LOS ANGELES (AP)—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, according to studio estimates Sunday.

“This Is It” has taken in $186.5 million.

“A Christmas Carol” came in on the low end of Disney’s expectations for opening weekend.

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.

The weekend brought a rush of other new movies, led by George Clooney’s comedy “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” which finished at No. 3 with $13.3 million.

The rest of the weekend’s movie-going shares went to: 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; and 10. “Astro Boy,” $2.6 million.