Wknd. B.O.: $31M Lump of Coal for 'Christmas Carol'

“It just might be a little too early for the Christmas stuff,” lamented a distribution executive at a rival studio, who had predicted a $40 million-$45 million opening for “Disney’s A Christmas Carol.”

Premiering with a full six weeks' worth of shopping days before Dec. 25, the Robert Zemeckis-directed Charles Dickens adaptation, featuring Jim Carrey voicing Scrooge and ghosts alike, fell below pre-release projections, leading the domestic box office with $31 million over its first three days.

The overall domestic box office down 13 percent from the same weekend in 2008, according to one studio's estimates.

Also premiering was Lionsgate awards aspirant "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire," which took in $1.8 million playing on only 18 screens spread across New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta. The film's $100,000-per-screen average set a new industry record.

Meanwhile, for Disney, in releasing "A Christmas Carol" into a record 2,045 digital 3D screens, 181 of which were Imax, a hot start would seem imperative, given the film’s production budget exceeded $180 million.

However, for solace, the studio could look to Zemeckis’ previous motion-capture-animated holiday effort, Warner's “The Polar Express,” a $165 million film that debuted to just $23.3 million on Nov. 10, 2004, but picked up steam as the holidays drew nearer, actually growing 24 percent in its fourth week and playing all the way through March for a $162.8 million domestic gross.

If further inspiration is required, Disney officials could venture from Burbank to Culver City, where Sony has seen its Michael Jackson concert-rehearsal film “This Is It” recover nicely from what appeared to many to be a downer start.

The film dropped only 40 percent in its second weekend, finishing with $14 million in North American ticket sales. Adding another $29 million internationally, “This Is It” – which cost Sony $60 million to acquire – has now grossed $186.5 million

Meanwhile, finishing in third place,  Overture Cannes pickup “The Men Who Stare at Goats” took in $13.3 million in its first three days. Expectations for the movie were all over the map, with pre-release projections spanning $7 million-$18 million.

Paying less than $5 million for North American rights, however, Overture executive VP of distribution Kyle Davies was more than pleased with the opening for the star-studded satire, which features George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey.

“And we think it’s going to hold because there isn’t a lot of comedy in the market right now,” said Davies, specifically noting the long legs of Universal’s “Couples Retreat.”

In its fifth weekend in theaters, the Vince Vaughn/Jon Favreau-led ensemble comedy didn’t drop a dime from week four, taking in another $6.4 million to bring its cumulative total to $96 million.

Indeed, counterprogramming through the glut of holiday-themed family movies, horror films and weighty awards aspirants might be where it’s at. Another example: Overture’s “Law Abiding Citizen” – an action film starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler seemingly more fit for summer than fall -- dropped only 17 percent in its fourth week of release.

 

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