By Chris Kavan - 01/03/11 at 12:03 AM CT
Despite having an edge over the New Year holiday, the Coen Brothers couldn't stave off Ben Stiller and Co. for the weekend.
The third film in the series, Little Fockers took the top spot with $26.3 million with a $103.2 total. With few comedies on the horizon, Little Fockers could have a good shelf life.
In second place was True Grit with $24.5 million. With a total of $86.8 million, the film represents the highest-grossing Coen Brothers film to date and should have plenty more legs to extend that total.
Jeff Bridges manages to make a second appearance as TRON: Legacy was third at $18.3 million and now stands at $130.9 million. It remains to be seen if the special-effects extravaganza can hit the $170 million mark that it took to make (not counting the extensive advertising campaign, of course.)
In 4th place, and up a whopping 66% from last weekend, was the animated Yogi Bear with $13 million. At $66.13 million, and despite making my skin crawl, the film will likely hit its $80 million budget before closing out.
Rounding out the top five was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with $10.5 million, for a $87.14 total. It looks like it could crack the $100 million mark before it leaves for good, but that's still a far cry from the earlier films.
Three films hoping to score at the Oscars were also in the top 10: Both The Fighter and Black Swan should cross the $50 million mark soon. In 7th Place, The Fighter took in $10 million ($46.4 million) while Black Swan was 9th with $8.45 million ($47.4 million).
Also cracking the top 10 for the first time, The King's Speech had a 70% bump opening in wider releases and making $7.6 million for a $22.8 million total and also the best per-theater average for any film in wide release.
The New Year weekend was much better for Hollywood with most films getting a sizable bump compared to the weak Christmas weekend. I expect next weekend to be pretty much the same, as only Season of the Witch and Country Strong (wide-release) will be in to try to change things up - but I don't know if either one can make a big impact.
