New Moon scores 3rd best opening weekend ever

Published: Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:12:12

The Twilight Saga: New Moon has achieved the third best opening weekend of all time in the US with an estimated $140.7 million (£85.3 million) haul.

Only The Dark Knight ($158.4 million) (£96 million)and Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million) (£91.6 million) have earned more in one weekend in North America.

The second film in the vampire franchise based on Stephenie Meyer's hit novels has toppled several records during its first weekend on release and a similarly impressive performance at UK cinemas is expected. New Moon, starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, has also achieved the biggest Friday opening of all time, with $72 million (£43.6 million) and beat the midnight sales record set earlier this year by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

And though New Moon's opening weekend takings in the US are the third highest ever, they are the best of all time for a non-summer release. Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office division of Hollywood.com, told the Wall Street Journal: "New Moon proves not only that the importance of teen girls at the box-office cannot be overstated, but also that going out to see a movie like this in a theatre creates a communal event that can become a cultural phenomenon."

Warner Bros drama The Blind Side opened in second while animated adventure Planet 51 debuted in fourth. The top ten films in the US are: (last week's position) 1 The Twilight Saga: New Moon – $140.7m (-)
2 The Blind Side – $34.5m (-)
3 2012 – $26.5m (1)
4 Planet 51 – $12.6m (-)
5 A Christmas Carol (2009) – $12.2m (2)
6 Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire – $11m (3)
7 The Men Who Stare at Goats – $2.7m7 ()
8 Couples Retreat – $1.9m (7)
9 The Fourth Kind – $1.7m (6)
10 Law Abiding Citizen – $1.6m (9)

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