Notes:
- New Line/Warner Bros.' Anthony Hopkins exorcism pic The Rite opened on the lower end of expectations, but still won the weekend box office race with an estimated gross of $15 million.
- Last week's #1, Paramount and Spyglass' No Strings Attached, held better than expected. The romantic comedy came in #2 while grossing an estimated $13.7 million -- and now has a cumulative total of $39.7 million in its first 10 days.
- CBS Films' action remake The Mechanic, the weekend's other new entry, tied with Sony holdover The Green Hornet for #3 -- each grossing $11.5 million.
- For award favorites, Oscar nominations resulted in a definite box office bump, led by the Weinstein Co.'s The King's Speech, which jumped the $70 million mark domestically and came in #5.
- Paramount's True Grit (#6) showed a zero decline from the previous weekend, unusual for a film well into its run. The Western, receiving 10 Oscar nods, grossed an estimated $7.6 million for a cume of $148.4 million.
- Coming in at #8, Fox Searchlight's awards front-runner Black Swan was down only 13% from the previous weekend to jump the $90 million mark on its way to $100 million.
- Paramount's The Fighter also benefited from its top Oscar nods, coming in #9 and dipping just 5% from the previous weekend. The film grossed an estimated $4.1 million for a cume of $78.4 million.
- Across the board, the box office was hurt Friday by yet another storm in the Northeast. But business rebounded on Saturday and doesn't have any football to compete with today. While box office revenues were down 13-15% over the same period last year, it's a narrower decline than recent weekends.
- All figures are industry estimates. Final weekend figures will be released on Monday.
- Reviews of True Grit, Black Swan and other movies not in the top 10 can be found by clicking on the Film Reviews archive icon at left.
- Sources: Hollywood.com, Hollywood Reporter