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LOS ANGELES – Jeff Bridges’ sci-fi sequel “Tron: Legacy” has leaped to the top of the box-office grid with a $43.6 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Disney release reboots the story line started in Bridges’ 1982 tale “Tron,” in which his character is hurtled into a deadly virtual reality known as the Grid. The movie co-stars Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde.

Though quaint by today’s standards, the computer-graphic effects in the original “Tron” were cutting-edge at the time. Yet the movie was a box-office underachiever whose following somehow swelled in the intervening decades in a way that perplexed even the studio’s executives.

“I sure wish I knew, because there is a very, very committed core group of people who just love that movie, and they have fanned the opening-weekend grosses,” said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney.

Other newcomers premiered with modest to poor receipts, continuing a sluggish end to Hollywood’s year.

The weekend proved no picnic for Dan Aykroyd’s family flick “Yogi Bear,” which fell flat at a weak No. 2 with $16.7 million. The Warner Bros. release features the voices of Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake in an adaptation of the TV cartoon about the picnic-basket-thieving bear.

With children out of school over the holidays, Warner Bros. executives hope “Yogi Bear” will hold up well through Christmas and New Year’s.

“We wish it had been a bit higher, but we’ll catch up as we get going,” said Jeff Goldstein, the studio’s general sales manager.

The previous weekend’s top movie, 20th Century Fox’s “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” fell to No. 3 with $12.4 million, raising its total to $42.7 million.

Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale’s acclaimed boxing drama “The Fighter” had a so-so expansion nationwide after a stellar debut in limited release the previous weekend for the tale based on the life of real-life fighter Micky Ward. Released by Paramount, “The Fighter” came in at No. 4 with $12.2 million.

Reese Witherspoon’s love-triangle romance “How Do You Know” was a dud with just $7.6 million, the Sony release opening at No. 8. The movie co-stars Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd and Jack Nicholson.

Overall revenues slipped to $134 million, down 2.6 percent from the same weekend last year, when “Avatar” debuted with $77 million on its way to becoming the biggest modern blockbuster with a $2.8 billion worldwide haul.

Considering the huge gap between the “Avatar” revenues and those for “Tron: Legacy,” Hollywood’s general business held up fairly well because of this year’s diverse undercard of new movies and holdovers.

“We weren’t down that badly,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. “Last year, it was pretty much that one film. `Avatar’ so heavily dominated that marketplace, which was great for `Avatar,’ but for the other movies there wasn’t much there.”

“The King’s Speech,” a Weinstein Co. release that led Golden Globe contenders Tuesday with seven nominations, remained a strong earner as it continued its gradual expansion in limited release.

The film starring Colin Firth as Queen Elizabeth II’s father, a reluctant king coping with a debilitating stammer, took in $1.1 million in 43 theaters, averaging a healthy $25,000 a cinema.

That compared to a $12,634 average in 3,451 theaters for “Tron: Legacy”; $4,752 in 3,515 cinemas for “Yogi Bear”; $4,874 in 2,503 locations for “The Fighter”; and $3,061 in 2,483 places for “How Do You Know.”

Fox Searchlight’s ballet drama “Black Swan,” another top Globe nominee starring Natalie Portman, climbed the chart as it expanded into nationwide release with $8.3 million in 959 theaters, averaging $8,655 and coming in at No. 7.

In limited release, Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart’s somber drama “Rabbit Hole” opened solidly with $55,000 in five theaters, averaging $11,000. The film, which earned Kidman a Globe nomination, centers on a couple struggling in their marriage after losing their young son in a traffic accident.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. “Tron: Legacy,” $43.6 million.

2. “Yogi Bear,” $16.7 million.

3. “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” $12.4 million.

4. “The Fighter,” $12.2 million.

5. “The Tourist,” $8.7 million.

6. “Tangled,” $8.68 million.

7. “Black Swan,” $8.3 million.

8. “How Do You Know,” $7.6 million.

9. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,” $4.8 million.

10. “Unstoppable,” $1.8 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney’s parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – As snow storms raged across Europe, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” led the mushy foreign box office for a second weekend.

The 3D film earned $29.9 million from 61 territories, raising its total to $124.4 million — nearly triple the North American haul.

New North American champ “Tron: Legacy” drew $23 million from chart-topping bows in each of its 26 markets. It ranked No. 3, just behind “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,” with $24.3 million from 62 markets. The boy wizard’s foreign total stands at $558.6 million.

