Buena Vista’s Tron: Legacy easily dominated the North American charts on an estimated $43.6m while Relativity Media’s heavyweight Academy Awards contender The Fighter surged 15 places to number four on $12.2m.

IMAX confirmed its status as a key element in event releases as 234 theatres generated $10.3m of Tron: Legacy’s overall gross. The film stars Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde and Jeff Bridges and is a sequel to the 1982 original. Bridges reprises his role as Kevin Flynn.

Relativity Media’s heavyweight Academy Awards contender The Fighter surged 15 places up the charts to number four on an estimated $12.2m. Buoyed by five Golden Globe nominations, four SAG nods and a best ensemble cast and supporting actor win from the Boston critics last week, the drama expanded from four to 2,503 theatres to boost the running total to $12.6m.

Paramount is distributing The Fighter for a fee on behalf of Relativity, which fully financed the film.

Warner Bros’ Yogi Bear opened weakly in second place on $16.7m and Fox’s The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader added $12.4m in the second weekend for $42.8m.

Buena Vista’s acclaimed animated release Tangled tanks sixth and added $8.7m for $127.8m after four weekends.

Overall business fell around 3% compared to the same weekend last year, when Fox launched Avatar on $77m.

The King’s Speech enjoyed another strong session through The Weinstein Company as it climbed two places to number 13 on $1.1m after boosting the theatre count by 24 to 43. The running total is $2.9m after four weekends and the weekend’s per-theatre average was $25,000.

Lionsgate opened its Academy Awards contender Rabbit Hole starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart in five theatres and reported $55,000 for a solid $11,000 average.

ATO Pictures opened Casino Jack starring Kevin Spacey in NY and LA on seven screens for $35,000. The drama will expand next weekend into Washington DC, San Francisco and Denver.  

Next weekend’s wide releases are Fox’s adventure comedy Gulliver’s Travels starring Jack Black; Universal’s latest instalment in a comedy institution, Little Fockers starring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro; and Paramount’s Western remake True Grit with Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld.

Estimated Top 10 North America Dec 17-19, 2010
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) Tron: Legacy (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $43.6m –
2 (-) Yogi Bear (Warner Bros) WBPI $16.7m —
3 (1) The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (Fox) Fox Int’l $12.4m $42.8m
4 (19) The Fighter (Paramount) TWC/Relativity Media $12.2m $12.6m
5 (2) The Tourist (GK Films/Sony) SPRI $8.7m $30.8m
6 (3) Tangled (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $8.7m $127.8m
7 (6) Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Fox Int’l $8.3m $15.7m
8 (-) How Do You Know (Sony) SPRI $7.6m –
9 (4) Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Warner Bros) WBPI $4.8m $265.5m
10 (5) Unstoppable (Fox) Fox Int’l $1.8m $77.3m

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