A CHRISTMAS CAROL Tops Box Office; THIS IS IT in 2nd Spot
As expected, Walt Disney’s A Christmas Carol took the No. 1 spot at the North American box office this weekend with a solid $31 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Starring Jim Carrey (above), the Robert Zemeckis-directed 3D motion-capture adventure tale based on Charles Dickens’ classic opened at 3,683 locations and scored an average of $8,417 per theater, enough to crush its competition.
At No. 2, Michael Jackson’s This Is It delivered another strong performance, earning $14 million at 3,481 locations. Sony’s documentary about the late pop star’s planned concert series lifted its total gross to an impressive $57.8 million.
New entry The Men Who Stare at Goats opened in third place with $13.3 million. Playing at 2,443 locations, the film stars George Clooney (above, with Ewan McGregor and Jeff Bridges) as a soldier claiming he’s a psychic spy with paranormal powers.
Following at No. 4 with a three-day gross of $12.5 million was new release The Fourth Kind, a sci-fi thriller starring Milla Jovovich in the role of a psychologist treating mentally unstable patients in a small Alaskan town.
Things didn’t go so well for Richard Kelly’s new entry The Box, which finished sixth with $7.8 million from ticket sales at 2,635 locations. Cameron Diaz and James Marsden play a couple facing a tough decision when they receive a strange wooden box.
Meanwhile, Paranormal Activity slipped to the No. 5 spot, picking up another $8.6 million for an excellent domestic total of $97.4 million. The sleeper horror hit is currently playing at 2,558 sites.
At No. 7, Couples Retreat took home $6.4 million, lifting its cumulative gross to $95.9 million after a good five-week run. Following in eighth place with $6.1 million was Law Abiding Citizen, starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx, which reached a total haul of $60.8 million.
At the bottom of the top 10, Where the Wild Things Are generated $4.2 million at No. 9 ($69.2 million total), while Astro Boy collected $2.5 million for a cume of $15 million.
Also noteworthy this weekend was the solid opening performance of Lee Daniels‘ Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, which bagged $1.8 million from ticket sales at only 18 locations.
Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)
Subscribe / Syndicate
Leave a Comment
Tags: A Christmas Carol, Box Office, Cameron Diaz, George Clooney, Jim Carrey, Michael Jackson, Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, Robert Zemeckis, The Box, The Fourth Kind, The Men Who Stare at Goats, This Is It
Comments
Leave a Reply
NOTE:
All comments are moderated and may take some time before they are posted. Different views and opinions are welcome, but courtesy is imperative. Rude/crass/bigoted comments and name-calling of any sort will be immediately deleted.
Also, please be aware that the Alternative Film Guide has no contact information for the talent mentioned in this blog and no information pertaining to or access to distributors'/producers' film prints.
