After two weeks in the number two position, the Jeff Bridges-Matt Damon film finally seized control of the box office crown and expects to keep the momentum going in the weeks ahead, especially with Academy Award nominations set to be announced soon.
Taking the silver medal after winning two golds was Universal’s comedy threequel Little Fockers which fell 47% to an estimated $13.8M raising the total to $124M in 19 days. The latest installment is running 39% behind the pace of its predecessor Meet the Fockers which remained at number one this same weekend six years ago with a much stronger $28.5M which put it over the $200M mark.
The new Nicolas Cage adventure film Season of the Witch debuted in third place with an estimated $10.7M from 2,816 locations for a mild $3,809 average. Crucified by film critics, the PG-13 tale of Medieval knights transporting an accused witch was the first release for Relativity Media for its own production. The $40M-budgeted pic skewed to an older male audience with 52% being men and 61% over 25. A poor C+ CinemaScore grade indicates a rocky road ahead.
The action pic TRON: Legacy followed in fourth with an estimated $9.8M, off 48%, giving Disney $147.9M to date. Overseas, the tally for the 3D effects flick rose to $143.2M for a global haul of $291.1M.
Audiences continue to find the ballet thriller Black Swan which enjoyed the lowest drop of any wide release with a scant 6% dip to an estimated $8.4M in its sixth weekend. The Fox Searchlight release has collected an impressive $61.5M to date. With its incredible legs plus anticipated boosts from the Martin Luther King holiday frame, possible Golden Globe wins, and definite Academy Award nominations, the Natalie Portman pic stands to reach a much bigger audience in the weeks ahead on its way past the $100M mark. Swan will add more than 400 theaters to its run on Friday putting it into over 2,000 locations for the first time. The unorthodox movie is becoming the “it film” of the season going beyond the traditional arthouse crowd.
The Gwyneth Paltrow music drama Country Strong went national after a platform bow two weeks ago and grossed an estimated $7.3M from 1,424 theaters for a decent $5,126 average. Critics were mostly unkind to the PG-13 story of a washed up country singer trying to fix her life up. According to studio research, 73% of the audience was female and 51% was over 30. The CinemaScore grade was a moderate B+.
A pair of awards contenders with solid holds followed. Paramount’s The Fighter dipped 30% to an estimated $7M and upped its total to $57.8M. The King’s Speech fared better slipping only 12% to an estimated $6.8M for a $33.3M cume for The Weinstein Co. Playing in just one-quarter of the theaters, the Colin Firth pic averaged a sturdy $8,985 from 758 locations, easily the best average of any film in the top ten.
Tied for eighth place with an estimated $6.8M as well was the family comedy Yogi Bear which fell 45% raising the sum to $75.6M for Warner Bros. Rounding out the top ten was the animated blockbuster Tangled which dropped 47% to an estimated $5.2M boosting the total to a robust $175.9M. The Rapunzel hit is now Disney’s top-grossing non-Pixar toon since 1994’s The Lion King. Overseas, Tangled vaulted to $179.3M for a new worldwide take of $355.2M. Add in TRON, and Disney has pulled in a stellar $646M this holiday season so far with just two films.
Sony expanded its Best Picture frontrunner The Social Network going from 249 to 603 theaters but saw mild results with an estimated $650,000 and $1,078 average. The cume inched up to $94.1M ahead of Tuesday’s DVD release.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $90.8M which was down a steep 37% from last year when Avatar stayed in the top spot with $50.3M; and down 25% from 2009 when Gran Torino expanded to number one with $29.5M.
