It will take a few extra drinks to be merry at New Line’s Christmas party tomorrow night after “The Golden Compass” resoundingly bombed during its opening weekend. The $26 million three-day estimate is in line with the opening of Fox’s “Eragon” a year ago. That adaptation of a kid fantasy book went on to gross $75 domestically and $175 foreign, netting Fox a modest profit on a reported budget of $100 million.

Unfortunately, “The Golden Compass” cost twice what “Eragon” did, and was designed to launch another fantasy franchise like “The Lord of the Rings,” or at least “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Its failure will imperil New Line honcho Robert Shaye — whose contract comes up for renewal next year — and perhaps the studio itself, which faces the prospect of being subsumed into sibling Warner Bros. after a long string of flops broken only by “Hairspray” and the expensive “Rush Hour 3.” Also facing a grim future after a succession of high-profile failures is frozen-faced Nicole Kidman, who now has the distinction of headlining two of the year’s priciest bombs following “The Invasion.” Fox has to be nervous about “Australia,” a Baz Luhrmann historical epic starring Kidman set for release next September.