The wrong foot

Well, the first weekend of 2011 is looking worse than the first weekend of last year.

This take from the weekend's top 10 films reached roughly $137 million, down about 48% over last year's kickoff weekend of $204 million, according to my calculations based on figures from BoxOfficeMojo.com.

"Little Fockers" remains at No. 1 with $26 million (its cumulative total is now a healthy $103 million), followed by "True Grit" at $24 million and "Tron: Legacy" at $18 million. Critics collectively yawned in that movie's face, but it has racked up $130 million in total.

"Yogi Bear" came in fourth with $13 million, and from there the numbers get even smaller. The latest "Narnia" film, Disney's "Tangled" and the sports biopic "The Fighter" all scored in the $10 million range, followed by the Jack Black disappointment "Gulliver's Travels," the arty horror film "Black Swan" and the potential Oscar-crusher "The King's Speech" at $7.6 million.

Why was last year's inaugural January weekend so much better? One word: "Avatar." That movie alone scored $68 million, followed by "Sherlock Holmes" at $36 million and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel" at $35 million.