Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- ``The Golden Compass,'' a fantasy tale based on the novel by Philip Pullman, opened as the top film at U.S. and Canadian theaters, taking in $26.1 million for Time Warner Inc.

The film, the only new movie in wide release, dethroned Walt Disney Co.'s ``Enchanted,'' which dropped to second after spending two weeks in first place, box-office tracker Media By Numbers LLC said today in a statement.

``The Golden Compass,'' from Time Warner's New Line Cinema, tells the story of a young girl who uses a unique ability to discern truth in a cosmic battle over free will. Made for about $150 million, the film was expected to have opening-weekend sale of $35.4 million, according to the Hollywood Stock Exchange.com, where participants bet play money on a film's performance.

The receipts are ``at the low end of industry expectations given the production budget, release date and the fact it had the weekend to itself,'' said Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo LLC in Burbank, California. ``It could have been an oasis in a box office desert because there's nothing else going on, but the picture itself wasn't broadly appealing.''

``The Golden Compass'' stars Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra Belacqua, the central figure in Pullman's trilogy about a struggle against a repressive entity bent on enslaving humanity. Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman co-star.

Catholic Criticism

Like Pullman's books, the film has attracted criticism from some religious groups. Among them, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights urged a boycott, claiming the movie preaches atheism. On the other side, the U.K.'s National Secular Society complained that the book's anti-religion message had been watered down too much in the film version.

The movie follows a pattern, started by New Line with its ``The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy, of fantasy-action releases during the holiday season. Disney followed with ``The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,'' the first in a series of films based on the books by C.S. Lewis.

The ``Rings'' films bought in $2.92 billion in worldwide ticket sales. ``Narnia'' had global sales of $744.8 million.

``Ever since `Harry Potter,' `Lord of the Rings,' and `Narnia' broke out people have been in a rush to make fantasy movies,'' Gray said. ``However, those are exceptions not the rule, and `Golden Compass' isn't as popular'' because it ``didn't have a clear, relatable premise in its marketing campaign.''

`Enchanted'

Second place's ``Enchanted'' stars Amy Adams as a princess banished from her fantasy world to modern New York. The film has taken in $83.9 million since its release Nov. 21. Susan Sarandon co-stars as the evil queen who engineers her departure.

Among other films returning this weekend, Sony Corp.'s ``This Christmas'' remained in third place with $5 million, bringing its total to $42.8 million. The movie stars Loretta Devine and Laz Alonso in a tale about family relationships during the holidays.

``Fred Claus,'' from Time Warner's Warner Bros., climbed to fourth this weekend with $4.7 million, rising from sixth place. The comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti about Santa's naughty brother has taken in $65.6 million.

`Beowulf'

``Beowulf,'' based on the epic poem, dropped to fifth from second with $4.4 million in sales. The film follows the legendary warrior as he battles the monster Grendel and its mother, played by Angelina Jolie. The movie, directed by Robert Zemeckis, uses performance-capture technology to animate the characters.

The release, which has had $76 million in ticket sales since its Nov. 16 release, is distributed by Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures. ``Beowulf'' had a production budget of about $150 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

In sixth through 10th places, respectively, were: ``No Country for Old Men,'' with $4.23 million for Disney's Miramax studio; ``August Rush,'' in its third weekend and also from Warner Bros., at $3.53 million; ``Hitman,'' released by News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox and based on the video game, at $3.48 million; ``Awake'' from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. at $3.3 million; Paramount's ``Bee Movie'' with Jerry Seinfeld at $2.61 million in 10th.

Sales for the top 12 films fell 10 percent this weekend to $73.2 million from the year-earlier period, according to Encino, California-based Media By Numbers.

``It's been a tough marketplace in terms of revenue and attendance,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers. ``Despite the fact that there have been some high- quality films out there, the great ones aren't doing great box office.''

The following table has figures provided by studios to Media By Numbers. The amounts are based on gross tickets sales from Dec. 7 and yesterday, and estimates for today.

Movie                  Rev  Theaters  Wks   Average/  Pct
Total                  Mln                  Theater   Chg    Mln
1. The Golden Compass $26.1   3,528    1   $7,405     --   $26.1
2. Enchanted           10.7   3,520    3    3,041    -35    83.9
3. This Christmas       5.0   1,879    3    2,661    -37    42.7
4. Fred Claus           4.7   3,185    5    1,463    -15    65.6
5. Beowulf              4.4   2,976    4    1,478    -46    76.0
6. No Country for Old   4.2   1,324    5    3,197     -3    28.9
7. August Rush          3.53  2,310    3    1,526    -30    25.1
8. Hitman               3.48  2,418    3    1,437    -42    35.8
9. Awake                3.3   2,023    2    1,623    -44    10.7
10. Bee Movie           2.6   2,707    6      965    -41   121.0

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net. Jeff Kearns in New York at jkearns3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 9, 2007 16:35 EST