Box office: 'True Grit' almost gallops past 'Little Fockers' [Updated]

"Little Fockers" did hold onto the No. 1 spot at the box office over New Year's weekend, but the real holiday box-office champ turned out to be "True Grit."

The western, directed by the Coen brothers and starring Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon, sold an estimated $24.5 million in tickets on its second weekend in theaters. That put it just behind the more hyped and more expensive "Little Fockers," starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, which took in $26.3 million.

No new movies debuted nationwide the week after Christmas as studios focused on raking in more money with its big holiday films. With many people off work and kids out of school, the last seven days were some of the most lucrative that the industry had seen all year.

Moviegoing trends were about the same as those over Christmas weekend.

"Little Fockers" remained the most popular holiday movie but also something of a disappointment, with total ticket sales now at $103.2 million, or about 64% of the total of "Meet the Fockers" at the same point in its run in 2004. Together with Paramount Pictures and Relativity Media, "Fockers" domestic distributor Universal Pictures reportedly spent a hefty $130 million to $140 million on production, though a studio spokeswoman maintained that the cost was about $100 million.

With an expected final domestic gross just short of $200 million and a little less overseas, that makes "Little Fockers" a decent performer but far from the monster hit many had expected going into the holiday season.

"True Grit," meanwhile, looks to be very profitable for Paramount, which spent only about $38 million on production. It's already the most successful Coen brothers film ever, with a total gross of $86.8 million, and is on its way to grossing well over $100 million.

Several other movies saw a substantial jump in their grosses from Christmas weekend, indicating that they had strong word-of-mouth. They included Disney's animated "Tangled," for which ticket sales grew 56%; "Yogi Bear," which rose 66%; and "The King's Speech," which increased 70% (assisted by the fact that it expanded wide after playing in just a few theaters last Friday).

But Walt Disney Studios' hopes that "Tron: Legacy" sill blossom into a hit family film are fading. It was the only top 10 movie in theaters at least two weeks to see a decline in ticket sales -- a modest 4% but still an indication that it's not building momentum as much as many other pictures in the market.

The total domestic gross for the costly 3-D event film is $130.9 million. So far, there's no indication it will perform significantly better overseas, as its foreign take stands at $110 million so far.

[Updated, 11:16 a.m.: Overseas, "Gulliver's Travels" posted a solid $10.9-million opening in Britain despite having flopped in the U.S. and Canada. Playing in only five of the top 15 markets, the Jack Black comedy is already at $47 million internationally, nearly double its domestic take.

Another film that's performing significantly better with foreign audiences is "The Chronicles of Narnia: The  Voyage of the Dawn Treader." Its foreign gross is now $210 million, nearly 2 1/2 times its total in the United States and Canada.]

In limited release, the Ryan Gosling-Michelle Williams romantic drama "Blue Valentine" had a strong opening. It debuted Wednesday at four theaters in Los Angeles and New York and has collected $277,945.

The Mike Leigh-directed drama "Another Year" launched in six theaters on Wednesday to a decent $173,175.

[Updated, 9:50 a.m: Here are the top 10 movies at the domestic box office, with international grosses when available, according to studio estimates and Hollywood.com:

1. "Little Fockers" (Universal/Paramount/Relativity): $26.3 million in its second weekend in theaters, down 15%. Domestic total: $103.2 million. $22.5 million overseas in 41 foreign markets. International total: $72 million.

2. "True Grit" (Paramount/Skydance): $24.5 million in its second weekend in theaters, down 1%. Domestic total: $86.8 million.

3. "Tron: Legacy" (Disney): $18.3 million in its third weekend in theaters, down 4%. Domestic total: $130.9 million. $23.7 million overseas in 40 foreign markets. International total: $110 million.

4. "Yogi Bear" (Warner Bros.): $13 million in its third weekend in theaters, up 66%. Domestic total: $66.1 million.

5. "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" (Fox/Walden): $10.5 million in its fourth weekend in theaters, up 11%. Domestic total: $87.1 million. $21.4 million overseas in 68 foreign markets. International total: $210 million.

6. "Tangled" (Disney): $10 million in its sixth weekend in theaters, up 55%. Domestic total: $168 million. $14.8 million overseas in 23 foreign markets. International total: $146.5 million.

7. "The Fighter" (Relativity/Paramount/Weinstein): $10 million in its fourth weekend in theaters, up 45%. Domestic total: $46.4 million.

8. "Gulliver's Travels" (Fox/Dune/Ingenious): $9.1 million in its second weekend in theaters, up 44% (opened last Saturday). Domestic total: $27.2 million. $24 million overseas in 33 foreign markets. International total: $47 million.

9. "Black Swan" (Fox Searchlight/Cross Creek): $8.5 million in its fifth weekend in theaters, up 35%. Domestic total: $47.4 million.

