Hopkins’ The Rite Tops Box Office

Two decades after The Silence of the Lambs, Anthony Hopkins is still scaring theatergoers in large numbers: His new horror film, The Rite, opened at the top of the box-office heap this weekend, pulling in $15 million. That was enough to top Natalie Portman’s No Strings Attached (in its second weekend) and the new Jason Statham action film The Mechanic, which brought in $11.5 million. In its tenth weekend in theaters, Colin Firth’s The King’s Speech surged 40 percent on the strength of 12 Oscar nominations, inching its domestic total up to $72 million—on a $15 million budget. James Franco’s 127 Hours and Michelle Williams’ Blue Valentine also saw Oscar bumps in their box-office figures.