(Image Source: DragonTattoo.com)

BY LAUREN ZIMA

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is being labeled by some as a flop at the box office. The movie opened Christmas weekend to $13 million -- putting it in fourth place, behind even Alvin and the Chipmunks.

The movie stars Daniel Craig and newcomer Rooney Mara -- it’s based on the best-selling book of the same name, and is a remake of the Swedish movie version. With ‘The Social Network’ director David Fincher at the helm, a big budget and a built-in audience, it seemed like the flick couldn’t fail -- especially …

... when critics gave it a resounding 85 percent approval rating.

But, it was beaten by Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in the top spot, followed by Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows at No. 2 and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked at No. 3.

So -- why couldn’t Dragon slay the weekend nights?  E! calls the debut a dud, and offers insight into moviegoers’ minds.

“‘... during the holidays … people want only escapism or sentimentality. The Dragon Tattoo series offers neither …”

And MTV spoke with an industry expert who says the problem might be that this version has come too quickly after the Swedish film. He asks:

"’Do overseas audiences really want to see the Hollywood version after the original is so fresh in their minds and was equally well-received?’”

But, don’t scorch Dragon just yet. A Sony exec told The Wrap this could be just the beginning for the film, because on Christmas weekend, moviegoers were split between several well-reviewed movies.

“With no new major movies opening [this] Friday … Rory Bruer, Sony's distribution chief, told TheWrap … the film ‘is off to a good start and it's just going to get better with every day through the rest of the holiday season and well into the new year.’”

And what about the hot movie industry topic of the past several weeks -- this year’s overall box office take? Reports have been rampant that numbers for 2011 are down …

“We’re predicting that we’re behind about $500 million if we compare it to last year -- that’s a 4.5 percent fallout.”

But in the year’s final week, things seem to be on the upswing. Deadline Hollywood reports that Steven Spielberg’s movie War Horse had a surprisingly robust opening, and sums the Christmas weekend up with the headline:

“Christmas Cheer Here! Better Numbers for New Movies.”

And the cheer could get even, well, cheerier -- outlets have also cited Sunday’s NBA games specifically for keeping moviegoers out of theaters on Christmas weekend.