A ‘Precious’ box-office present for Lionsgate; for Disney's 'Carol,' not so much

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Ghost of Christmas Present encounters Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) in "A Christmas Carol."

Photo by "©ImageMovers Digital LLC. All Rights Reserved."

Ghost of Christmas Present encounters Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) in "A Christmas Carol."

HOLLYWOOD — Christmas came early at the box office this year but not for the studio that expected it.

Walt Disney Studios’ “A Christmas Carol,” produced for nearly $200 million, opened to a weak $31 million in the United States and Canada this weekend, according to studio estimates.

But the well-reviewed festival favorite “Precious,” which Lionsgate acquired at the Sundance Film Festival for $5.5 million, sold $1.8 million worth of tickets at just 18 theaters, setting a limited-release record.

Disney had been counting on a long box-office run for “Carol,” which should benefit from increasing interest as the holidays get closer and that more than half of its theaters are playing it on 3-D screens, which carry a ticket price surcharge.

“We know Christmas-themed movies opening in early November tend to have a much greater multiple than others,” said Disney domestic distribution president Chuck Viane, referring to the “multiple” of a movie’s final gross compared with its opening. “All we had to do is get ourselves established.”

But even a very strong hold that could bring the movie to around $150 million would leave Disney in a difficult financial position, especially considering its substantial investment in advertising. Studios typically receive about half a movie’s theatrical receipts.

“A Christmas Carol” director Robert Zemeckis’ last holiday-themed motion-capture animated film, “The Polar Express,” had an exceptional run, cruising from a $30.6 million five-day opening to a $162.8 million final gross. But audiences embraced that movie like few others, giving it an average grade of A-plus, according to market research company CinemaScore. The average grade for “Christmas Carol” was B-plus.

Overseas, the movie debuted in 18 territories to $12 million, a decent start that put it 50 percent ahead of “The Polar Express” in the same markets.

Audience frustration at a Christmas movie opening so early and the declining appeal of A-list actors this year are possibilities to explain the poor domestic debut for “A Christmas Carol,” which starred Jim Carrey in a number of roles. Regardless, its soft performance led total box-office receipts to fall 12 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” launched with $63.1 million, according to Hollywood.com.

As Disney hopes to mitigate a soft start, Lionsgate is looking to build on a fantastic one. “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” set a record for the highest per-theater average, $100,000, for a movie playing at more than six locations.

The independent studio’s hybrid strategy — playing “Precious” in highbrow theaters, where affluent moviegoers probably were drawn by critics’ raves, and in black communities where the mostly black cast and endorsements by Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey helped — worked extremely well.

Lionsgate is planning to build quickly on positive momentum. On Friday, it will open in Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., as well as expand in the cities where it is currently playing, bringing its total theater count to more than 200. Nov. 20, it will start playing nationwide.

“It was a fantastic start, but this is our launch and our goal is to keep it in theaters for a long time to come,” said David Spitz, executive vice president of distribution for Lionsgate.

Sony’s decision to extend the run of the Michael Jackson movie “This Is It” beyond the announced two weeks looked like a smart one this weekend as the behind-the-scenes concert film dropped only 40 percent on its second weekend, a modest decline for a film of its kind. Domestic ticket sales have reached $57.9 million, while the foreign total is $128.6 million.

Among the weekend’s other new films, “The Men Who Stare at Goats” and “The Fourth Kind” had decent starts, while “The Box” did not.

“Goats” collected a studio-estimated $13.3 million. Distributor Overture Films paid close to $5 million for domestic rights to the comedy starring George Clooney, which cost $20 million to produce.

Low-budget alien-abduction flick “The Fourth Kind,” which Universal distributed for financier Gold Circle Films, opened to $12.5 million.

But Warner Bros.’ thriller “The Box,” which it co-financed with Radar Pictures and Media Rights Capital at a cost of $25 million, debuted to just $7.9 million.

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