Paramount’s rom-com No Strings Attached starring Golden Globe winner Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher opened top on an estimated $20.3m.

Wrekin Hill / Newmarket’s epic survival story The Way Back debuted in 14th place on $1.5m from 650 theatres. Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris and Colin Farrell as escapees from a Soviet gulag.

Another strong session for the awards contenders in play saw The King’s Speech hold well in fourth place on $9.2m for $58.6m after nine weekends.

Portman is enjoying a fantastic seven days following her Globes triumph [16] and has two top ten films in play.

Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky’s psycho-drama that has arguably made her the one to beat at the Academy Awards, ranks sixth on $83.6m through Fox Searchlight after eight weekends.

Paramount’s True Grit in fifth place stands at $138.6m after and Paramount/Relativity Media’s The Fighter ranks seventh and has grossed $73.7m after seven.

Next weekend’s wide release are Warner Bros (New Line) supernatural horror film The Rite starring Anthony Hopkins and CBS Films’ thriller remake The Mechanic with Jason Statham and Ben Foster.

Estimated Top 10 North America Jan 21-23, 2010

Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) No Strings Attached (Paramount) PPI $20.3m –

2 (1) The Green Hornet (Sony) SPRI $18.1m $63.4m

3 (2) The Dilemma (Universal) UPI $9.7m $33.4m

4 (4) The King’s Speech (TWC) FilmNation $9.2m $58.6m

5 (3) True Grit (2010) (Paramount) PPI $8m $138.6m

6 (5) Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Fox Int’l $6.2m $83.6m

7 (9) The Fighter (Paramount) TWC/Relativity Media $4.5m $73m

8 (6) Little Fockers (Universal) PPI $4.4m $141.2m

9 (8) Yogi Bear (Warner Bros) WBPI $4.1m $88.9m

10 (7) Tron: Legacy (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $3.7m $163.3m

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