A Christmas Carol Takes Weekend Boxoffice

With Halloween now behind us Hollywood is desperately trying to expand the “Holiday Season” to include the first full weekend of November as a suitable starting point for Christmas movies. Why not? “Summer Season” starts in May despite the first day of Summer being over a month and a half away.

So while I agree with John that launching a Christmas movie in early November is a bad idea, the numbers don’t lie. More people were willing to see this at the theater than anything else this weekend. Let’s take a look as Screen Cave spells it out:

1. A Christmas Carol (2009) Weekend Gross $31,000,000

2. Michael Jackson’s This Is It Weekend Gross $14,000,0000 | Total Gross $57,855,000

3. The Men Who Stare at Goats Weekend Gross $13,309,0000

4. The Fourth Kind – Weekend Gross $12,521,0000

5. Paranormal Activity – Weekend Gross $8,600,0000 | Total Gross $97,430,000

6. The Box Weekend Gross $7,855,000

7. Couples Retreat Weekend Gross $6,428,000 | Total Gross $95,980,000

8. Law Abiding Citizen Weekend Gross $6,172,000 | Total Gross $60,873,000

9. Where the Wild Things Are Weekend Gross $4,225,000 | Total Gross $69,268,000

10. Astro Boy Weekend Gross $2,588,000 | Total Gross $15,073,000

When I look at the production costs of some of these films I wonder if Hollywood is going to accept these much longer. While a $31m opening weekend is flattering, the production costs on A Christmas Carol were upwards of $200m. Will there be enough steam dragging this through the Christmas season to recover that? I know in the long run they will sell a heap of DVDs and whatnot, but thats a big number to squeak by.

And then the less than flattering $25m costs of The Box compared to its #6 opening rank tallying in under $8m? Was it the ravenous hordes flocking to see Paranormal Activity (almost breaking a $100m take vs its $15k costs) or was it simply the dumb premise. (A million dollars to hit the button, but someone you dont know somewhere else in the world will die? I would be clicking that button before he finished that sentence. Roll credits.)

A lot of films are getting made on the cheap (relatively anyways) and you have to wonder if Hollywood might lean toward the less visually staggering effects films as a sure bet financially. If A Christmas Carol fails, thats a lot of dough. If Paranormal Activity fails, they will have spent more on the commercials than the film itself.

Is there something to be said about the Return on Investment? When will the gamble become too risky that we might see a shift in Big Studio filmmaking?

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7 thoughts on “A Christmas Carol Takes Weekend Boxoffice

  1. A Christmas Carol was one of only two kid movies playing in theaters (Boston area). Wild Things was sold out and there were NO “G Rated” films playing this weekend. By default, we took our children (ages 6 and 8) to see A Christmas Carol and they hated it. Too scary. We had to leave.

  2. Although it is true that the numbers don’t lie there is a difference between christmas starting at the beginning of November and summer starting in may. The summer season is defined by the school year. Since school gets out at the beginning of may it is logical to start it that early. I still hold that the Christmas season (in America) is from American Thanksgiving to new years day. But I am still shocked at what Christmas Carol got, I expected Goats to be the leader.

  3. My gf and I went to see the box over the weekend. During the first trailer, the theater caught fire and everyone had to leave. We ended up receiving 2 free passes each for whatever movie we want in the future though. So that’s cool.

  4. The Box was so much better than A Christmas Carol, people should’ve went to see that instead. Other than that i’m not surprised with this weekends numbers.

  5. Personally, I went to see and really enjoyed The Box this weekend. It is more than just a mere story of should-I-hit-the-button. And part of the point of the movie is the fact that people would choose to push the button regardless of the knowledge that it results in the death of somebody. I’ll admit, there are questions left unanswered and moments where I was like, “that was odd, but what purpose did it play?” Regardless, very entertaining and the overall point of the movie is still established despite those odd moments and unanswered questions. In the end I enjoyed it more than Southland Tales, but less than Donnie Darko.

  6. Nice. I actually don’t know what word to use because I more than liked the film, but I wouldn’t say I loved it. But it was a very good movie.

    Jim Carrey actually surprised me, because I thought he was gonna just be joking around the whole movie, but he actually played the role seriously. Gary Oldman did good too, even though he kinda reminded me of a hobbit.

    Good to see it made number 1.

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