“The Rite” Tops Box Office with $15 Million

Anthony Hopkins‘s portrayal of an exorcist possessed by a demon in “The Rite” clicked with moviegoers as the supernatural film debuted with $15 million to earn the top spot at the weekend North American box office.

The film, which features Hopkins as Father Lucas, a priest who gets possessed following the death of one of his exorcism patients, dislodged the R-rated romantic comedy “No Strings Attached” from the top spot. “No Strings Attached,” which stars Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher, collected $13.65 million to push its two-week total to $39.7 million. “The Green Hornet” remained strong in its third week with $11.5 million, which gave the Seth Rogen superhero movie $78.8 million.

The week’s only other new release, Jason Statham’s “The Mechanic,” performed better than expected with also $11.5 million to tie “Green Hornet” at fourth place. Academy Award contenders “The King’s Speech,” “True Grit,” “Black Swan,” and “The Fighter” stayed relevant heading into the February 27 Oscars as they grabbed 5th, 6th, 8th, and 9th spots, respectively. “The Dilemma” took the seventh spot while “Yogi Bear” rounded out the top ten.

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