In a box office edition of “freaky friday,” the highest grossing studio debut was released in 2-D while the Indie market’s biggest debut was released in 3-D. Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams only needed five locations to gross $127,000 in its first weekend (making this film Mr. Herzog’s most successful debut of his career).

Easter weekend's selections are admittedly wafer thin, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't partake in any blessed offerings. Why there's a trinity of films that should appeal to a mass audience. Such as the Foreign Oscar-nominated Incendies, Disney/BBC co-production African Cats and Morgan Spurlock's The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. So go forth and prosper, my cinephiles.

Robert Redford’s drama about Mary Surratt, the lone woman charged in the conspiracy to kill President Lincoln, opened aggressively in 707 locations this weekend. The Conspirator, a Roadside Attractions release, managed to rake in $3.9 million while holding on with a $5,550 average. The film premiered last year at the Toronto International Film Festival and has since garnered only a 62% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes’ critics.

The calm before the blockbuster storm. This weekend's offerings are mostly limited releases from notable film festivals. For starters we have the the critically-acclaimed Amardillo, A Screaming Man and The Princess of Montpensier making their post-Cannes debuts.

Feminists everywhere can rejoice that Hanna's Saoirse Ronan proves that girl power is more about kicking ass than shaking it (hear that Zak). Fernando Santos gives Tootsie a run for her/his money in To Die Like a Man. Venice/TIFF/NYFF Meek's Cutoff turns Manifest Destiny on its collective head in Kelly Reichardt's third film starring Michelle Williams.

While you'd be wise to stay home and do some spring cleaning, if you do venture out, I suggest sticking to your local art house where you'll find some meatier and darker subject matters like in Foreign Oscar winner In a Better World or David Schwimmer's Trust and you can also have your own little Best of the Director's Fortnight section from last year's Cannes with the Film Forum commencing it's run on the brilliant The Four Times and if you're in Brooklyn --- head over to the ReRun Theater for Two Gates of Sleep as it receives only a one week run.

Despite an unusually slow weekend for all U.S. indie releases not from Fox Searchlight, imports like Potiche from director Francois Ozon saw great success. The film starring Gerard Depardieu (and a Catherine Deneuve who hit the late night talk show circuit) made a promising $12,143 average in 7 locations. Distributor Music Box Films will likely continue to bank on Depardieu/Deneuve’s star power as it slowly expands into other markets around the country.

This past weekend, Fox Searchlight released McCarthy’s latest film, Win Win, to the tune of $150,362. The film stars Paul Giamatti as an attorney by day but high school wrestling coach by night. It is McCarthy’s strongest opening to date with a $30,072 average in 5 theaters, and was up a promising 75% on Saturday.

This week gives us few potentially watchable flicks but nothing great. It’s mid-march, which means nothing will be very exciting (to be fair, the noteworthy Greenberg did come out same time last year, but there’s a particularly large amount of mediocrity going on. If you want a decent dramedy that has something for everyone, Win Win, starring Paul Giamatti, is probably your best bet.

Today we begin what will be a Friday tradition here on the site. IONCINEMA.com's Weekend Watch is a basic rundown of cinematic opening weekend offerings with Erica Elson guiding your choices in U.S Indie, Foreign, Documentaries and Studio film releases. This weekend you'll definitely want to skip the studio picks and the duelling alien items and if you're lucky enough to be in L.A or NYC you'll want to check out Abbas Kiarostami’s gem Certified Copy.

It was a big weekend for foreign films such as Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives that picked up a promising $8,036 average in three locations. “Boonmee” is a drama from Thailand and took home last year’s Best Foreign Language Film award from the Toronto Film Critics Association and of course, won the top prize in Cannes.

One short-list nominated film and Cannes winner (final nine) that was noticeably absent from the winner’s circle was Xavier Beauvois’ Of Gods and Men which debuted domestically this past weekend (on the same weekend it picked up the Best Film award at France's Oscar ceremony equivalent).

In a relatively quiet weekend for specialty debuts, its holdovers like “The King’s Speech” and “Black Swan” making all the news. Both passed the $100 million mark, but it’s “Speech” that overtook “Swan” on its way to $6.5 million in its 13th weekend. Amidst an overall decline at the box office, Tom Hooper’s drama experienced only a 9.9% decline despite withdrawing from 177 locations.

IFC released Cold Weather in one NYC location but saw a promising $14,513 return this Super Bowl weekend. “Weather” is a pickup from last year’s SXSW Film Festival and centers around a former forensic scientist who returns home to Portland to find an ex-girlfriend missing. Writer/director Aaron Katz is no stranger to Independent filmmaking and was nominated at the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards for his film “Quiet City.”

With the Oscars approaching, independent films are making aggressive pushes to capitalize on the added award buzz. Roadside Attractions released Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful in 57 theaters grossing a respectable $8,088 average. It will most likely expand the film passed the 100 theater mark this coming weekend in preparation for Javier Bardem’s Oscar nomination. “Biutiful” is Iñárritu’s first feature film directorial effort since “Babel” and is the frontrunner in the Academy’s Best Foreign Language category.

While the Golden Globes aren’t exactly known as being the Mecca of critical genius, the Best Actor for a Comedy or Musical Award went to Paul Giamatti for Barney’s Version, beating out Johnny Depp, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Kevin Spacey. “Version” ran for a short awards qualifying run in December but was officially released this past weekend by Sony Pictures Classics.

While box office receipts are down from 2009, the specialty market ended on a high note with two promising releases this past weekend. Another Year, a look into one not-so-golden year of married life, managed to average $20,000 in its limited debut. The Sony Classics release of another British import from writer-director Mike Leigh (“Happy-Go-Lucky”) will look to find an audience for its study of the everyday as it expands to more theaters. One picture that will have no trouble creating buzz is Blue Valentine starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.

In a Christmas weekend marked by low attendance, specialty debuts like Somewhere and The Illusionist showed strong numbers. “Somewhere,” Sofia Coppola’s drama about a Hollywood actor (Stephen Dorff) attempting to reconnect with his young daughter (Elle Fanning), won the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival and has been riding a wave of critical accolades ever since with some bumps along the way for being deemed "too European".

In the past few weeks, 3D releases have inundated the studio market. Disney’s Tron: Legacy took in 82% of its $43.6 million gross from 3D showings. But the recent buzz around specialty titles like “Black Swan,” and “The King’s Speech” has delivered quite a compelling argument for the viability of smaller budgets. Even studio pic “The Fighter” is relatively low-budget compared to other studio productions.

While Paramount released The Fighter to an outstanding $320,000 gross in only four theaters, Black Swan expanded to 90 theaters and jumped to 6th place in this week’s box office. $80,000 per theater was enough to give “Fighter” the third best limited debut of the year, but “Swan” held strong with an impressive $37,022 average. In a week where studio debuts like The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader underperformed, numbers in the specialty market looked stronger than ever as audiences prepare for wide releases of their favorite Oscar contenders.