Most of Hollywood is dismayed by the drop in holiday box office this season and the derth of underperformers including “How Do You Know,” “Gulliver’s Travels,” “The Tourist” and “Yogi Bear.” One studio that is doing cartwheels of joy, however, is Paramount. Not only is the Coen bros.’ Western “True Grit” a hit, it’s slowly turning into a blockbuster.
For the first time since both “Grit” and the comedy “Little Fockers” opened on Dec. 22, “Grit” claimed the top spot at the box office with an impressive $8.1 million on New Year’s Eve. The potential Oscar contender has now hit $70.4 million in just 10 days and should easily past the $100 million mark next weekend. At that point, only “Inception” and “Toy Story 3” will have grossed more among expected best picture players. Oh, and did we mention “Grit” cost just a reported $35 million and hasn’t even opened overseas yet?
As for “Fockers,” it dropped to the second slot with $7.7 million and a new cume of $84.7 million. The critically maligned comedy should end up with between $130-140 million when all is said in done. Not bad, but nowhere near the success of franchise predecessors “Meet the Parents” or “Meet the Fockers.”
Still hanging in there at no. 3 was “Tron Legacy” with another $5 million and $117 million to date. Walt Disney will have to hope it can continue to dominate IMAX screens until “The Green Hornet” takes them away on Jan. 14.
Fourth place went to “Yogi Bear” which seems to be the minor family film player this season with another $4 million and $57 million overall. Certainly not a disaster, but not the hit Warner’s was hoping for.
Another family film option, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” came in fifth with $3.4 million and $80 million domestic to date. Luckily for financiers Walden Media and 20th Century Fox, the fantasy has grossed over $186 million internationally to help offset its $155 million budget.
Among other releases, “The King’s Speech” out grossed “Black Swan” for the first time as “Swan’s” younger audience no doubt headed out to celebrate the new year. “Speech” found $2.5 million in just 700 theaters for a new gross of $17.6 million. “Swan,” and still a sensation mind you, found $1.93 million in 1,550 theaters for a very impressive $40 million so far.
Look for continuing box office reports tomorrow on HitFix.
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