Sure, technically Jim Carrey and company won the weekend with the 3D animated adventure A Christmas Carol, but the real reason everyone’s talking about this weekend’s box office is because of another movie’s totals.

Remember a few weeks ago when I was talking about how unbelievable it was that Paranormal Activity had a per screen average of $44,000? Well a little indie called Precious came in and mopped the floor with those totals. Precious played in just 18 theaters and grossed $1.8 million. Folks, that’s a $100,000 per screen average. To put that in perspective, if A Christmas Carol had the same per screen average, it would have grossed over $360 million (instead of $31 million).

This indicates a high degree of interest in the movie, and this weekend’s total will only add to that. Additionally, some people have been throwing around the “O” word, as in Oscar.  It received a standing ovation at Cannes, and an audience award at Sundance. It will slowly be rolling out over the next few weeks, and is definitely one to keep an eye on.

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The Fourth Kind is a polarizing movie that is arriving in theaters after a clever but somewhat controversial promotional campaign. Whether you like the movie or not is largely going to depend on whether you buy into what you see on the screen. I didn’t, but I absolutely believe many people will. As actress Milla Jovovich (as herself) says in an intro to the movie: “What you believe is yours to decide.”

The unconventional film begins with Jovovich explaining there have been several people that have disappeared in Nome, Alaska, since the 60’s. She explains that she will be portraying Dr. Abigail Tyler, who has actual video footage of alien encounters. Seems that while she was placing some patients under hypnosis (for a sleep study) she uncovers some shocking truths about what has been happening to them at night, and why they are so freaked out. Conveniently, these sessions have been videotaped, which provides the “archival” footage in the film.

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If you have been eagerly anticipating Friday’s release of The Fourth Kind, here is a creepy little featurette from Universal and Yahoo Movies to prime you for the movie — which you can watch after the jump. It’s no spoiler to note that the plot of the movie has to do with missing people in Alaska, and possible alien abduction. This featurette provides a back-story, so to speak, about the four different kinds of alien encounters.

Still can’t sate your appetite for alien abduction? If so, take a look at these other genre titles while you are biding your time. And, look for our review of The Fourth Kind on Friday.

• Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) – Arguably the best known in the genre. This movie terrified me when I saw it as a child. Steven Speilberg’s follow up to Jaws racked up several oscar nominations and won for best cinematography.

John William’s chilling musical score remains iconic to this day. Teri Garr and Richard Dreyfuss enjoyed career boosts from their roles, and Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Millennium) even makes an appearance.

• Fire in the Sky (1993) – Laugh if you will, but this film that starred D.B. Sweeney was based on a true story, and it has a serious faction of fans. Over the years I’ve heard several people who are alien junkies insist this is one of the most horrifying depictions of abduction. Based on a logger’s disappearance in the woods in 1975, and his unexplained reappearance, this film has a cult-like following.

• Communion (1989) – Based on the terrifying book by Whitley Strieber. In my humble opinion, the book was much better, but Christopher Walken is always a plus. Not the best movie in the group, but no alien abduction list is complete without it.

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