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As the world geared up for The Golden Compass, Beowulf managed one more week at the top of the foreign box office. The computer-generated fantasy grossed $19.5 million from 60 territories and pushed its total to $75 million.

The weekend after Thanksgiving is traditionally a time for leftovers at the box office, and this year was no exception, with Enchanted leading the way. Promising movies rarely launch nationwide at this time, since business dips from the inflated holiday, and this weekend's sole major new release, Awake, was anemic. Couple that with already tepid holdovers and this post-Thanksgiving frame was the least attended in a decade. Hayden ChristensenJessica Alba

From Hogwarts to Hoth, with oodles of clever literary references, The Golden Compass manages to evoke several popular movie franchises without establishing a theme of its own. Based on Philip Pullman's children's fantasy novels—roundly denounced as anti-religious by religious extremists—the star-studded adaptation starts off strong and trails off into the abyss. Chris WeitzNicole KidmanDaniel Craig

Beowulf led another soft weekend at the foreign box office, grossing $26 million from 43 markets. With $48.4 million overall, director Robert Zemeckis' computer-animated spectacle has been on the low end of its genre thus far, though nearly a tenth of its gross has come from 3D presentations, an inordinately high amount considering the low IMAX and digital screen counts abroad. Among openings, the picture was buoyant in Russia with $4.1 million from 502 screens and good in Spain with $3 million from 450 screens, but failed to spark much interest elsewhere. Wes Anderson

Burbank, California—Despite its title, Disney's Enchanted tries too hard to put a happy face on a mediocre movie, not that studio heads aren't smiling from ear to ear after raking in cash from a successful opening. For months, we've been hearing about this picture and how it compares to Walt Disney's classics Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Sleeping Beauty. James MarsdenSusan Sarandon

While leftovers have generally dominated Thanksgiving in recent years, six new wide releases as a whole picked up the slack from relatively weak holdovers during the holiday weekend. Though only three were successful, the six movies, led by Enchanted, grossed about twice as much as the six from last Thanksgiving. The overall box office rebounded from the previous weekend's attendance low point and was slightly less than the same frame last year, but it was still below par for Thanksgiving.

A lifelong Latin American heartache involving Fermina (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) and Florentino (Javier Bardem) is the subject of director Mike Newell's Love in the Time of Cholera. Based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel of the same name, the epic drama is bulging with excess, missing key elements and teeming with finely crafted romanticist touches. The two-hour, 18-minute picture holds one's attention. John LeguizamoBenjamin BrattLiev Schreiber

Although the international chart saw a new champion, box office was down 14 percent and most movies pulled in disappointing numbers. Beowulf led the weekend with a moderate $17.3 million start from 13 territories, $2.96 million of which came from 3-D presentations. The animated adventure curiously opened head-on with American Gangster in several territories, a move that backfired for both, though Beowulf took the bigger hit. In the United Kingdom, Beowulf debuted underneath Gangster with $4.5 million from 454 screens, which was less than half of 300's start earlier this year and less than Kingdom of Heaven's opening in 2005.

Though it opened solidly in first place, Beowulf wasn't the hero to save the dreadful overall box office. The weekend was the least attended mid-November frame in 14 years, continuing the market's weakness exhibited since September. The movies have lacked broad appeal, and only one, American Gangster, has significantly exceeded genre norms. Consider that the same weekend last year saw the debuts of Happy Feet and Casino Royale and it's clear how off its game the industry is right now in delivering fare to excite audiences. Robert Zemeckis

Pride is the curse, the marketing tag proclaims, rendering the three-dimensional computer-animated Beowulf in need of a reason to be proud. Technology may enhance or evoke wonder but in and of itself it does not make a movie good. Robert ZemeckisAngelina JolieAnthony Hopkins

