Cutest Couple

The adult rom-com No Strings Attached--starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher won the weekend box office; Award fave The King's Speech has a lot to say...

Pamela McClintock of THR

Paramount's Natalie Portman/Ashton Kutcher R-rated romantic comedy No Strings Attached topped the weekend box office with a solid $20.3 million start, while The King's Speech neared a dazzling domestic cume of $60 million for a victorious Weinstein Co.

Portman is the darling of the box office, with her other film, Black Swan, still going strong as well.

Overall, though, business was down a steep 30%. Worrisome decline is attributed to only one new nationwide release -- No Strings Attached -- and no Avatar, which fueled record January grosses in 2010.

Sony's 3D The Green Hornet grossed roughly $18.1 million in its second weekend, declining a respectable 46%. Film's cume is $63.4 million.

Directed by Ivan Reitman, No Strings Attached came in at the upper end of expectations, fueled by women in their 20s. Females overall made up a whopping 70% of the audience.

Romantic comedy, playing in 3,805 theaters and receiving a B CinemaScore, is already on solid financial footing, having cost $25 million to produce. Paramount, Spyglass and Reitman's Cold Spring Pictures co-financed.

King's Speech placed No. 4 for the weekend, grossing an estimated $9.2 million from 1,680 theaters for a cume of $58.6 million, surpassing the lifetime domestic gross of hit British royal drama The Queen ($56.4 million).

Colin Firth's Golden Globe win a week ago for best actor likely boosted King's Speech profile even further.

On Saturday, King's Speech scored a surprise upset over The Social Network in winning the top award from the Producers Guild of America.

Likewise, Fox Searchlight said Portman's Globe win for Black Swan helped that pic, which placed No. 6 for the weekend, grossing an estimated $6.2 million from 2,407 theaters for a cume of $83.6 million.

King's Speech had no decline over the previous weekend, while Swandipped a narrow 26%

John Young of EW

Natalie Portman-Ashton Kutcher comedy tops at box office ($20.3M); ''Green Hornet'' at No. 2 ($18.1M)

Next Up; Anthony Hopkins and Colin O'Donoghue do the dance with the Devil in The Rite while Jason Statham, and Ben Foster play enforcers in a remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson classic of The Mechanic

Tweet