LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Fantasy film "The Golden Compass" topped the North American box office at the weekend but struggled to secure a blockbuster opening, figures showed Monday.
Despite broadly positive reviews, the reported 180-million-dollar film, starring Nicole Kidman and James Bond actor Daniel Craig, took 25.8 million dollars, figures from box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations figures showed.
The movie, an adaptation of "The Northern Lights," the first book in British author Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" fantasy trilogy, has been criticized by Christian groups as being anti-religious.
Disney's "Enchanted" fell to second spot taking 10.7 million on its third week of release.
In third place was holiday film "This Christmas," a comedy about an African-American family's first get-together in years, which earned five million dollars.
Another Christmas season movie, "Fred Claus," starring funnyman Vince Vaughn, was fourth with 4.6 million dollars.
"Beowulf," based on the 1,000-year-old English legend and starring a digitally buffed Ray Winstone and Angelina Jolie, took 4.5 million dollars.
The latest offering from film-making brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men," tipped as an early Oscar bet, came in sixth place with 4.1 million dollars.
Taking seventh place was Christmas-themed "August Rush," the sentimental story of a musically gifted boy and his search for his musician parents, which earned 3.5 million dollars.
"Hitman," the video game-inspired film starring Timothy Olyphant as a contract killer embroiled in an international conspiracy, took eighth place with 3.49 million dollars.
"Awake," a thriller about a man who regains consciousness mid-surgery despite his anesthetic, took the ninth spot with 3.3 million dollars, while Stephen King thriller "The Mist" rounded out the top 10 with 2.6 million.
The top 12 films grossed 72.8 million dollars compared with 87 million over the same weekend last year, a drop of 16.4 percent.
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