Reflecting the American sense of informality widely associated with the movie studio's namesake and founder, people know the chairman of the Walt Disney Studios as Dick, not Richard, Cook. The former Disneyland cast member, who was asked during an event at the Anaheim theme park to be interviewed at his Burbank office, is in charge of development, production, distribution and marketing for live-action and animated motion pictures released by Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures and Miramax Films. Mr. Cook is also responsible for Disney's home entertainment operations, as well as music, theatrical, television and new technology. Jon TurteltaubJerry BruckheimerDwayne JohnsonGeorge LucasFrank MarshallAndrew DavisJohn WayneKatharine Hepburn

As the rest of the world saw the box office sag before the holiday movies hit full swing, India awoke and supplied the globe's two top grossers for the weekend. The second most populous nation celebrated Deepavali (or the Hindu Festival of Light) over the weekend, which sent most people to the cinemas. The romantic action drama Om Shanti Om led the way with $18.2 million from 17 markets. It was the first time this year an Indian movie led the foreign box office. The picture tabulated an estimated $15.5 million in its native land while also grabbing $1.1 million from just 52 screens in the United Kingdom. In second place was the musical Saawariya, which made $13.3 million over the weekend from 12 territories, with $12.4 million of that coming from India alone.

Bee Movie and American Gangster dominated the weekend box office again as major new releases Fred Claus and Lions for Lambs lacked broad appeal. Overall, it was the least attended second weekend of November in a decade. Denzel WashingtonVince VaughnWill FerrellRobert RedfordTom Cruise

The international box office ballooned over the weekend with the arrival of All Saint's and All Soul's Day. The traditionally Catholic holidays were celebrated around the globe with most businesses closed on Friday. On top of that Russia celebrated Unity Day on Sunday and Japan observed Culture Day on Saturday. In short, people had plenty of free time and many used it to go to the movies. Among the Top 40 pictures overseas, only one fell more than 40 percent and most increased over the previous weekend. Woody Allen

Despite the box office's worst fall season for attendance in over a decade, the holidays kicked off with two sizable openings from American Gangster and Bee Movie, demonstrating again how the appeal of the movies themselves drives the market more than any other factor, including quantity, which fall had in spades. Hollywood's mostly dreary lot of autumn pictures led to six down weeks in a row, but this weekend's business perked up slightly compared to last year. Denzel WashingtonRussell Crowe

For a psychological fairy tale with a happy ending, see Lars and the Real Girl, but keep in mind it is a fairy tale. How much of this is realistic is best judged by medical doctors and that is an important caveat. Without revealing the plot, count me as doubtful whether what happens is possible, let alone desirable. Accepting this fable for what it is—the story of a mentally handicapped person's rebirth—means enjoying an engrossing and humorous drama. Ryan Gosling

Ridley Scott's latest labor, American Gangster, is dominated by Denzel Washington and that is part of its primary problem. With Mr. Washington as the title character—a powerful Harlem thug in fancy threads—with too many tiny roles built around him, there's too little time for the most compelling person: a policeman played by Russell Crowe. Michael MannMartin Scorsese

Disney's Dan in Real Life starring Steve Carell is a perfectly modest life comedy that does what it sets out to do. Neither as wry as Little Miss Sunshine nor as sentimental as The Family Stone, though in the same vein as those excellent movies, writer and director Peter Hedges' second directorial effort bounces merrily along, hitting the sweet spot.

Ratatouille remained atop the foreign box office for the fourth straight weekend. With no major openings left, the animated comedy began its predictably slow fall, grossing $22.6 million for a $348.2 million overall total. Its highlight was its second weekend in Italy, where it was down just 28 percent to $4.5 million from 624 screens for a $13.9 million total. Other markets generally continued to hold well.

For the third year in a row, Halloween weekend was dominated by a Saw movie. The horror series didn't dull much in its fourth entry, Saw IV, snaring $31.8 million on approximately 4,600 screens at 3,183 theaters. That was the second-highest grossing Halloween opening behind Saw III's $33.6 million and slightly ahead of Saw II's $31.7 million. The first Saw kicked off with $18.3 million in 2004. Steve CarellWes AndersonAnthony HopkinsJonathan Demme