Image Credit: Dale RobinetteNatalie Portman is certainly having a moment. With a Best Actress Oscar that’s looking more and more inevitable, the Black Swan star is now a box-office queen as well. No Strings Attached, the R-rated romantic comedy starring Portman and Ashton Kutcher, led the box office on Friday with $7.3 million, according to early studio estimates. On pace for a weekend score of about $20 million, Strings will be Portman’s first No. 1 movie since 2006′s V for Vendetta. And Strings‘ reasonable $25 million budget (compared to, say, Little Fockers‘ $100 million budget and The Dilemma‘s $70 million price tag) makes its victory all the sweeter for Paramount.
The Green Hornet claimed second place by dropping a not-too-shabby 49 percent for $5.1 million. The superhero comedy should finish the weekend with $17 million, bringing its cumulative gross to just over $62 million. The Dilemma also held up relatively well, slipping 47 percent for $3 million (and an estimated three-day result of $9.5 million). The British historical drama The King’s Speech remained in fourth place with $2.1 million — a fall of only 16 percent. And True Grit rounded out the top five with $2.1 million as well. (It trailed King’s Speech by an estimated $38,000). By the end of the weekend, the Western hit will have captured $137 million cumulatively.
In limited release, the Peter Weir war drama The Way Back took in a disappointing $375,000 from 659 theaters — a $569 per-location average. And the Ben Affleck corporate drama The Company Men registered $172,000 from 106 sites, for a per-theater average of $1,625. Check back here on Sunday for the complete box office report.
1. No Strings Attached — $7.3 mil
2. The Green Hornet — $5.1 mil
3. The Dilemma — $3.0 mil
4. The King’s Speech — $2.1 mil
5. True Grit — $2.1 mil
Box office preview: No Strings Attached tries to get around
Look at that Top 3, awful.
My girlfriend wanted to see No Strings Attached last night, so we went. Much to my surprise, the movie wasn’t all that bad. It was actually kinda fun. I really didn’t expect to enjoy it. But it is was a solid romantic comedy, certainly better than a lot of others recently, like any of Katherine Heigl’s movies. Still not a fan of Kutcher, though. He didn’t do anything to impress me in this.
Geesh, maybe The Way Back would have done better if the film was actually marketed.
Yeah I agree. Despite the added competition, it also may have fared better with a slow rollout, awards season release starting in December
For real! I’ve never even seen a commercial for it, and the girl working at the theater had no idea what it was or that it was even playing.
“The Way Back” has just been mishandled since the beginning. It was thrown into the 2010 Oscar race without the studio actually promoting it, and now it’s been released without any marketing or buzz. I’m surprised ANYONE actually went out to see it this weekend. Which is a shame, because the reviews seemed to indicate that it was pretty good.
Is No Strings Attached really that bad?
That’s a rhetorical question, right?
Yes and no. But mostly no.
RT- have you seen the movie yet? (That’s not a rhetorical question)
If you have seen the movie, then an explanation as to whether or not the movie is “really that bad” would have been much more helpful. If you haven’t seen the movie yet then you probably should have moved on without commenting.
No, it’s not that bad. It’s certainly formulaic. You already know exactly how it ends. But it’s funny and entertaining and, like I said in my other post, certainly better than a lot of other raunchy rom-coms like The Ugly Truth. I think it has about a 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, so it’s not getting trashed by critics.
I love Natalie Portman so much that I would have even gone to see No Strings if almost any other actor been cast opposite her. I don’t dislike Ashton Kutcher, he seems like a nice enough guy, but the kid just can’t act.
I (being a movie lover…I have seen more than my share of Oscar movies:The Kings Speech, Winters Bone, Black Swan, The Fighter,…) thought that it was very funny. I was actually amazed at how much I enjoyed that movie. It is in no way unpredictable but it is done so that you want the predictable to happen. It is nowhere near Norbit. Give it a chance…you never know.
Its not getting totally trashed. There are a decent number of critics that liked it.
Trashing a romantic comedy for being cliched is like trashing Johnny Depp for giving an eccentric performance. It’s a romantic comedy, you expect it to be predictable just like you expect Johnny Depp to be eccentric (and AWESOME). The important thing is if the journey was worth the destination. If getting to that predictable ending was fun who cares if its cliche?
I saw “No Strings Attached” on Friday- it’s a typical rom-com, but one of the smarter and better entries in that genre.
I think it will do pretty good box office, both domestic and international. Natalie Portman was pretty charming, and Ashton Kutcher was less obnoxious than he has been recently. The supporting cast was great.
Just saw No Strings Attached, not the best rom-com ever but definitely one of the better ones lately! Saw quality laughs, and overal very charming. Glad the numbers are doing well as well.
Totally agree! Saw it reluctantly with my girlfriend and left very pleasantly surprised. Definitely better then some of the other rom coms I’ve seen with her when it’s her turn to choose!
We may be a little too early to proclaim Portman as a box office queen. The Black Swan has benefitted from the Oscar buzz more than from her presence. Sure, a huge part of that buzz is about her performance, but NSA is typical romantic fare that comes out at a time where we haven’t had any significant romcom released. I think her box office reign will be confirmed after she truly opens a film that isn’t an Oscar-hopeful juggernaut or a rom com coming out at a rom-com defficient time…
I knew with all of the marketing behind the film it was gonna be # 1. Saw it today and enjoyed it. Even Ashton did his thing. He’s no Jake Gyllenhaal, but he was ok. Timberlake would have looked good opposite Natalie, but he’s already doing a film slightly similar to this one!
Saw it today. Pretty good movie. Always surmised that Portman could be funny, and she’s really funny in this one. Kevin Kline is good as well, as is all of the supporting cast. Alot of the so-called critics are going to feel like idiots after dissing this flic.
Everyone should check out the Australian Open on ESPN2…excellent FREE entertainment!
I’m surprised that No Strings didn’t have a better opening. Maybe the critic reviews on RT sitting at 49% hurt it. No way Justin Timberlake would’ve looked better with Natalie than Ashton. If nothing else, Ashton is extremely handsome. Justin is average and in terms of acting I still say Ashton’s better at that, too. I still will go check this one out.
My girlfriend and I enjoyed the movie. Natalie was very funny, and Ashton was pretty good, too.
Any film that makes back its budget in 3 days time is going to be a huge success. This will play big for a while as it’s going to be the let’s see it date movie for couples.
The Green Hornet was the funniest movie ever!