CHRISTMAS IN NOVEMBER

It is way too early to even think about the holidays. I mean, wasn't it Halloween just last week? It would appear though that moviegoers would disagree with me as they made Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) starring Jim Carrey, Colin Firth and Robin Wright Penn, a massive box office success this weekend taking in $31 million from 3,700 theatres. The animated remake has fared moderately among critics with feedback indicating that it relies too heavily on digital effects, taking away from some of the great performances in the film.

Last week's Box Office victor This Is It slips to second, still bringing in a decent $14 million in 3,500 theatres in its second week. What people fail to realize about the Michael Jackson documentary is that it is also available for legal download on iTunes and that this is deflating its actual box office ticket numbers.

Overture Films' The Men Who Stare At Goats which premiered at TIFF in September to mixed reviews, opened in third this weekend earning $13.3 million. The film has an all-star cast including George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, Ewan McGregor and Jeff Bridges.

Universal Pictures' The Fourth Kind starring Milla Jovovich opened in fourth at $12.5 million from 2,500 theatres and after seeing its terrifying trailer I also am intrigued about this one. Apparently it's based on a series of mysterious alien abductions that have taken place in Alaska. Reviews are atrocious.

Previous Box Office champ Paranormal Activity slides down the top ten to fifth spot with $8.6 million, but still performing respectably. Overall, it is about well over $97.5 million alone in North America and let's not forget it was made for $15,000 US.

Following closely behind in sixth was Warner Bros.' horror flick The Box starring Cameron Diaz and the likable James Marsden. The film performed below expectations earning $7.9 million in its opening weekend. This showing is uncharacteristically poor for a Diaz headlined film.

Also noteworthy was Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry-produced Precious: Based On The Novel "Push" By Sapphire, which opened in 18 theatres only, making an unheard of $100,000 per screen this weekend. Bringing in a total of $1.8 million, it managed to come in at an impressive 13th spot this weekend. It's safe to say this film is going to do extremely well when it gets a wide release later this month. I was lucky enough to see early at this year's TIFF. Click here for my review.

I've been away from the theatre for a couple weeks now. What do you guys recommend?