(RTTNews) -  Far and away the widest release of the weekend, Disney's "A Christmas Carol" will hit more than 3,600 theaters and should easily be the number one overall draw amongst a fairly eclectic group of releases. Horror/thriller "The Box" should also command a fairly decent audience share along with thriller "The Fourth Kind," though there will be some overlap, as both releases are PG-13. R-rated comedy "The Men Who Stare At Goats" is the fourth wide release of the weekend but could struggle to reach the top five.

Though "A Christmas Carol" star Jim Carrey made a name for himself in comedy, he has also done very well with family demographics over the years, making him an ideal choice for the infamous character Scrooge from Charles Dickens' classic tale. Carrey's Dr. Seuss remake "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" brought in $262 million in domestic receipts alone back in 2000, making it the number one domestic draw of that year. Last year, he also had some major success with "Horton Hears A Who," which earned $297 million worldwide with a production budget of just $85 million.

"A Christmas Carol" is from director Robert Zemeckis, who brought family audiences the smash hit "The Polar Express" back in 2004. Returning to animation, with "A Christmas Carol" launching in Disney Digital 3D, Zemeckis appears to have another substantial hit with family audiences. "A Christmas Carol" also benefits from a depleted release schedule, as the only other family-geared title expected to reach the top ten is "Where the Wild Things Are," which enters its fourth weekend in theaters. Look for "A Christmas Carol" to start off the holiday movie season with a strong opening total somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 million.
At more than 2,600 theaters, thriller "The Box" is the second widest release of the weekend and stars Cameron Diaz and Frank Langella. From "Donnie Darko" director Richard Kelly, "The Box" will have to compete for audiences with not only "The Fourth Kind" but also with a couple other thrillers hanging around, "Paranormal Activity" and "Law Abiding Citizen." "The Box" could still post decent opening figures, but it would be surprising if it earned too much more than $10 million considering its competition.

Opening at roughly the same amount of theaters will be "The Fourth Kind," starring Milla Jovovich. Jovovich previously starred in the popular "Resident Evil" series, but she has struggled to reach mainstream audiences in releases since; this past summer, she starred in "A Perfect Getaway," which struggled to reach its intended demographic and hauled in just $15 million domestically. "The Fourth Kind" should still easily land in the top five, but it seems unlikely that it can post much better opening figures than "The Box."

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