‘Country Strong’ Finishes Opening Box-Office Weekend at No. 6

'Country Strong' opened in theaters on Friday, January 7, but couldn't hold off a handful of competing blockbuster films, ultimately bringing in a modest $7.3 million in box office ticket sales over the weekend, after a two-week limited run in Nashville and Los Angeles.

The movie, which was made for only $12.5 million, stars Gwyneth Paltrow as a fallen country singer struggling with drug and alcohol addiction and the fallout others have to deal with when she is taken out of rehab too early. 'Country Strong' features several country tunes, including performances by Gwyneth, Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester.

Coming in at the top with $15 million is 'True Grit,' which stars Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. Since its release, the film has earned $110.4 million. 'Little Fockers' came in second place with $13.8 million, followed by Nicolas Cage's 'Season of the Witch' at No. 3. 'Country Strong,' which is at No. 6, was kept out of the top five by 'Tron: Legacy,' which stars Garrett Hedlund and Jeff Bridges, and 'Black Swan,' which came in at No. 4 and 5 respectively.

Gwyneth Paltrow told The Boot that playing the role of Kelly Canter in 'Country Strong' was freeing for her, in a sense. "It's funny because when the movie was coming to an end, I was really sad, because there was this abandon Kelly Canter has, that I feel like I don't have," she says. "I'm not allowed. I have to keep myself within a box, and she's just the most free being, a total wreck, and also amazing, but there was a kind of freedom that I felt playing her that I was really, really sad to let go of and go back to my tidy corners. It was hard for me to say goodbye to her. That was very cathartic. I loved playing somebody who was kind of coming off her hinges ... There was something very liberating about being somebody who was that reckless, because I'm the opposite of that."

'Country Strong' also stars superstar Tim McGraw, who plays Gwyneth's husband and manager. Ironically, he is the only main character who does not sing in the film, but he does have a duet with his co-star on the soundtrack, which he executive produced.