Sony's "The Green Hornet" premiered to a four-day gross of $40 million, according to studio estimates, right in line with pre-release estimates for the $130 million 3D action tentpole.
Universal's Ron Howard-directed ensemble comedy "The Dilemma" finished in second place over the Martin Luther King holiday, grossing an estimated $21.1 million.
That's also right in line with pre-release estimates, which were not at all bullish for the $70 million film. The movie stars feature-comedy heavyweights Vince Vaughn and Kevin James.
The overall box office finished down about 26 percent from last year's MLK weekend, according to one studio's estimate, with "True Grit" ($13.1 million) placing third and "The King's Speech" coming in fourth.
While "Green Hornet" didn't match the pre-release predictions of some box office pundits for a blowout $50 million-plus four-day performance, it did enjoy the second biggest MLK premiere ever, finishing only behind 2008's "Cloverfield" ($40.1 million).
"And we think this film is going to be around a while," said Sony distribution president Rory Bruer, speaking to TheWrap on Sunday.
For Sony, which is coming off a tough December, during which both "The Tourist" and "How Do You Know" notably underperformed at the domestic box office, "Green Hornet" should be plenty profitable, with the film taking in $16.1 million in 35 foreign territories, primarily Western Europe, over the standard three-day weekened. (It still has two-third of the world to premiere in, including Asia, where co-star Jay Chou could play big.)
"Hornet's" domestic tally included $3 million grossed running at 174 digitally equipped IMAX locations.
Universal's "The Dilemma," meanwhile, will have to hold up well in the coming weeks to get into the black, with stars Vaughn and James undershooting the usual $30 million-plus start their previous feature comedies have enjoyed.
"Considering the soft weekend overall at the box office, I'm pleased," said Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco. "And this is not a slapstick comedy -- it's a relationship comedy, and those play differently."
"Dilemma" received a B grade from Cinemascore and -- somewhat surprisingly for a guy-centric comedy -- garnered an audience that was 60 percent female.
Here's how the top 10 finished, however:
"The Green Hornet" ($40m)
"The Dilemma" ($21.1m)
"True Grit" ($13.1m)
"The King's Speech" ($11.2m)
"Black Swan" ($10.4m)
"Little Fockers" ($8.4m)
"Yogi Bear" ($7.5m)
"Tron Legacy" ($6.8m)
"The Fighter" ($6.2m)
"Tangled" ($5.5m)
Sunday update:
Sony's "The Green Hornet" grossed an estimated $12.7 million Saturday, putting the $130 million Seth Rogen 3D action film on pace to hit pre-release tracking of around $40 million for the four-day Martin Luther King holiday, according to studio data.
If "Hornet" can stay on this pace, it will enjoy the second biggest MLK opening ever, next to the $40.1 million start in 2008 for Paramount's "Cloverfield."
Universal's "The Dilemma" was also up around 10 percent on Saturday to $6.8
