Bah, humbug indeed! Robert Zemeckis’ latest motion capture bonanza, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, opened at number one this weekend, but I can guarantee that’s not what people will remember about these box office returns years from now. The big story will always be the record-breaking story of PRECIOUS. It’s like A CHRISTMAS CAROL brought a bag of street-bought chestnuts to the Christmas party, and proceeded to drop the bag on Tiny Tim’s bad foot. PRECIOUS, of course, brought a flock of Christmas geese and a cane made out of gold for the little one.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL pulled in $31 million in its first weekend. Surprisingly enough, this is Zemeckis’ biggest opening weekend ever, second place actually going to 2000’s WHAT LIES BENEATH with $29.7 million, third belonging to CAST AWAY’s $28.8 million. So much for my repeated announcements that the film was “wholly unnecessary!” However, the film is still a far cry from meeting its $200 budget. But with the addition of screenings in 3D and/or IMAX, such an early opening for a holiday film should carry it a bit further, no matter how much I may sneer at it (just call me Scrooge).

The other new entries this week scattered out interestingly across the top ten. THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS faced mixed reviews, but won the third spot with $13.3 million. THE FOURTH KIND abducted viewers into fourth place with $8.6 million. Richard Kelly’s long-pushed back THE BOX only pushed enough buttons to hit sixth place with $7.85 million. As my mother summed up her BOX-watching experience, “well, I didn’t walk out of the theater.” What can I say, she’s a huge James Marsden fan.

Now let’s get to the big news. Sundance winner and critical darling, PRECIOUS, opened on only 18 screens this weekend. If you had your eyes out in Twitter-wood, you probably read some tweets addressing sold out shows everywhere it was playing. The tremendous buzz for the film helped it make $1.8 million in its first weekend. I’ll do the math for you – spread out over 18 screens, that’s an average of $100,000 a screen. To help you process such numbers, this week’s box office winner averaged only $8,417 a screen. Wow, right? More perspective, even the all-time number one weekend opener, THE DARK KNIGHT, only averaged around $36,000 per screen.

In terms of record-breaking, PRECIOUS sits at the third spot for all-time highest per theater averages, but the number one and two (DREAMGIRLS and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN) had much smaller releases (opening on 3 and 5 screens in their first weekends, respectively), making PRECIOUS’ 18-screen dominance all the more impressive.

What did you guys see this weekend? If PRECIOUS isn’t playing in your town yet, are you planning on seeing it when it is?

Source Box Office Mojo, Indie Wire