Notes:
- Paramount’s Natalie Portman/Ashton Kutcher R-rated romantic comedy No Strings Attached topped the weekend box office with a solid $20.3 million start -- on the higher end of expectations. The film obviously overcame mostly weak reviews with good word-of-mouth by a mostly female audience.
- No Strings Attached proved a strong return for Ivan Reitman in the director’s chair. The $20.3 million opening beat the debuts of recent R-rated comedy hits I Love You, Man ($17.8 million) and Forgetting Sarah Marshall ($17.7 million).
- Meanwhile, Portman is the darling of the box office -- with two films in the top ten. Fox Searchlight’s Black Swan is still doing strong business, coming in #6 for the weekend. Portman won the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama for her role in the psychological thriller. Jeff Bridges shares the two-fer feat -- starring in #5 True Grit and #10 Tron: Legacy.
- Sony’s 3D The Green Hornet came in #2 in its second weekend, declining a respectable 46% to an estimated $18.1 million -- and a domestic cume of $63.4 million.
- Colin Firth’s Golden Globe win a week ago for best actor in a drama likely boosted The King’s Speech, coming in #4 for the weekend. On Saturday, the filmed scored a surprise upset over The Social Network in winning the top award from the Producers Guild of America.
- On the downside is the 11th consecutive down weekend vs. last year with the ghost of Avatar looming large and making comparisons tough.
- The specialized fare of The King's Speech, True Grit and Black Swan should continue to do well next weekend -- not only because of good reviews, but due to the Oscar nominations they should garner come Tuesday morning.
- 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