Depending on your feelings towards them, the idea of Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman as friends who fire up a casual sex fling will either have you thinking “perfect match” or “gruesome twosome.” But US cinemagoers certainly seemed to take to the pairing, with director Ivan Reitman finally scoring a decent opening for a comedy thanks to No Strings Attached. The rom-com took in a solid $20.3 million. Not bad, especially given the budget was around $25 million.
Part of the film’s success despite a relatively weak box office for the weekend might have been that fact that it was the only wide-opening new arrival, beating out last week’s champ The Green Hornet, which was pushed down to second with $18.1 million. The Dilemma sank to third with $9.7 million. But the big success story was The King’s Speech, which made $9.1 million and held in fourth place. The royal drama has made $58.6 million in the US so far and is certain to crack $60 million, a massive achievement. Also still doing well is True Grit, which dropped to fifth with $8 million.
Black Swan was sixth with $6.2 million, while **The Fighter **rebounded off the ropes, surging from ninth to seventh and $4.5 million. Little Fockers fell to eighth with $4.3 million, and Yogi Bear was ninth with $4 million. Rounding out the top 10 was Tron Legacy, which added $3.7 million for a $163 million total across the pond so far.
To have a casual relationship with film statistics, point your browser at Box Office Mojo.