Wednesday's opening for 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' was so impressive (including a record-breaking $30 million just for midnight screenings) that it threatened to eclipse the movie's opening weekend.
The teen vampire sequel easily conquered the box office during the holiday weekend -- the other top five movies were fellow newcomer 'The Last Airbender,' followed by holdovers 'Toy Story 3,' 'Grown Ups,' and 'Knight & Day' -- but 'Eclipse's' earnings from Friday to Sunday pretty much equaled its take from Wednesday alone.
According to studio estimates, 'Eclipse' sucked up $68.5 million in sales on its first day, while it took in $69 million from Friday to Sunday. Adding its revenues for Thursday and Monday, the Summit release earned a formidable total of $175.3 million for its first six days. The movie opened on a record-breaking 4,468 screens, many of them boosting revenues with IMAX surcharges. The film also had a more action-filled plot than the previous installment, 'New Moon,' which resulted in greater guy appeal (exit polls found the 'Eclipse' audience was 35 percent male, compared to 20 percent for 'New Moon').
That left little breathing room for 'The Last Airbender,' which opened Thursday, but the M. Night Shyamalan adventure did a little better than predicted, earning $40.7 million from Friday to Sunday and a total of $70.5 million for its first five days. Playing on 3.169 screens, the Asian folklore-influenced fantasy overcame controversy over the racial makeup of its cast (whose principal roles were largely given to white actors) and withering reviews to give director M. Night Shyamalan his best opening in six years. Credit Paramount's retrofitting of the movie into 3-D (leading to the surcharge bonus for glasses rentals) and the film's being more family-friendly than the bloody, more sexually frank 'Eclipse.' Or maybe 'Eclipse' fans just couldn't get enough of supporting vampire Jackson Rathbone, who has a starring role in 'Airbender' as well.
After two weeks on top, 'Toy Story 3' gave up its box office crown. It took in $42.2 million over the four-day holiday, crossing the $300 million mark in its third weekend in theaters. It's now the second biggest hit in Pixar history and is likely to overtake 'Finding Nemo' ($339.7 million) in the next few weeks.
'Grown Ups' and 'Knight & Day' also fell two spots each, with modest sales declines of less than 35 percent from last week. 'Grown Ups' earned another $26.5 million from Friday to Monday for a fourth-place finish, while 'Knight' finished fifth with another $14 million.
Indie romantic comedy 'Cyrus' also cracked the top 10 during the holiday weekend. In its third week, the film expanded into 77 theaters and earned $1,019,000 from Friday to Monday, good enough for tenth place. That's a striking $13,234 per screen, better than any movie this week except 'Eclipse' and 'Airbender.'
The full top 10 (four-day totals):
1. 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,' $82.5 million (4,468 screens), $175.3 million total
2. 'The Last Airbender,' $53.2 million (3,169), $70.5 million
3. 'Toy Story 3,' $42.2 million (4,028), $301.1 million
4. 'Grown Ups,' $26.5 million (3,534), $85.1 million
5. 'Knight & Day,' $14.0 million (3.104), $49.3 million
6. 'The Karate Kid,' $11.5 million (3,109), $155.0 million
7. 'The A-Team,' $4.3 million (2,153), $70.4 million
8. 'Get Him to the Greek,' $1.7 million (884), $57.9 million
9. 'Shrek Forever After,' $1.3 million (957), $232.6 million
10. 'Cyrus,' $1.0 million (77), $1.7 million
Top 10 movies of summer 2010:
1. 'Iron Man 2,' $308.5 million
2. 'Toy Story 3,' $301.1 million
3. 'Shrek Forever After,' $232.6 million
4. 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,' $175.3 million
5. 'The Karate Kid,' $155.0 million
6. 'Robin Hood,' $104.0 million
7. 'Sex and the City 2,' $93.7 million
8. 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,' $88.4 million
9. 'Grown Ups,' $85.1 million
10. 'The Last Airbender,' $70.5 million
Moviefone
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