Underworld Awakening had no trouble topping a crowded field of new or expanding releases this weekend. Nine years after the action-horror series launched, Underworld 4 took in an estimated $25.4 million from 3,078 locations for the second-highest opening weekend in the franchise’s history. Red Tails also had reason to be happy with its second-place showing while returns for the week’s three other highly-touted features were more modest.

In terms of box office numbers, January keeps offering up pleasant surprises.  This week, the big winner is Underworld Awakening with an estimated $9.4 million from 3,078 locations.  While not an unexpected first-place victory, part four in Screen Gems’ franchise is on track to earn about 15% more than the last installment, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, saw on its first weekend back in January of 2009.  And unlike 2010, when No Strings Attached was the only major new release, there are plenty of other titles crowding into theatres this weekend.  George Lucas’s Red Tails is at number two with $6 million from 2,512 venues – a better start for the WWII drama than would be suggested by the twenty-plus years it took to open the film.  After a month in limited release, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close expanded to 2,630 locations and took in $3.2 million.  The only film that is not meeting or exceeding expectations is Relativity’s Haywire.  After earning an estimated $2.9 million from 2,439 on Friday, the Steven Soderbergh drama will have trouble topping the $8 million weekend mark set by the studio.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

Even with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in its path, Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger had no trouble posting the best superhero debut of this comic-happy summer with $65.8 million.

When we saw the trailers for Ivan Reitman’s No Strings Attached, we all had the same basic reaction:  “Oh, boy, Natalie Portman in a sex comedy!”, a thought that was immediately followed by:  “Oh, no, Ashton Kutcher.”  Yes, over the past decade, Kutcher has found more success as a “personality”, camera salesman, and a reality TV producer than he seems to have found as an actor:  despite a few middle-of-the-road successes at the box office, his filmography has left film geeks cold.  Would No Strings Attached be the first film that breaks away from that sad truth?  Or would No Strings Attached be more Killers-level crap?  Read on for our full review after the jump to find out, folks….

Super Bowl weekend is not known for its huge debuts – 2010 being the notable exception.  And with much of the country still dealing with their endless winter nightmares and the rest transfixed by the game, this weekend has a good excuse for its low numbers.

Surprise!  The low-budget Pg-13 thriller The Roommate scored a first place opening at Friday’s box office.  The film’s estimate of $6.4 million from 2,534 locations is nearly double that of the second-place Sanctum.  You’ve heard of Sanctum?  It’s the 3D movie that producer James Cameron has been plugging pretty relentlessly for the past week or so.  Friday was the one chance that the more male-skewing title had to make some coin before this weekend’s Super Bowl festivities.  Instead, it looks like female-driven titles like The Roommate and No Strings Attached (still strong on its third Friday) have the advantage from the beginning.  We’ll be back with full coverage and analysis tomorrow, although one wonders who will be paying attention…

After finishing in first on Friday, The Rite stayed on top with a three day estimate of $15 million from its 2,985 locations.  No Strings Attached followed in second place, holding on to 58% of its first weekend total.  The Mechanic opened in third for the weekend with $11.5 million, a figure that was well above most projections for the R-rated action film.

Bringing a depressingly down-trending month to a close, two new features debuted on Friday – neither of which seems capable of breaking the box office out of its January doldrums.  Warner Brothers’ The Rite came in first on Friday with $5.1 million from its 2,985 locations.  That is less than Mel Gibson’s Edge of Darkness debuted to at this time last year, though I’m sure snow-fatigue on the beleaguered East Coast is at least partially to blame.  The PG-13 thriller starring Anthony Hopkins has a chance to stay on top through the three day weekend with a projected take of $15 million.  The excellent 39% hold of No Strings Attached, however, may mean that last weekend’s top title is in for a second week at number one.  CBS Film’s The Mechanic opened in third place on Friday with $3.5 million and is not expected to top ten million by Sunday.  We’ll have full details and analysis tomorrow.

