TRUE GRIT SHOWS GRIT IN THIRD WEEK

In its third week, Paramount’sTrue Grit rode to victory at the box office, cutting down Little Fockers and blowing away challenges from newcomers Season of the Witch and Country Strong. The Coen Brothers’ remake of the John

Wayne classic, with Jeff Bridges in the Rooster Cogburn role, earned an estimated $15 million, beating Universal’s Fockers, which slid to second place with about $13.8 million. Both films opened three weeks ago. Fockers passed the $100-million mark last week and has now grossed $124 million. Grit passed that milestone this weekend to bring its gross to $110.4 million. Meanwhile the critically panned Season of the Witch, starring Nicolas Cage, got off to an indifferent start with $10.7 million, to wind up in third place. The only other film to open wide over the weekend, the Gwyneth Paltrow country-music vehicle Country Strong, managed to take in just $7.3 million, a little more than twice what it cost to make. It ended up in sixth place, behind Tron: Legacy ($9.8 million) and Black Swan ($8.4 million). Overall, theaters collected $112 million, a drop of some 30 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when Avatar still reigned supreme. However, last year was an anomaly; ticket sales are normally light at this time of year. Things are expected to pick up considerably next weekend with the release of The Green Hornet, starring Seth Rogen and Cameron Diaz, and the comedy The Dilemma, starring Kevin James and Vince Vaughn.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo:
1. True Grit, $15 million; 2. Little Fockers, $13.8 million; 3. Season of the Witch, $10.7 million; 4. Tron: Legacy, $9.8 million; 5. Black Swan, $8.4 million; 6. Country Strong, $7.3 million; 7. The Fighter, $7 million; 8. The King’s Speech, $6.811 million; 9. Yogi Bear, $6.81 million; 10. Tangled, $5.2 million.

UPDATE
Final Figures for the Top Five Films

1. True Grit, $14,605,135
2. Little Fockers,$13,487,245
3. Season of the Witch, $10,612,375
4. Tron: Legacy, $10,090,002
5. Black Swan, $8,113,011