10. "The King's Speech" (Weinstein Co.): $7.6 million in its sixth weekend in theaters, up 70%. Domestic total: $22.8 million.]

-- Ben Fritz

Photos, from top: Jeff Bridges and  Hailee Steinfeld in "True Grit." Credit: Lorey Sebastian / Paramount Pictures. Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling in "Blue Valentine." Credit: The Weinstein Co.

[For the record, 11:23 a.m.: An earlier version of this post included a line that said grosses for "The Fighter" rose 45% over Christmas weekend.  The film only saw a 32% rise.]

Comments

[cshargeit]

is it me or did the vegetation scenery in "true grit" signal the end of this planet?

[Tim]

I wonder what Disney/Lasseter's excuse is going to be for the disappointment of Tron:Legacy. Clearly, there was little female presence in that film, so they can't use their usual girls-are-a-limited-demographic routine.

[Tom]

It's you.

[Paleta Fresca]

It's you 'cshargit'... Wikipedia "color grading" if you are interested in learning how these things are done.

True Grit is certainly the best movie of the year. Astounding.

[lexxie]

ANOTHER remake of a classic film and ANOTHER sequel...movie making is a dead 'art' form in Hollywood!

I can't figure out why anyone would spend their hard earned money to see either one of these films...oh well...

[Native Angeleno]

True Grit looked like truly gritty Arkansas or Missouri, mentioned in the film as sites the characters lived in and/or near, but was filmed in Texas and New Mexico (particularly the scene of the mine on the cliff).

Except for the ending, which seems tacked on, superfluous, incomplete and awkward relative to the flow of the story preceding it, this film struck me as the most mature and commanding of the story-telling process of any of the Coens' so far, and because of the ending a notch close below "No Country".

This ending is the one in the book. The original in 1969 had a completely different and also unsatisfying ending written by the author for the screen, due to Paramount's original unhappiness with the ending the Coens eventually filmed.

Can't figure why Charles Portis wrote the ending he did in either case. The brilliance of the story, in this production particularly, deserved better.

[John Dingler, artist]

There were three endings in True Grit:
1. The man carried the girl to the log cabin.
2. The woman meets the two outlaws.
3. The woman walks to the top of the hill.

The first ending would have sufficed; The third ending could have worked with the first.

However, the second ending seemed forced between the two as if the editor was told to shove it in no matter what.

[Ted Jaworski]

Can't the new generation think of something new? I used to watch cowboy movies in the late sixties(in black and white)! The only new thing in the cowboy genre was Brokeback Mountain! (Sheepboy?) Who would want to watch that?

[Jerry In LB]

I agree. Great movie, up until the end. And, no, it is not a remake. This version wasn't based on the 1969 movie. It was based on the book.
What bothered me about the ending was how a spunky forthright young lady aged into a 'bitter solitary woman'. I can make my own assumptions, but the movie itself doesn't give you enough to go on. Wasn't the character spunky enough to make a 'real' gentleman overlook the loss of her arm? What about the fact that she actually shot dead the man she was hunting down? The movie and/or fall into the pit gave her no immediate chance at reflection. But, she would obviously have time later, after recovering from the snake bite. What happened then? Why show the brightest character in the movie as a lonely woman at the end? Was she forever pining for another 'Rooster' in her life?

[cristielewis]

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[Rocco]

The new True Grit makes the original look like a parody.

Word of mouth for Grit is very good. Word of mouth for Fockers is very bad.

Hailee Steinfeld is a rising star whose performance deserves to be seen. The cast of Fockers are a bunch of has-beens making a few last bucks on what used to be the strength of their names.

[DrD01]

Tron was Fantastic! Aside from a few cheesy lines (Hard not to make them cheesy in a viritual synaptic grid, still absolutely entertaining, I expected a little more music from Daft Punk, the Score still seemed a littl too "Film-Like" Less creative than I anticipated for such a great group. Still, an excellent movie!

[Paleta Fresca]

The female lead in the movie did not reflect on her murder of the "bad guy" in the movie, because she was the face of holy vengeance. It was her God-given right for retribution and she took it without question.

[Lisa]

I’m just elated at the success of True Grit. I just hope this brings about a revival of the western.

[Jerry In LB]

Thank you P Fresca for your input. But my question was more in line with why show us an adult character that, to me, seemed incongruent w a bright young teenager that would've obviously overcome any hardships in her life. That's not what I saw in the adult character; a hard stubborn woman who defended herself at any turn at even the slightest of offenses.
And she certainly didn't 'appear' happy. As a younger character, yes, she was quick to point out people's faults, but without a hind of condemnation.
To me, if she achieves her goals, how does that make more guarded against any and all? That's what I meant about the movie seemingly leaving out this progression; IF they're going to show us an end result.

[sherry]

true grit SUCKS big time