As expected, the top spot over the weekend was taken by the Jim Carrey animated remake of the classic holiday story, Disney’s A Christmas Carol. The posthumous MJ concert flick This is It slipped to number 2 in its second week in theaters, and the third spot was held by my personal favorite movie of the weekend, The Men Who Stare at Goats. Not a lot of surprises here, though Paranormal Activity continues to stubbornly refuse to go away, holding a death grip on the number 5 slot in its seventh week on the charts (the longest streak of any movie in the top twelve).
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count / Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | N | A Christmas Carol (2009) | BV | $30,051,075 | – | 3,683 | – | $8,159 | $30,051,075 | $200 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | Michael Jackson’s This Is It | Sony | $13,157,944 | -43.4% | 3,481 | – | $3,780 | $57,013,286 | – | 2 |
| 3 | N | The Men Who Stare at Goats | Over. | $12,706,654 | – | 2,443 | – | $5,201 | $12,706,654 | $25 | 1 |
| 4 | N | The Fourth Kind | Uni. | $12,231,160 | – | 2,527 | – | $4,840 | $12,231,160 | – | 1 |
| 5 | 2 | Paranormal Activity | Par. | $8,278,605 | -49.5% | 2,558 | +154 | $3,236 | $97,108,475 | $0.015 | 7 |
| 6 | N | The Box | WB | $7,571,417 | – | 2,635 | – | $2,873 | $7,571,417 | $30 | 1 |
| 7 | 4 | Couples Retreat | Uni. | $6,129,045 | -5.1% | 2,857 | -169 | $2,145 | $95,680,555 | $70 | 5 |
| 8 | 3 | Law Abiding Citizen | Over. | $6,003,737 | -18.9% | 2,474 | -290 | $2,427 | $60,704,335 | $50 | 4 |
| 9 | 5 | Where the Wild Things Are | WB | $4,177,249 | -29.6% | 2,756 | -889 | $1,516 | $69,220,584 | $100 | 4 |
| 10 | 7 | Astro Boy | Sum. | $2,626,103 | -24.1% | 1,918 | -1,102 | $1,369 | $15,110,804 | $65 | 3 |
| 11 | 6 | Saw VI | LGF | $2,031,944 | -61.4% | 2,091 | -945 | $972 | $26,252,386 | $11 | 3 |
| 12 | N | Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire | LGF | $1,872,458 | – | 18 | – | $104,025 | $1,872,458 | $10 | 1 |
Source: BoxOfficeMojo.com