Friday Report: 'Green Hornet' Flies Into First
On Friday, The Green Hornet swooped into first with a solid opening, while The Dilemma was a distant second. Overall business, though, was down around 24 percent from the same Friday last year, which featured the one-two punch of The Book of Eli and Avatar.

The Green Hornet snared an estimated $11.1 million on approximately 5,700 screens at 3,584 locations, which fell short of The Book of Eli's $11. 7 million but compared well to Paul Blart: Mall Cop's $9.8 million on the same Friday in 2009. More importantly, it was a good number for a comedic superhero movie, outdrawing Kick-Ass's $7.7 million opening day. Green Hornet also broke star Seth Rogen's losing streak: his last successful picture was Pineapple Express in 2008, and it was followed by the disappointments Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Observe and Report and Funny People. Green Hornet's release included 2,704 venues presenting the movie in the 3D illusion, and they accounted for over two thirds of business.

Unlike Rogen, Vince Vaughn and Kevin James were on a hot streak, but that cooled with The Dilemma. On around 3,500 screens at 2,940 locations, the comedy pulled in estimated $6.1 million, which was low by the stars' recent standards. Vaughn's Couples Retreat and Four Christmases more than doubled that on their first Fridays, while James was last seen in the larger Grown Ups and headlined Paul Blart.

Last week's top grosser, True Grit, eased 27 percent to an estimated $3.2 million, lifting its haul to $118.5 million in 24 days. Little Fockers continued to lose steam at a faster rate than predecessor Meet the Fockers, falling 53 percent to an estimated $2 million for a franchise-soft $129.1 million total in 24 days.

The King's Speech more than doubled its location count to 1,543, and business rose 38 percent Friday-to-Friday to an estimated $2.43 million. Hot on its heels was Black Swan, which jumped from 1,584 locations to 2,328 and made an estimated $2.41 million, off one percent from last Friday. Its tally stands at $67.3 million in 43 days.

In its second Friday, Season of the Witch plummeted 66 percent and from third place to ninth, grossing an estimated $1.3 million for an anemic $14.8 million in eight days. Country Strong also showed weakness in its second Friday of nationwide release, dropping 57 percent to an estimated $1.1 million and ranking tenth.

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Grosses for Friday, Jan. 14, 2011