According to this article, the big box office news is that Sony’s counter programming gamble with Meryl Streep in “Hope Springs” could pay off. The film opened on Wednesday and has almost $10 million in ticket sales. Friday night accounted for about half of that. If it holds up tonight and Sunday, “Hope Springs”–with Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell–could be a nice little hit. Then Sony will bring it back out for Oscar consideration, with nominations going to Streep and Jones at least. What a pleasant turn of events. Sony’s Amy Pascal can sleep tonight. Streep has a lot of good will built up. And audiences who are depending on that have found an excellent film.