Opening day: '2012' looking huge, 'Christmas Carol' holding strong

Opening day: '2012' looking huge, 'Christmas Carol' holding strong

The end of the world is going to do big business once again.

Sony Pictures' "2012," the latest disaster movie from director Roland Emmerich, appears headed toward an opening weekend gross of just over $60 million after it sold a studio-estimated $23.7 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada on Friday. That will make it Emmerich's second biggest opening ever, behind 2004's "The Day After Tomorrow," which had the advantage of launching Memorial Day weekend.

Combined with what's expected to be an even bigger performance in 105 foreign territories, "2012" could easily collect about $150 million or more worldwide this weekend, making it a major hit despite its hefty $200 million production cost.

Disney's "A Christmas Carol," meanwhile, appears to be recovering from its weak start. Ticket sales declined only 37% on Friday, putting in on track for a drop of about 30% through Sunday. That would give it a second weekend gross of around $20 million and could augur a long and healthy run through the holidays, particularly on 3-D screens.

Independent favorite "Precious" is headed towards another very strong weekend. According to a competing studio, it collected nearly $2 million at 174 locations on Friday alone, meaning it will likely gross more than $6 million through Sunday. That would give it a very strong per-theater average of about $35,000.

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: John Cusack and Woody Harrelson in "2012." Credit: Columbia Pictures.

'Abandon All Hope...': Clips from the last 'Supernatural' of 2009

Below are clips from "Abandon All Hope...," the "Supernatural" episode that airs Nov. 19. My weekly "Supernatural" recaps and stories can be found here.

"Abandon All Hope" is the final episode of 2009. After a two-month break, Season 5 resumes Jan. 14, 2010.

An episode summary is also below. Pictures from the episode, which was written by Ben Edlund, are on this post. Beware: The photos give away spoilers about guest stars for the episode, and regarding what's below, oh yes, spoilers ahoy.

Here's an "Abandon All Hope..." episode summary from the CW: "Sam (Jared Padalecki), Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Castiel (Misha Collins) track down the Colt and head off to find Lucifer (guest star Mark Pellegrino) to send him back to Hell.  It’s a hunter’s reunion when the crew joins forces with Bobby (guest star Jim Beaver), Ellen (guest star Samantha Ferris) and Jo (guest star Alona Tal) for what could be their last night on Earth.  Also guest starring Mark Sheppard as ‘Crowley’ and Rachel Miner as ‘Meg.’ " “Abandon All Hope…” was written by Ben Edlund and directed by Phil Sgriccia.

Abandon yourself to these cliptastic promos:

And hey, here's a bit of a personal update: I'd mentioned an ill family member -- thanks for all your kind words and thoughts! They did the trick, I think. That situation (as of Friday night) seems to be improving, thank goodness. So there's about an 80 percent chance that I will be at the "Supernatural" convention in Chicago on Saturday, mostly during the afternoon (probably between about noon and 5:30 p.m.). I'll be tweeting from there and also, if you see me and want to say hello, please do. I'm very tall and have red hair and look somewhat like the picture at the top of this column. Hope to see you then!

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