Some encouraging news today from the LA Times: despite a weaker-than-projected opening weekend for Disney’s ‘A Christmas Carol,’ the movie is still holding strong, with one of the smallest second-week drop-offs of 2009. As you may remember, Disney originally responded to the disappointing opener by pointing out that ‘A Christmas Carol’ would be successful by holding on to its momentum for the weeks leading up to Christmas, much as Robert Zemeckis’ other animated holiday film, ‘The Polar Express,’ did back in 2004.

“Christmas-themed movies opening in early November tend to have a much greater multiple than others and we know [director] Bob Zemeckis always tends to over-deliver on his multiple,” said Chuck Viane, Disney’s president of domestic distribution. Now, as the LA Times reports, ‘A Christmas Carol’ is holding up in theaters even better than ‘The Polar Express.’ Ticket sales over the weekend fell 25.8%–as the disaster epic 2012 seized the number one spot at the box office–whereas ‘The Polar Express’ dropped 32.8% after its first weekend.

The new 3D ‘Christmas Carol had an especially strong Veterans Day, as hoards of young people and grownups alike took advantage of their day off and hit the cinemas. The total domestic earnings for the film are now at $63.3 million, and will likely top $80 million by Saturday. In other words, don’t write off this movie just yet.

With two holiday hits, ‘The Grinch’ and now ‘A Christmas Carol,’ perhaps Jim Carrey should next consider doing a remake of ‘Santa Claus Conquers the Martians,’ one of the most celebrated and beloved holiday classics the world have ever seen.