A Narnia-esque adaptation partnered with a holiday release date and an A-list cast should have conjured box office magic for The Golden Compass.  Surprisingly, this weekend’s release from New Line Cinema brought in barely enough money to cover the film’s catering budget.

Compass, based on Philip Pullman’s children’s series His Dark Materials, was Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig’s second disappointing collaboration this year (the first being The Invasion).  While it was enough for a first place finish, the $25 million debut was hardly impressive given the film’s $180 million price tag.

In other news, holiday flick This Christmas remained in third place while the critically-panned Fred Claus bumped up two spaces from last week.  Meanwhile, Juno and Atonement did well with their very limited releases.

Be looking for the highly-promoted I Am Legend (and Alvin and the Chipmunks) to enter next week’s charts.

1. The Golden Compass, New Line, $25,783,232
2. Enchanted, Disney, $10,709,515
3. This Christmas, Sony Screen Gems, $4,961,083
4. Fred Claus, Warner Bros., $4,608,314
5. Beowulf, Paramount, $4,536,667
6. No Country for Old Men, Paramount Vantage, $4,116,888
7. August Rush,  Warner Bros., $3,510,446
8. Hitman, 20th Century Fox, $3,488,135
9. Awake, Weinstein Co., $3,327,369
10. Stephen King’s The Mist, MGM, $2,629,290

(You can review last week’s numbers here.)