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Saturday
07Nov2009

Box Office - 'Christmas Carol' Takes Friday

DateSaturday, November 7, 2009 at 12:00PM
A Christmas Carol is the widest-ever 3-D release and it again reinforces that studios are looking to capitalize on the new technology. A $9 million Friday won't hurt, although that shouldn't push the film above or even near most box office estimates for the weekend, anywhere between $37 - $42 million. More than likely, this will be a low-$30s, which isn't bad, given the powerful months ahead for the film nationwide and around the world. But it's not exactly a ringing endorsement.

It was a first-place start, though, and it will win the weekend without a lot of trouble, but it's lower start than director Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf, which you could certainly argue is less mainstream. There were a couple positive surprises, too. The Fourth Kind jumped out to a $5 million Friday, good enough for second place in a competitive weekend. I wrote on Thursday that if any of the new releases might be bound for a better finish, it would be the alien abduction thriller. So I was right about that, but wrong about The Men Who Stare at Goats, which placed an unexpected third with about $4.7 million. This Is It dropped to fourth place.

There's a battle for fifth between The Box and Paranormal Activity, the difference being that Paranormal Activity is over a month old. I wonder when Cameron Diaz' salary will start to catch up with her on a wholesale basis. She doesn't move tickets and she never really has on her own.

Another great starter was Precious, an odds-on favorite to take home several Oscar nominations. Opening in just 18 theaters, the Oprah-produced and Oprah-promoted (or Oprahmoted) drama set a small release record with $585,000. The film is already set to expand nationwide in two weeks.

If I had to guess about the rest of the weekend, I think we'll see Fourth Kind and Stare at Goats settle a bit. This is It could still rise back to second place - it's only a million bucks behind Fourth Kind - but don't be surprised if it stays right where it is.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment3 Comments |

Reader Comments (3)

I think the early release hurt Christmas Carol. It should catch up but missed it's chance for a big opening by not waiting another two weeks

Saturday, November 7, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterJ

The thing about that J is that if "Carol" was to open later, it would've not only gone up against "New Moon" and have to deal with "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "Princess and the Frog" earlier, but it would've also lost its 3D theaters within a month, seeing as "Avatar" is opening around December 18th. This was probably the only solid opening date for this film.

I feel that it'll hold up well, actually. There's no true Christmas movie coming out anytime soon & this fits that niche that "The Polar Express", "Elf" and others held when they opened. It'll have at least a 4x multiplier I think, unless this movie has horrendous word-of-mouth (which it shouldn't).

Saturday, November 7, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterVince

Re. you Cameron Diaz comment- so how do you explain What Happens in Vegas making over $80 mil US/$200 mil worldwide? Please DON'T tell me Ashton Kutcher...

Monday, November 9, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterBah H-bug

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