MUMBAI: In its first weekend, Disney‘s A Christmas Carol roped in an estimated $31 million at the North American box-office. It is surprising to note that the studio was expecting the good result.

The Oscar contender Precious that is Lionsgate‘s select-theaters debut of Lee Daniels‘ drama grossed $1.8 million from 18 theaters in four cities for an average of $100,000 per-screen.

The Michael Jackson documentary This Is It held on to the second spot, dropping just 40 per cent from its opening.

The other releases found it tougher to secure a foothold.

Overture‘s military satire The Men Who Stare at Goats clocked in at the third place with $13.3 million. Finishing in fourth place was Universal‘s horror thriller The Fourth Kind grossed over $12.5 million, while the weekend‘s other wide arrival, Warners Bros‘ The Box and Twilight Zone- tagged behind in the fifth and sixth place.