Jim Carrey's Scrooge collected holiday donations from movie fans with his new take on A Christmas Carol, which took in $31 million to open as the weekend's top movie.

The Disney animated version of the Charles Dickens classic knocked the King of Pop out of the No. 1 spot as Michael Jackson's This Is It slipped to second place with $14 million, which raised its domestic total to $57.9 million. Worldwide, This Is It has taken in $186.5 million.

On the other end of the spectrum, Lionsgate's acclaimed drama Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire had a spectacular start, pulling in $1.8 million in just 18 theaters, averaging $100,000 a cinema. That compares with an $8,418 average for A Christmas Carol in 3,683 theaters.

Precious had a record average for films opening in 10 or more theaters. Others that have averaged $100,000 or more typically debut in only a few cinemas.

Precious, which won the top awards at last January's Sundance Film Festival, stars newcomer Gabourey Sidibe as a Harlem teen who gradually rises above an upbringing of incest, abuse and illiteracy.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters were:

1. A Christmas Carol, $31 million.

2. Michael Jackson's This Is It, $14 million.

3. The Men Who Stare at Goats, $13.3 million.

4. The Fourth Kind, $12.5 million.

5. Paranormal Activity, $8.6 million.

6. The Box, $7.9 million.

7. Couples Retreat, $6.4 million.

8. Law Abiding Citizen, $6.2 million.

9. Where the Wild Things Are, $4.2 million.

10. Astro Boy, $2.6 million.

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