24 Jan – Ashton Kutcher and Hollywood's ballet beauty, Natalie Portman's collaboration in "No Strings Attached" manages to outshine "Green Hornet" dynamic duo Seth Rogen and Jay Chou for the top spot in North America for the weekend just gone (20-23 Jan) with an estimated collection of US$20.3 million compared to the latter's US$18.1 million, off a relatively solid 46% from last weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. The tracker site also reported that "No Strings Attached" is in the same range as Ashton Kutcher's "What Happens in Vegas" (US$20.2 million) and higher than "Just Married" (US$17.5 million), though both of those pictures had greater attendance while top-billed Natalie Portman doesn't have directly comparable titles in her credits, though "No Strings" delivered her second-highest grossing opening in an above-the-title lead role, following her 2006's "V for Vendetta" and the recent melodrama "Black Swan" which only managed to rake in US$6.2 million in its opening weekend. "No Strings Attached" is slated for release in Malaysia and Singapore this 17 February 2011.
Meanwhile, Malaysians and Singaporeans are gearing up for the release of "The Green Hornet" later this week, with lucky Singaporeans being able to catch director Michel Gondry and lead stars Seth Rogen and Jay Chou at the red carpet gala premiere on the evening of 24 January 2011. In Kuala Lumpur, GSC Mid Valley cinema manager-on-duty Desmond Dinesh revealed that the top three highest-grossing movies at the nation's No.1 location are previous chart-topper "Khurafat" followed by "Great Day" and Jack Neo's Chinese New Year comedy also starring comedian Afdlin Shauki, "Homecoming". The Thaipusam weekend also registered strong crowds for the two Tamil movies "Kavalan" and "Siruthai". Other films that debuted over the weekend in Malaysia include "The Way Back", "Dhobi Ghat", "Pocong Jumat Kliwon", "Kavalan" and "The Red Eagle". Other films that opened or sneaked over the weekend in Singapore include "Kavalan", "Dhobi Ghat", "Monsters", "Exorcismus", "Solomon Kane", "Shaolin" and "Hereafter".