It was another sleepy weekend as a few low budgeted weak releases were sluffed into theaters during the last gasp of a very disappointing January. The good news? Oscar nominees still in theaters got a nice little boost.
Audiences weren't exactly flocking to see Anthony Hopkin's latest go-round as a disturbing bad guy. The Rite took top honors this weekend with a paltry $15 million debut. Modest as that may be, it beats the opening numbers for The Mechanic which drew only $11 million for third place behind last week's number one No Strings Attached.
Oscar favorite The King's Speech may have fallen from fourth to fifth place, but its sales increased over 40% from last weekend. Now in its tenth week in US theaters it has banked over $70 million in the states and over $120 million total world wide. Not bad for a movie made for only $15 million. And with all the Oscar nominations The King's Speech has garnered, this may signal the start of another golden age for the Weinstein's.
It's been a cold winter for Hollywood and it's shaping up to be a very, very chilly spring. Overall box office sales for the year are at their lowest in four years as increasing ticket prices are finally being outpaced by the decrease in people buying tickets.
For the full weekend top ten totals, check out the chart below:
