Box Office Beat Down: The Golden Compass Points Itself Towards First Place with $26 Million

Weekend Box Office:

1)The Golden Compass $26.1 million

2)Enchanted $10.7 million

3)This Christmas $5 million

4)Fred Claus $4.6 million

5)Beowulf $4.4 million

6)No Country for Old Men $4.2 million

7)August Rush $3.5 million

8)Hitman $3.4 million

9)Awake $3.3 million

10) Bee Movie $2.6 million

It was another long, slow weekend at the box office. Only one new film managed to crack the top ten. Luckily for New Line, it was their very expensive fantasy epic The Golden Compass, which came in at number one. While it only managed to grab $26.1 million, which isn't nearly enough to see it recoup its expenses, it wasn't the wash many people thought it would be. A lot of the reviews have called the film pointless and boring. And then there was that whole antireligious backlash that the film received prior to its release. It's still a little too early to say if there will be a follow-up (New Line had high hopes of turning this into a franchise). This is the type of movie that could really flourish on the home video market if New Line plays its cards right.

Second and third place went to a couple of very familiar films. Both Enchanted and This Christmas have been lingering around the top of the charts for three solid weeks now. And their earnings have stayed pretty congruent. Enchanted managed to haul in another $10.7 million dollars in second place. While This Christmas took in half of that with $5 million in third place. It should be noted that This Christmas is playing in half as many theaters as Disney's Enchanted. Enchanted's cumulative gross is at $83 million. While This Christmas currently has $42.7 million in its savings account.

This week also saw the release of several smaller films. Atonement earned $817,000 playing in thirty-two theaters. While the much buzzed about Juno earned a hearty $420,000 playing on just seven screens. Guy Ritchie's latest, entitled Revolver, scrapped up $41,700 on eighteen screens. The John Cusack drama Grace is Gone took in $14,000 playing on just four screens.

Next week will see the Will Smith thriller I Am Legend into theaters, as well as the family comedy Alvin and the Chipmunks starring Jason Lee.