Sex-perts

The Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher rom-com No Strings Attached (reviews) is this weekend's only new wide release...Trying to help answer an age old question....I guess if it fails there's always Friends with Benefits starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis--due out July 22-- to do the job....

Pamela McClintock of THR:

Natalie Portman goes up against herself this weekend when Paramount opens Ivan Reitman’s R-rated romantic romp No Strings Attached in 3,018 theaters at the domestic box office.

Neither Paramount nor Fox Searchlight could have predicted that Portman starrer Black Swan would still be going strong when No Strings Attached — also starring Ashton Kutcher — hit theaters. Last weekend, Portman won the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama for Searchlight’s Swan, which could give that movie a bump.

No Strings Attached, which explores whether casual sex can actually stay casual, is the only new film opening nationwide this weekend. Tracking is great among younger women and older female teens.

Paramount expects the film to open in the mid- to high teens, in line with other R-rated romantic comedies.

Newmarket is taking a more limited approach with Peter Weir’s The Way Back, which opens in 650 theaters. The World War II drama is the Australian filmmaker’s first film in almost a decade.

The Weinstein Co. launches John Wells’ The Company Men in 106 theaters, exactly one year after the film made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Originally, the Weinstein Co. was going to open Company Men in time for awards consideration, but it pushed back the release.

Overall, it’s going to be another down weekend at the domestic box office. Once a movie graveyard, January turned in strong performances the past several years, and especially last year with Avatar. January 2011 is a return to less prosperous times.

The one exception is awards fare like Black Swan and the Weinstein Co.’s The King’s Speech, both of which have overperformed. Swan’s cume through Wednesday was $76.6 million, while King’s Speech stood at $48.6 million. Like Swan, King’s Speech scored a top Globe acting award (for Colin Firth).

No Strings Attached was produced for a modest $25 million, so Paramount doesn’t need a huge opening weekend. From a script by Elizabeth Meriwether, the film tells the story of lifelong friends who end up becoming casual sex buddies.

The big question is whether Sony holdover The Green Hornet can beat No Strings Attached in its second weekend. Last weekend, Hornet debuted to $33.5 million for the three-day weekend and $40 million for the four-day holiday frame...

John Young of EW

No Strings Attached' tries to get around...

Reviews for Attached are not great by any stretch but better than I thought they would be...And this is Kutcher's 3rd rom-com in a row after Valentine's Day and  Killers--with  New Year's Eve on the way after that....Is he becoming too associated with the genre?

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