Your bashing Can't harm Me....I'm the Green Hornet!!! movie claims #1 spot int'l

The latest iteration of The Green hornet has so far proven impervious to scathing reviews, including from this blog, taking the top spot in international box office returns, and holding for a tight number two in the US, behind the new Anthony Hopkins occult thriller, The Rite.

Foreign gross total for the Seth Rogan vehicle, a 3D reworking on a popular radio series about a masked vigilante and sidekick Kato, stands at $61 million. Weekend highlights were No. 1 openings in Taiwan ($1.195 million from 158 sites for a per-screen average of $7,563), Singapore and Malaysia. Worldwide, Hornet has grossed $139.8 million so far.

Blessed with 10 Oscar nominations, True Grit made its overseas debut in Australia, drawing $2.3 million from 197 situations. The figure exceeds the comparable market opening of same directors Joel and Ethan Coen's No Country For Old Men in 2007 by 200%, said distributor Paramount. A Mexico debut for Grit is set for this week.

With its 12 Oscar bids, The King's Speech sailed to the No. 2 position in the U.K. with an estimated $5.5 million garnered from 546 locations in its fourth round. In Australia and New Zealand, via Paramount, The Weinstein Co. co-production starring Colin Firth secured $2.1 million from 246 screens. A No. 5 Italy opening looks to provide about $1 million from about 140 sites.

No. 1 in Russia was The Mechanic, director Simon West's remake produced by Millennium Films/Nu Image Ent. of the 1972 Charles Bronson action vehicle. Universal, which handled the Russian release with Jason Staham as a ruthless hit man, reports the opening market gross was $4.2 million drawn from 478 locations. Opening No. 4 in the U.K. via Lionsgate, The Mechanic drew an estimated $3.9 million there from 301 sites.

Opening a muscular No. 1 in the U.K. ($7.3 million from 750 venues) was Disney Animation'sTangled, which collected $14.7 million overall from 4,073 locations in 43 territories. It ranks No. 2 overall on the weekend.

Overseas gross total for the 3D animation reworking of the classic Rapunzel tale stands at $254.3 million with about 20% of the international market yet to play. Worldwide, Tangled has grossed $443.9 million, ranking it as the 25th biggest-grossing animation title ever released.

Taking the top spot in Germany ($4.8 million from 454 sites) – as well as the No. 3 slot on the weekend overall -- was Disney's Tron: Legacy, which grossed $12 million from 4,763 situations in 53 markets. With about seven% of the international market yet to play, the 3D sequel to 1982's Tron has accumulated $196 million so far on the foreign theatrical circuit, and $362.7 million worldwide.

Fourth was Fox's Black Swan, which pushed its early foreign box office total to $29.1 million thanks to an $11.4 million weekend at 1,292 screens in 16 territories. The Natalie Portmanvehicle from director Darren Aronofsky opened in third place in the U.K. with $4.2 million garnered from 429 screens.

No. 5 on the weekend was director Clint Eastwood's supernatural drama Hereafter from Warner Bros., which tallied $9.9 million from about 2,200 screens in 32 markets. A No. 1 second weekend in France drew $3.5 million from 482 screens for a market cume of $9.8 million. Total foreign cume is $42 million.

20th Century Fox's Gulliver's Travels, grossing $9.1 million from $3,380 situations in 41 territories, has compiled an overseas cume of $125.7 million. A No. 1 opening in South Korea for the Jack Black vehicle produced $4.5 million from 492 situations, which Fox said was its eighth biggest weekend opening in the market ever.

Warner's family-oriented animation title Yogi Bear grossed $6.9 million at some 2,700 screens in 26 markets, hoisting its foreign cume to $33.6 million. A Mexico debut is due this week.

Sony and other distributors' The Tourist with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie grossed $6.6 million on the weekend from 2,640 situations in 57 markets for a foreign cume of $151.1 million. Fox's romantic comedy Love & Other Drugs came in with $6.5 million from 2,802 screens in 39 territories for an overseas gross total of $53 million.

RED, Summit International's spy-action with Bruce Willis, resurfaced in Spain and Japan for a weekend tally of $4.4 million. The Japan bow, handled by Disney, drew $2.7 million from 297 spots. The Spain figure was $1.7 million from 348 sites, for a market rank of No. 2.

Paramount's comedy Little Fockers pushed its foreign cume to $153 million thanks to a $4.2 million weekend at 3,043 screens in 55 markets. Sony's romantic comedy How Do You Knowdrew $4.1 million from 1,550 sites in 11 markets for a foreign gross total of $6.9 million.

Universal's The Dilemma, the comedy from director Ron Howard and costarring Vince Vaughn and Kevin James, secured $4 million from 1,217 sites in 21 markets for a foreign cume of $11 million. Sony's Burlesque with Cher bagged $4 million from 1,640 screens in 40 territories for a cume of $37.2 million.

'Fockers", Bridges, big at US Box office

The movie “Little Fockers” topped the weekend box office.

“Little Fockers” (Universal), a comedy sequel featuring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, placed first at the weekend box office with $26.3 million, according to early estimates from Hollywood.com. Final figures are due out later today, and positions may shift.

“Little Fockers” was panned by many critics, but crossed the $100 million mark in just 12 days.

“True Grit,” (Paramount) directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld and Barry Pepper, took in $24.5 million for second place.

“Tron: Legacy” (Buena Vista), a sci-fi film also featuring Bridges, was third with $18.3 million.

End of the Lines of Succession: 'Little Fockers' Trailer 2010 HD

At the end of this, the third in the Focker saga (remember, it actually began with Meet The Parents), there is the obligatory "baiting" towards expecting another instalment. we strongly counsel against it.

Apart from the fact that the more memorable movie franchises end with the third film, this is one franchise in which the individual films have not been guilty of overstaying their welcome, even with the usual body function jokes and salutory nods to other blockbusters.

The appeal lies mainly in the cast. The producers brilliantly augmented the ensemble in the previous film via vets Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand, and the pair return this time with handy reprisals of their roles. But the core of the Focker franchise si the lead pair: Ben Stiller and Robert de Niro and "Focker 3" zooms in on this axis with laser-like focus.

Jack Byrnes (De Niro) is anxious about the future of his storied family (he's traced them back to 1643) and with heart problems hastening his focus on mortality, he wants to pass on the mantle of "family patriarch" - never mind that he has no sons to continue the Byrnes name. Thus the lot falls to Greg Focker (Stiller) who in this story, is juggling marriage, fatherhood and new job responsibilities.
Into that mix, the producers have tossed Jessica Alba ( a marked improvement from her previous comedic outing, which is still not saying much), as a sexpot pharmacy rep, selling.......you guessed it! - erectile dysfunction pills, who - oddly enough - has the hots for a married, graying former nurse with no substantial material or other accomplishments.

Oh well, stranger things have happened, and Focker's diversions are good for more than a few laughs; much of the dialogue sails along and the aforesaid cast  - even Daisy Tahan as little Samantha Focker - do more than just go with the flow.

Still, none of its virtues can justify extending this series any further. Like any other family visit, it's been fun, but ti's time to go