-
Source: Source: newmoonmovie.org -
Related
The Twilight sequel scored the third-biggest opening weekend of
all time at the North American box office on Monday, as millions of
young women swooned over the complex love triangle involving a high
school girl, a vampire and a werewolf.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon earned an estimated $140.7 million
during its first three days of release across the United States and
Canada, closely held distributor Summit Entertainment said,
crushing industry expectations.
The record for an opening is $158 million, set last year by the
Batman sequel The Dark Knight. The 2007 movie Spider-Man 3 follows
with $151 million. New Moon replaced Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead
Man's Chest ($136 million) at number three.
The vampire romance is well on its way to exceeding the $193
million total of its predecessor, Twilight, which was released
exactly a year ago.
Summit Entertainment said New Moon also set an opening-day record
with Saturday sales of $72.7 million, surpassing the $67.2 million
haul of The Dark Knight.
That tally was bolstered by record-breaking midnight sales of $26.3
million. The old mark was set earlier this year by Harry Potter and
the Half-Blood Prince with $22.2 million.
A few more men
The closely held studio said New Moon also earned $118.1 million
from 25 foreign markets. Data from individual countries were not
immediately available.
Exit-polling data in North America indicated that women accounted
for 80% of the audience and half the audience was under 21. Summit
said male moviegoers increased their share by a couple of
percentage points, and the new film also brought in a few more
older women.
New Moon revisits the dangerous romance between high school student
Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert
Pattinson).
After falling in love with each other in Twilight, Bella and Edward
break up in New Moon. Bella hooks up with Jacob Black (Taylor
Lautner), an American Indian who is also a werewolf. Jacob protects
Bella, but she still longs for the gentle blood-sucker Edward.
Chris Weitz directed the $50 million project.
Reviews were largely scathing, but the franchise is considered
critic-proof. Indeed, the stars have become sex symbols whose
real-life romances with each other (Stewart and Pattinson) or with
country star Taylor Swift (Lautner) have long been gossip-column
fodder. Fans lined up outside theaters days before the sequel
opened.
The Twilight film franchise is based on a series of four novels of
the same name by Stephenie Meyer, which her publisher says have
sold 85 million copies worldwide. A third film, Eclipse, is due in
June.
Also new at the box office was the Sandra Bullock family drama The
Blind Side at a distant number two with $34.5 million, the best
opening of her career. The fact-based movie was released by Time
Warner Inc's Warner Bros. Pictures on behalf of independent
producer Alcon Entertainment. Bullock plays a Tennessee housewife
who transforms a homeless black teenager into a high-school
football star.
The cartoon Planet 51 opened at number four with a modest $12.6
million, playing almost exclusively to parents and young
children.
Last weekend's champion, the disaster movie 2012, fell to number
three with $26.5 million, taking its 10-day haul to $108.2 million.
The picture led the foreign box office for a second weekend with
$100.5 million; its foreign tally soared to $341.1 million. Both
Planet 51 and 2012 were released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of
Sony Corp.
Walt Disney Co's stop-motion adaptation of A Christmas Carol fell
three places to number five with $12.2 million in its third
weekend; its tally stands at $79.8 million.
