For the first time in months, the top 3 films were new openers, but the total box office was about the same as last Friday despite the star power of Jim Carrey and Will Smith vying for box office glory.

The number one film for Friday is the new Jim Carrey starrer, YES MAN, which debuted with an estimated 6.45 million on Friday. This isn't really a huge opening for Carrey and it appears the opening weekend maybe an average effort given the performance of some of his previous blockbusters.

The number two film for Friday is the new Will Smith starrer SEVEN POUNDS. This is another film from Smith which is geared towards an adult audience and as such it didn't quite have the same breakout appeal as his more genre entries. The film earned an estimated 5.25 million on Friday.

The number three film for Friday is the last new opener THE TALES OF DESPERAUX which earned an estimated 3.5 million. This is the family film of the weekend with the celebrity voices, but the numbers aren't that stellar so the opening weekend will likely be an average effort.

Last Friday's number one film, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, dropped precipitously to fourth with only an estimated 2.8 million. Reviews were not kind for Keanu Reeves new sci-fi film which may have contributed to its slump as it starts its second weekend.

The remaining films in the top 10 are holdovers from the previous Friday:

FOUR CHRISTMASES - 2.2M
TWILIGHT - 1.6M
BOLT - 1M
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - 0.7M
AUSTRALIA - 0.6M
QUANTUM OF SOLACE - 0.5M

The North American box office in total took in 24.9 million for the whole of Friday 19th December 2008.