Weekend Box Office: A Witch’s Brew

Well, some people came out to the movies this weekend. It wasn’t a huge couple of days, but there were still humans buying tickets to various movies. What might be the most surprising part of the weekend’s box office (which, like Elvis, was all shook up) is the high number of independent films that crowded the list… And also ‘Season of the Witch’. Which, you know, is also a movie.

This weekend, the Coen brothers’ ‘True Grit‘, which had been jockeying with ‘Little Fockers’ for the top spot the last few weeks, finally made it to the top of the chart with another $15 million in ticket sales! It’s already the highest-grossing Coen brothers’ movie, and one of the top 5 highest grossing Westerns of all time. If anyone claims that they thought this movie would be this kind of hit, they’re lying out of their face. It was a wild card – a wild card that’s totally been connecting with critics and audiences. The box office oomph could also lead to more Oscar nominations at the end of the month. We shall see…

So, ‘Little Fockers‘ got bumped down to #2 with another $13.7 million. It’s made a little more than ‘True Grit’ overall. Although I haven’t seen it, it sure seems to just be dreadful. Moving on.

Season of the Witch‘, one of two new entries into the Top 10 blood derby, made it to the #3 position with $10.7 million. That’s kind of surprising, because I cannot fathom who this movie is for. It’s kind of a horror movie, but there’s no blood, it’s PG-13, and it’s not scary in the slightest. It’s kind of an action movie, but the action is clumsy. And it’s kind of a buddy movie but, ah, who cares? This movie is currently racking up a “C+” from audiences according to CinemaScore, an informal poll of weekend audiences. It’ll be lucky to stay in the Top 10 next weekend. Mark my words.

Independent sensation ‘Black Swan‘ has finally cracked the Top 5, coming in at #5 with $8.3 million. (It almost outgrossed ‘Tron: Legacy‘!) The film has already racked up $61.4 million in total, which means that it’s freaking out people all across the country with its confrontational attitude and hot girl-on-girl action. Ah, it just warms my heart.

The weekend’s other new addition, ‘Country Strong‘, came in at #6 with $7.3 million. Next.

The King’s Speech‘, another mighty indie, also keeps killing it. The movie hung tough at #8 with another $6.8 million. It’s nice to see so many of these smaller films in the Top 10 list. That somehow makes finding ‘Yogi Bear 3D’ on there more palatable. (Also nice: ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ is nowhere to be found.)

Next week, a couple of big studio pictures (‘The Green Hornet’ and ‘The Dilemma’) are going to be around to shake things up. Look for my review of ‘The Green Hornet’ in the next couple of days. That’s all I’ll say.

For now, I present to you…

The Top 10

01 ‘True Grit’ (Paramount) – $15 million

02 ‘Little Fockers’ (Universal) – $13.7 million

03 ‘Season of the Witch’ (Relativity) – $10.7 million

04 ‘Tron Legacy (Disney) – $9.8

05 ‘Black Swan’ (Fox) – $8.3

06 ‘Country Strong’ (Sony) – $7.3 million

07 ‘The Fighter’ (Paramount) – $7 million

08 ‘The King’s Speech’ (Weinstein Company) – $6.8 million

09 ‘Yogi Bear’ (Warner Bros) – $6.8 million

10 ‘Tangled’ (Disney) – $5.2 million

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