Corona | Coming Attractions

With a provocative poster showing Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher getting out of bed and getting dressed, audiences bought tickets to see No Strings Attached. Were they happy in their choice? The people at Paramount likely don't really care; all that matters to the bean counters at that studio is that their movie is number one in the land.

No Strings Attached grossed $20.3 million dollars in its inaugural weekend, recouping four-fifths of its $25 million dollar production budget. It's a good movie to open in the weaker months after the holidays when most of the movie talk is about the serious dramas up for awards. And there's nothing wrong with a movie designed to keep you entertained for a couple of hours. Don't worry Ashton, no one is looking for anything more deeper than your roguish good looks and goofy charm to light up the screen.

Last week's number one film dropped to second place. The Green Hornet is starting to look like a success for Sony as it collects $18.1m in weekend #2, bringing its collected domestic total up to $63.4m. Could a sequel happen? If this puppy cracks $100 mil domestic, then I think that the answer is yes.

The Dilemma drops from #2 to #3 this week ($9.7m new, $33.3m total). Those are bad numbers for a Vince Vaughn, Kevin James or Ron Howard movie; when you realize it's all three of those usually dependable draws that made this picture, you can't help but wince your eyes. Jennifer Connelly is also in this bomb. Remember when she won an Oscar and the future looked bright for her career?

Holding steady at #4 is The King's Speech. Any way that you slice it this movie is a success for its owners: made at a cost of $15 million, it's now grossed $58 million domestic and another $33 million from worldwide venues. It's also on track to be among those up for Best Picture honors when the Oscar nominations are announced in two days.

True Grit drops two spots to #5 ($8m new, $138.6m total), another favored contender for several Oscar noms. Black Swan is at #6 this week ($6.2m, $83.5m total) while The Fighter is at #7 ($4.5m new, $83.5m total). Little Fockers has dropped two spots to #8 ($4.4m new, $141.1m total), Yogi Bear is proving to be like that winter cold that you just can't shake (#9, $4m new, $88.9m total) and Tron Legacy is nearing derezzolution (#10, $3.7m new, $163.2m total).

Also, Tangled is now at #11 and off the top ten. It's going to close its theatrical run with a gross somewhere around $190 million. See, Disney can make computer cartoon movies that make a profit without the help of Pixar.