Carrey’s Carol Comes Out On Top
Written by Wayne Hall on November 9, 2009 – 11:00 am -
Continuing the trend of popular 3D films, Disney’s A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey humbugged itself to the top spot in movie theaters in the United States this past weekend. However, overseas This Is It was still a “thriller,” beating out the holiday movie, according to Variety..
In the widest 3D release so far, the Robert Zemeckis-directed Carol earned $31 million, which was considered something of a disappointment. Most box office gurus had expected it to open higher than $35 million. In the U.K., the motion picture opened to a gross of $2.9 million, below the expected $5 million.
Carol‘s debut included more that 2,000 3D screens. Generally 3D titles tend toover-perform because of the added charge for 3D tickets. Disney pointed out that Christmas Carol marked Zemeckis’ best domestic opening to date, passing Polar Express ($23.3 million for WarnerBros.) and, more recently, Beowulf ($27.5 million for Paramount).
Carol did 50 percent better in its opening weekend than Express did overseas, and that film finished its run by grossing $304.9 million worldwide.
“They said all the same things about Polar Express,” said Disney president of domestic distribution Chuck Viane. “We had to get positioned and open now. Bob Zemeckis has done it again. He doubled the gross of his closest competitor this weekend, and we are looking forward to a very long run. I think people are truly enamored with what he puts on the big screen.”
On 181 IMAX screens, the movie collected $4.5 million, 14.5 percent of the entire weekend’s income. This surpassed the previous record, which was 8 percent of the gross for both Sony’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Monsters Vs. Aliens.
Disney predicts the pic will have long legs since there’s not another 3D title until 20th Century Fox’s Avatar hits the theaters on Dec. 18. However, estimates for the cost of Carol generally come in around $180 million, meaning the film must do well through the entire holiday season for Disney to make money from the movie.
Audiences attending the film were slightly more than half under the age of 25, with teens only 15 percent of the attendees.
Overseas, This Is It took in $29 million, bringing its take to $129 million in its second weekend and a worldwide total of $186.9 million. The Michael Jackson movie came in second place in the U.S., adding another $14 million.
Following George Clooney‘s The Men Who Stare At Goats in the third spot was Universal’s Milla Jovovich sci-fi thriller The Fourth Kind, starting off with a better-than-expected $12.5 million. After that came Paramount’s sleeper blockbuster Paranormal Activity, which fell to fifth.
Related posts:
- ‘Surrogates’ Stumbles; ‘Meatballs’ Cooks In Theaters
- Jackson’s This Is It Beats Out Paranormal Activity
- Yellow Submarine To Be Redone In 3D
- ‘Final Destination’ Arrives At Top Of Weekend Box Office
- Paramount Makes Money From Paranormal Activity
Tags: Christmas Carol, Disney, Fourth Kind, Jim Carrey, Paranormal Activity
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