Anthony Hopkins Exorcism Movie 'The Rite' Tops Friday Box Office
by Marivic Cabural
The horror-exorcism movie “The Rite,” starring Academy Award-winning actor Anthony Hopkins, emerged number one at the Friday box office with an estimated gross ticket sales of $5.3 million dollars.
Even if “The Rite” wins the weekend box office, critics predict that it will be impossible for the movie to match the $17.2 million gross accumulated by “Edge of Darkness” during its’ opening last year. Warner Bros. Films released both movies.
The domestic box office on Friday turned out slow because of the snowstorm on the East Coast, but movie distributors are expecting moviegoers to flock the theaters this Saturday and Sunday because of a better weather forecast.
“No Strings Attached,” starring Academy Award nominee for Best Actress, Natalie Portman, landed second place in the box office with $4.4 million, a 40% decline in gross sales. The movie recorded a total of $30.4 million gross sales since its’ opening.
Jason Statham’s action pack film "The Mechanic" ranked number three on Friday box office with $3.6 million gross sales from 2,703 theaters.
“The Green Hornet” ranked no. 4 with $2.9 million gross sales accumulating $70.2 million gross to date from 3, 524 movie theaters.
“The King’s Speech” came in no. 5 with $2.8 million from 2,557 theaters. The historical drama’s ticket sale is up by 31% compared to last week-end box office because of additional theaters. To date the film accumulated a total of $63.9 million since its’ opening.
Academy Award hopefuls for Best Picture, “True Grit” came in no. 6 with an estimated gross sales of $1.9 million, “Black Swan” still in the top ten with $1.4 million, while “The Fighter” recorded $1 million gross sales and “127 Hours” landed on the 12th rank with $600,000 from 916 on Friday.