Hollywood rang in the first week of January with a whimper.
Once again, “True Grit” and “Little Fockers” were pitted against each other in a fight for the box-office crown, but the $15 million the Coen Brothers western remake used to claim the top spot represented nearly a 40 percent drop from its total last weekend.
With only one new release — Relativity's long delayed "Season of the Witch" — and no film topping the $20 million mark, the box office overall was down 30 percent from the previous weekend. Historically, the post-New Year's weekend has been one of the box office's slowest and this year proved no exception.
Here's the weekend's Top 10. Box office report continues below chart:
As anticipated, “Grit” easily passed the $100 million domestic mark over the three-day period — the first Coen Brothers film to reach that milestone. The Paramount/Skydance co-production screened in 3,124 locations.
Universal’s “Fockers” banked $13.8 million on 3,675 screens, a 46 percent drop for the awkward in-laws comedy, according to studio estimates. The “Meet the Parents” sequel has so far grossed $123 million in three weeks of release; lofty numbers, but a far cry from the $211 million previous installment “Meet the Fockers” had brought in at the same point in its release cycle.
As for "Witch," the medieval action film met its pre-release tracking, grossing $10.7 million in 2,816 locations. Made for a cost of $40 million, the Nicolas Cage vehicle was originally slated to open in March 2010.
Expanding this weekend from limited release in L.A. and Nashville, "Country Strong," produced by Sony Pictures' Screen Gems at a cost of $12.5 million, rang up $7.3 million in 1,424 locations. That beats pre-release tracking, which projected the troubled country singer drama would make between $5 and $6 million.
"People are really liking the film, not only in the heartland, but on the coasts," Sony worldwide distribution chief Rory Bruer told TheWrap.
Bruer credited star Gwyneth Paltrow's performance at the Country Music Awards last fall and the decision to have a limited release run in Nashville as essential components in establishing that heartland appeal.
"It was instrumental in establishing credibility," Bruer said. "This is an actress who is not identified with that form of music, but she's out there having a great time and is worth the price of admission."
Still trucking along, Disney's "Tron: Legacy" added $9.8 million to its total in 3,013 locations. The futuristic sequel's total now stands at $147.9 million.
The rest of the box-office pie was carved up among Oscar contenders. Fox Searchlight's "Black Swan" solidified its status as the breakout hit of the awards season, netting $8.3 million in 1,584 locations. The psycho-sexual ballet drama has now made $61 million in six weeks of release.
Paramount and Relativity's "The Fighter" is estimated to have made $7 million in 2528 locations, while the Weinstein Company's "The King's Speech" made $6.8 million in a mere 758 theaters.
All told, with a dearth of new releases and audiences staying home to shake off those post-holdiay doldrums, it chalked up to a box office weekend better left forgotten.
