Image Credit: Dale RobinetteWith only one new wide release hitting theaters, the box office looks destined to trail the prior year for the 10th weekend in a row. No Strings Attached, a romantic comedy starring recent Golden Globe winner Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher, should win the frame, though it’ll face some stiff competition from last week’s victor, The Green Hornet. Other than for those two films, many multiplex auditoriums may be eerily empty this weekend. If you haven’t seen Oscar hopefuls True Grit, The King’s Speech, and Black Swan yet, this would be a great time to catch up before the Academy Award nominations are announced on Tuesday. My weekend predictions:
1. No Strings Attached: $20 million
It’s nice to see that Nina Sayers has overcome her timid sexuality and already acquired a “friend with benefits.” In this $25 million comedy, directed by Ivan Reitman, Portman and Kutcher play two lifelong friends who attempt to add sex to the relationship without falling in love with one another. The R-rated film is tracking particularly well with 17 to 24-year-old women — an audience segment that hasn’t had much thrown its way of late. And Portman, who just won a Golden Globe for her virtuoso performance in Black Swan, is at the peak of her public awareness.
2. The Green Hornet: $18 million
Last week, The Green Hornet proved a superhero movie could open big in January. Now, can it survive? With a “B+” rating from CinemaScore audiences, it’s a well-liked movie, but not a particularly beloved one either. Superhero flicks can be particularly prone to steep second-week drops, but with little else out there grabbing the attention of young males, Hornet should find a way to slip less than 50 percent from its three-day opening gross of $33.5 million.
3. The Dilemma: $9 million
Last weekend, this $70 million Ron Howard comedy garnered Vince Vaughn’s worst major opening since 2003′s Old School. CinemaScore moviegoers handed it a “B” grade, so those who saw it were pleased for the most part. Still, No Strings Attached will steal a significant portion of The Dilemma‘s audience. Expect a decline of about 50 percent.
4. True Grit: $8 million
What’s left to say about the Coen brothers’ surprise hit Western? The movie has yet to drop more than 40 percent in one week, and this weekend should be no different. A slide of around 30 percent would add another $8 million to True Grit‘s bounty, bringing its cumulative tally to just under $140 million.
5. The King’s Speech: $7 million
The R-rated historical drama doubled its theaters last weekend and performed even better than expected. With a Golden Globe Best Actor win for Colin Firth and plenty of Oscar buzz, The King’s Speech should stay around in the top five with a mild stutter of about 25 percent.
Also opening this weekend, in 650 theaters, is the Peter Weir war drama The Way Back, which stars Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan, and Colin Farrell. And the corporate-downsizing drama The Company Men, with Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, and Tommy Lee Jones, will clock in at 106 locations.
Saw The Dilemma today and didn’t really care for it too much.There was more drama than comedy.I love going to the movies,but,I’ll just have to wait for something good to see.Wanted to see 127 hours,but.it never came around!
Hopefully, No Strings Attached will cost Portman the Oscar in the same way Norbet cost Eddie Murphy his for Dream Girls.
Don’t be stupid. No Strings Attached hasn’t nearly oversaturated the nation with ads the way “Norbit” did. And Eddie Murphy wasn’t the main character or Dream Girls.
Not gonna happen. Portman might as well clear space on her mantle as we type.
There’s no way she can’t win. She perfectly embodied the roles of white and black swan. She was perfect.
If there’s one thing that will cost Portman the Oscar that thing is called Anette Bening
Lets hope not. I hate when the academy rewards “lifetime achievements” instead of individual performances.
No Strings Attached looks like pure crap. Should be perfect for most Americans.
cough directed by a canadian cough
I think No Strings will do as bad as The Dilemma and other recent “romantic comedies.” Green Hornet will win the weekend again and True Grit and King’s Speech might leap over No Strings and Dilemma. (Wishful thinking, mostly.)
Natalie Portman is one of my favorite actresses and I would be inclined to see this just because of her, no matter how bad it looks, but Ashton Kutcher absolutely ruins everything for me. I can’t stand anything he’s in, except That 70′s show, so I will be staying as far away as possible from this movie. I’ll support Natalie by seeing Black Swan again.
I wish a theater near me would show The King’s Speech! Well at least my University is showing The Social Network this weekend, I’ll go see that and hope TKS opens up in more theaters soon
Whether the critics love or hate Ashton’s movies, it’s the people that they wanted to see “No Strings Attached” and that’s why they could beat “The Green Hornet” by 1 inch of a “Dillemma” flop.
The same people who wanted to see Killers? Or What Happens in Vegas?
Asthon K. is pretty much the same ‘dude’ character in all his performances. Demi Moore may not be in movie hits, but she gets lots of exposure being Mrs. Kutcher.
The green hornet is great fun and should not be missed. It should be noted that those between 18-30 gave it an A-.
Ugh. So depressing that not even one good movie has come out in ages!
The Kings Speech and Black Swan are both fantastic films! I agree that we havent had as many good films recently but these two are both fantastic films, i usually cant stand films like The Kings Speech, i dont care for the royal family (and im british) but this film is fantastic!
If No Strings Attached wins the weekend, it’ll be because everyone has already seen everything else that’s out, not because that many people actually want to see it. I hope the Globe aftermath can help movies like The King’s Speech, Black Swan and The Fighter to stay competitive.
I just hope Narnia pushes out 100 million! Just a psych thing. If Fox sees that maybe the will notice that it has made close to 400 millionworld wide now.
One of the best actress working with one of the worst actors today…
I don’t feel sorry for Portman since she is one of the executive producers of this crap. Why, Natalie, WHY!?!?!
I can’t decide between The Fighter and The King’s Speech. Could someone help?
Both are very good, but I’d give the edge to The King’s Speech.
Both great films. I guess it depends on what you’re in the mood for. People with Boston accents? People with British accents?
The more I see Natalie Portman in interviews, the less I like her. She seems surprisingly ditsy. I think I need to see her transcripts from Harvard. And that Globes speech…oof…awkward. She HAD to have known that this was a bad movie decision. Once Ashton Kutcher’s name is brought up, no one gives a rat’s ass.