‘The King’s Speech’ makes a statement

“The King’s Speech” put on a command performance in its limited debut.

The historical drama, which opened Friday, about Britain’s King George VI and his unusual relationship with a speech therapist, brought in $349,791 from two locations each in Los Angeles and New York, according to an estimate from distributor Weinstein Co. Its per-theater average of $87,448 was the highest for any movie released this year.

The Weinstein Co. is hoping to spin largely positive reviews and good word of mouth for the film, which stars Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter, into box-office and Oscar gold. “The King’s Speech” is widely considered to be a top awards contender, and the Weinstein Co. will expand the film’s presence in theaters slowly over the next two months to take advantage of expected nominations from critics’ organizations, the Golden Globes and, ultimately, the Oscars.

The spectacular start in four theaters this weekend indicates that “The King’s Speech” already has generated must-see buzz among at least a sliver of art-house moviegoers in big cities.

Also in limited release, the James Franco drama “127 Hours” spread out to more theater locations this weekend with good but not great results for Fox Searchlight. The true story of a hiker whose arm becomes trapped under a boulder brought in $2.3 million over the five-day holiday weekend from 293 theaters, up from 108 the previous weekend. Its total gross is now $4.4 million.

Meanwhile, the new 3-D version of “The Nutcracker,” brutalized by reviewers, opened to a weak $89,208 over the five-day weekend at 42 locations.