After just one weekend of excitement surrounding the release of The Green Hornet, the box office reverted to more modest numbers this weekend.  As the week’s sole new release the romantic comedy No Strings Attached came out on top, bringing in a higher than expected total estimated at $20.3 million from its 3,018 locations.

Being the only major wide release of the week has its benefits.  Despite the recent radioactivity of the romantic-comedy genre, No Strings Attached managed a first place debut on Friday with an estimated $7.3 million from its 3,018 locations.  Considering that that estimate is nearly equivalent to the first weekend total of the box office’s last romantic comedy release – Sony’s How Do You Know – No Strings Attached is looking like a winner for Paramount.  The weekend projection for the film is now about $18 million, meaning it is poised to top The Green Hornet for the weekend crown.  Last weekend’s big winner fell to number two on Friday with $5.1 million for an eight day total of $50.4 million.  Full details on the weekend box office tomorrow.

If you’re an indie film watcher, you already know Greta Gerwig.  But while many of us are familiar with her great work in such films as The House of the Devil, Baghead and Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg, she’s still not on everyone’s radar.  But that’s about to change.  That’s because Gerwig plays one of Natalie Portman’s friends in No Strings Attached, she stars opposite Russell Brand in the remake of Arthur, and she’s also in Whit Stillman’s (Metropolitan, Barcelona, The Last Days of Disco) new movie Damsels in Distress.  What that means is…she’s right on the verge of being a mainstream star.

Anyhow, I recently got to do an extended interview with Gerwig and we talked about all three of her upcoming projects.  If you’ve been waiting (like me for Whit Stillman to finally make another movie, the great news is she thinks Stillman might not stop with Damsels in Distress.  In addition to spending way too much time talking about Stillman, Gerwig talks about her love of Elizabeth Meriwether and Ivan Reitman, making No Strings Attached, what making Arthur was really like, and so much more.  Hit the jump to either watch, read or listen to the interview:

No Strings Attached is the blandest of romantic comedies and only attempts to give itself an edge through a half-assed attempt at raunchy humor and salty language.  It sets up situational comedy that would feel stale in a 1980s sitcom and populates these unfunny scenarios with people who feel designed to serve the purpose of a bit rather than actual human beings who stumbled into a comedic situation.  The only truly funny thing about No Strings Attached is how proud it is of its reversal of gender roles, which would be a feat worth applauding if the film had come out in the 1950s.  Devoid of chemistry and humor, No Strings Attached is a romantic comedy that lacks both romance and comedy.

Opening this weekend is director Ivan Reitman’s No Strings Attached. Starring Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Cary Elwes and Kevin Kline, the comedy is about “a guy and girl who try to keep their relationship strictly physical, but it’s not long before they learn that they want something more.”  While you might think it’s Portman’s character that wants the relationship, it’s actually Kutcher’s.

Anyway, Paramount recently held a press conference with Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, director Ivan Reitman and screenwriter Liz Meriwether.  They talked about working together, doing improv, do they really think friendship can survive sex without feelings, what is it really like to film sex scenes, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to either read a transcript or listen to the audio:

If the new year struck you with desire for a romantic comedy about friends with benefits — and you’re over 17 — you have two to choose from in 2011: No Strings Attached and Friends With Benefits.  No Strings Attached stars Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman and has the jump on Friends with a January 21st release date.  But the Justin Timberlake/Mila Kunis-led Friends With Benefits introduced itself with a red band trailer that effectively announced: “Don’t fill up too fast.  I’ll be ready on July 22nd.”

Not to be outdone, Paramount has followed up on the all-ages trailer released in November with a raunchy red band trailer for No Strings Attached, which you can watch after the break.

The theme of tonight’s posters: “complicated romantic relationships.”  On the lighter side of the spectrum, we have Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher smiling postcoitus for the romantic comedy No Strings Attached.  On the heavier side — the “This is so unnerving no one under 17 can see this” side — we have the washed out heads of Ryan Gosling and Michelle Wiliams weighed down by the angst of Blue Valentine.  Hit the jump to see both posters in full.