New Line's mega-budgeted fantasy adventure The Golden Compass opened below industry expectations but still managed to find its way into the number one spot at the North American box office. No other wide release debuted over the frame so the rest of the top ten was filled with holdover pics. For the second consecutive weekend, the top ten failed to break the $70M mark further extending the end-of-year slump that Hollywood has been suffering from as audiences have displayed little excitement for the offerings that the studios have rolled out. Overall, the box office slumped to the worst performance in five years for the first weekend of December.

Despite a built-in audience of literary fans and a massive production budget estimated to be between $180-200M, The Golden Compass generated a relatively mild $26.1M opening this weekend while playing ultrawide in 3,528 theaters. Averaging $7,405 per site, the PG-13 film starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig saw a bow that was in the same vicinity as those of recent historical effects-driven adventures released during the holiday season like Beowulf ($27.5M last month) and Eragon ($23.2M last December). With no other competing new releases, and with most current films aging rapidly, Compass was expected to have smooth sailing to a higher gross at the multiplexes this weekend.

The opening was nowhere near the $65.6M debut of The Chronicles of Narnia from two years ago this very same weekend. Both were epic fantasy adventures based on popular kids books, targeted the family audience in early December, and were driven by special effects. Narnia carried the potent Disney brand name, secured a more commercially-friendly PG rating, and took advantage of a better-known literary source. Compass on the other hand attracted plenty of resistance from Catholic groups who encouraged people not to buy tickets for the film. The New Line release also attracted mixed reviews from critics who were mostly not enthusiastic about the pic.

Among this year's 18 event films launching in over 3,500 theaters, The Golden Compass attracted the third worst opening weekend. The only ones to premiere that wide and with less muscle were the far less expensive pics Surf's Up and Fred Claus which bowed to $17.6M and $18.5M, respectively. December releases typically last longer at the box office so The Golden Compass still has a chance of joining the century club domestically. But the road to profitability will be a long one.

Disney's feel-good princess hit Enchanted fell from the top spot after two weeks of rule and grossed an estimated $10.7M putting it in second place. The PG-rated comedy dropped only 35% and boosted its stellar cume to $83.9M in 19 days. With good word-of-mouth and school holidays right around the corner, Enchanted should continue to hold up well throughout the holiday season. A final tally of $115-125M could result capping off a year of mostly winners for Disney.