Below are the top 12 weekend final numbers from the North American box office:

1. A Christmas Carol (2009) - $30,051,075
2. Michael Jackson's This Is It - $13,157,944
3. The Men Who Stare At Goats - $12,706,654
4. The Fourth Kind - $12,231,160
5. Paranormal Activity - $8,278,605
6. The Box - $7,571,417
7. Couples Retreat - $6,129,045
8. Law Abiding Citizen - $6,003,737
9. Where The Wild Things Are - $4,177,249
10. Astro Boy - $2,626,103
11. Saw VI - $2,031,944
12. Precious - $1,872,458

Overall, the US Box Office was up 29% on last weekend's gross.

Five new openers in the Top 12 saw the overall box office cross $100M this weekend after a drop below that number last weekend.

Opening in top spot is Disney's $200M budgeted A CHRISTMAS CAROL, which earned a solid, if not spectacular $30M over the weekend. Marketed as being from the director of BACK TO THE FUTURE, FORREST GUMP and THE POLAR EXPRESS Robert Zemeckis, the film reached a decent audience but not as big as one Disney might have hoped for given the price tag. This total would have been less if it had not been released in 3D which has an inflated ticket price. Critical and audience reaction is mixed, which does not bode well for the future and will need to have a box office trajectory similar to THE POLAR EXPRESS to earn its budget back.

Michael Jackson managed to hold second place with THIS IS IT earning another $13.1M over the weekend, taking its domestic tally to a very strong $57M. Resonating with the paying public much more than expected, the concert documentary has become a fitting and successful tribute to the King of Pop, despite what cynics call a blatant cash grab.

Opening in third is the very strangely titled THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey. Earning $12.7M over the weekend, the comedy cost $25M to make and will be a decent win for distributor Overture Films, which is having a good year despite its relative youth in the industry.

Horror film THE FOURTH KIND landed ironically in fourth spot on opening, earning $12.2M over the weekend. This is a larger opening than expected for the Milla Jovovich starring film, but reviews were harsh, so expect this to disappear quickly.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY came back down to Earth this weekend, but not by much, earning $8.2M over the weekend. Sufferring from some strong competition, the film still did well, reaching $97M in total and will cross $100M in the next few days.

Richard Kelly returns with THE BOX this weekend, opening in a so-so sixth spot with $7.5M. Reviews were mixed, but the film only cost $25M and may have enough staying power to earn that back domestically.

The only other new opener this weekend is PRECIOUS, the $10M budgeted indie flick from distributor Lionsgate. Opening in 12th spot and earning $1.8M, the film will have to work to bring its budget back domestically.

The Top 12 at the US Box Office took in a total of $106,837,391 for the whole of the weekend 6-8 November 2009.