About two-thirds of the overall “Tron” gross came from five markets: Japan ($4.7 million), Australia ($3.4 million), U.K. ($3.2 million), Brazil and Spain ($1.9 million each).

“Megamind” was No. 4 with $15 million from 50 markets — 18 of them new this weekend. Its foreign total rose to $87 million. Top new markets included Mexico ($2.7 million, No. 1), snow-bound France ($2.2 million, No. 6) and Italy ($1.5 million, No. 5).

“Tangled” followed at No. 5 with $14 million in its fourth round overseas in 17 territories. The foreign total rose to $97.8 million.

Notable newcomers also included the musical drama “Burlesque,” with $2.4 million from nine markets.

Other international totals to date included: “The Social Network,” $100.5 million, “Unstoppable,” $56.9 million, “Jackass 3D,” $53 million, “The Tourist,” $22.3 million, and “The Next Three Days,” $10.5 million.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Tron: Legacy,” a costly 3D sci-fi movie that Walt Disney Co has promoted for more than three years, opened disappointingly at the weekend box office in North America, while a new comedy starring Reese Witherspoon was one of the biggest flops of the year.

The “Tron” movie, a massively hyped sequel to an obscure 1982 movie, earned $43.6 million during its first three days of release, Disney said Sunday. Industry observers had been expecting a three-day start in the $50 million range, although Disney said the opening was within its own expectations.

The effects-laden update reportedly cost $170 million to make, and more than $100 million to market worldwide. Disney never divulges budgets.

Internationally, the film earned a modest $23 million from No. 1 openings in all 26 of its markets, including Japan, Australia, Britain and Brazil. These markets represent about half of the international sales pie.

Meanwhile “How Do You Know” opened at No. 8 with just $7.6 million in the United States and Canada, far short of modest expectations in the $12 million range. The Columbia Pictures project cost about $100 million to make, with half the budget spent on salaries for Witherspoon, co-stars Jack Nicholson, Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd, and writer/director James L. Brooks. Extensive reshoots also drove up costs.

Executives at the Sony Corp unit were despondent about the opening, although the film had suffered bad buzz for some time with no help from a forgettable title.

“YOGI” BARELY AVERAGE

A third newcomer did not do much better. “Yogi Bear,” a live-action/animated update of the old television cartoon, came in at No. 2 with $16.7 million. Distributor Warner Bros. said it had hoped for an opening between $18 million and $20 million, but the Time Warner Inc unit expected the Christmas holiday would boost business. The $80 million film stars Dan Aykroyd as the voice of the title character and Justin Timberlake as his sidekick Boo Boo.

Critics trashed all three films, which vied for the attention of holiday-distracted moviegoers alongside national expansions of acclaimed awards-season contenders Paramount Pictures’ “The Fighter” (No. 4, $12.2 million) and Fox Searchlight’s “Black Swan” (No. 7, $8.3 million).

Last weekend’s champion, 20th Century Fox’s “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” fell to No. 3 with $12.4 million in its second weekend.

“The Tourist,” a widely mocked caper starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, dropped three places to No. 5 with $8.7 million, also in its second weekend. The Columbia release tied with Disney’s former chart-topping cartoon “Tangled.”

The final weekend before Christmas is traditionally slow, although films often enjoy long runs as school holidays start to take effect. But overall business has been weak for some time, with year-on-year sales down for six weekends in a row.

“A malaise has crept over the marketplace,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head box office analyst at Hollywood.com. “The lack of momentum is hurting everybody across the board.”

But Disney was bullish about “Tron: Legacy,” a project that has occupied the attention of two regimes at the studio in recent years. It has been offering tantalizing glimpses to movie fans at the annual Comic-Con convention since 2008, and raised the heat in recent months with cross-marketing efforts across its theme parks, consumer-products and cable TV wings.

Jeff Bridges returns to “Tron” as a videogame developer trapped in a virtual environment called the Grid. While the original film appealed only to male youngsters, Disney targeted the reboot at men and women of all ages.

But exit polling indicated the film skewed to men aged 18 to 30, with relatively little interest in mainstream multiplexes. Instead, the film’s tech-savvy constituency thronged 3D and big-screen theaters. About one-quarter of sales — $10.3 million — came from Imax Corp’s 234 screens. The film played in almost 3,500 theaters overall.