Green Hornet dominates US charts on $34m launch

Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz and Jay Chou star in the action film directed by Michel Gondry. Ron Howard directed The Dilemma starring Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder and Channing Tatum, which opened on $17.4m.

The Coen Brother’s Western True Grit continued a remarkable run as it fell two places to number three and has grossed $126.4m after four weekends.

Two Golden Globes contenders, The King’s Speech and BlackSwan, maintained magnificent form heading into tonight’s [16] ceremony in Beverly Hill.

The King’s Speech climbed five places to number four after expanding by 785 theatres into 1,543 and adding $9.1m for $44.6m after eight weekends through The Weinstein Company. FilmNation handled the bulk of international sales on the film, which stands at more than $25m overseas.

Fox Searchlight’s Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, stayed in fifth place and added $8.1m for $72.9m after seven weekends.

SPC opened Barney’s Version starring Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman on $71,700 from four theatres.

Next weekend’s wide release are Paramount’s comedy No Strings Attached starring Golden Globe nominee Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher and Wrekin Hill / Newmarket’s epic survival story The Way Back with Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris and Colin Farrell as escapees from a Soviet gulag.

Estimated Top 10 North America Jan 14-16, 2010

Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) The Green Hornet (Sony) SPRI $34m –

2 (-) The Dilemma (Universal) UPI $17.4m –

3 (1) True Grit (2010) (Paramount) PPI $11.2m $126.4m

4 (9) The King’s Speech (TWC) FilmNation $9.1m $44.6m

5 (5) Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Fox Int’l $8.1m $72.9m

6 (2) Little Fockers (Universal) PPI $7.1m $134.2m

7 (4) Tron: Legacy (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $5.7m $156.9m

8 (8) Yogi Bear (Warner Bros) WBPI $5.3m $82.1m

9 (7) The Fighter (Paramount) TWC/Relativity Media $5.1m $65.8m

10 (3) Season Of The Witch (Relativity) Relativity $4.5m $17.9m