'True Grit' Tops Relatively Slow

'True Grit' Tops Relatively Slow Weekend Box Office With $15 Million

Paramount's True Grit wrested the weekend box office crown from Universal's Little Fockers for the first time, grossing an estimated $15 million from 3,124 theaters to place No. 1 domestically and up its total take to $110.4 million.

Fockers grossed an estimated $13.8 million from 3,675 locations for a cume of $124 million. That was good enough to beat out Relativity newcomer Season of the Witch, which came in No. 3 with an estimated debut of $10.7 million from 2,816 locations.

It was a slow weekend overall compared to the same frame a year ago, when Avatar lit up the box office with a $50 million gross. Revenues this year were down a steep 30%.

Tron: Legacy, from Disney, neared the $150 million mark domestically as it grossed an estimated $9.8 million from 3,013 theaters for a cume of $147.9 million.

Heading into the weekend, expectations were muted for both Season of the Witch and Sony/Screen Gems' new nationwide entry Country Strong.

Country Strong, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and costing only $12 million to produce, grossed an estimated $7.3 million as it expanded from a two-city run to 1,424 theaters. The film was marketed heavily to heartland states.

Country Strong came in on the higher end of Sony's expectations, but was still beat out by Fox Searchlight holdover Black Swan, which grossed an estimated $8.4 million from 1,584 theaters for a cume of $61.5 million. Swan placed No. 5, while Country Strong came in No. 6.

Paramount and Relativity Media's The Fighter landed at No. 7, grossing an estimated $7 million from 2,528 theaters for a cume of $57.8 million.

The King's Speech, from the Weinstein Co., followed with an estimated gross of $6.8 million from 758 theaters for a cume of $33.3 million.

Among limited releases, Weinstein Co.'s Blue Valentine posted a per screen average of $17,970 as it expanded to 40 theaters, grossing an estimated $718,800 for a cume of $1.2 million.

Sony Pictures Classics' Another Year grossed an estimated $91,791 from seven theaters for a location average of $13,113 and cume of $308,245. Sony Classics' The Illusionist posted a per location average of $11,457 in grossing $34,370 from three theaters for a cume of $179,792.

Focus Features' Somewhere grossed an estimated $159,600 from 17 theaters for a location average of $9,386 and cume of $659,900.

Overseas, Fockers crossed the $100 million mark as it grossed an estimated $20 million for the weekend for a foreign cume of $110 million. That puts the comedy's global take at $234 million.