Disney's "A Christmas Carol" Takes the Top Spot at the Weekend Box Office

Disney's computer-animated retelling of Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" opened with approximately $31 million in ticket sales, enough for it to take the top spot and the weekend box office.  But according to the New York Times, nobody at Disney should be celebrating just yet as the movie cost $175 million to produce, not including hefty marketing costs.  The Michael Jackson documentary, "This is It," came in second, though worldwide, it's the number-one movie.

From the Times:

An expensive six-month marketing push helped “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” open at No. 1 at North American theaters over the weekend, selling an estimated $31 million in tickets, according to the Web site Hollywood.com, which tracks box-office results. But the result was considered weak for a movie that cost about $175 million (not including marketing costs); starred Jim Carrey as Scrooge, right, and other roles; and received one of the biggest releases yet on higher-priced 3-D screens. Did families decide it looked too dark? Did the motion-capture filmmaking style lessen interest? Or did many people figure they would catch the holiday movie in the weeks ahead? Disney, which noted that the film, directed by Robert Zemeckis, made an additional $12 million in 18 foreign markets, hopes it will do better as the holidays approach. The Michael Jackson concert documentary, “This Is It” (Sony), held up well in its second week, placing second with about $14 million for a new total of $58 million. “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” a comedy from Overture Films starring George Clooney and Jeff Bridges, was third with about $13 million. Two horror movies rounded out the Top 5: “The Fourth Kind” (Universal) earned about $12.5 million while “Paranormal Activity” (Paramount) drew about $9 million (for about $97 million so far). Also of note, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” the Lee Daniels film about an abused teenager in Harlem, grossed $1.8 million from just 18 theaters.