'The Twilight Saga' Films Among All-Time Top Debuts

Still in Top 10!

8. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon"
Opening Weekend: Nov. 20, 2009
Three-day gross: $142.8 million
Final U.S. cume: $296.6 million
Final Global gross: $709.8 million
Note: Actually has the no. 4 all time single day or opening day gross of all time at $72 million.

9. 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Pt. 2'
Opening Weekend: Nov. 18, 2012
Three-day gross: $141 million
Final U.S. cume: $292.3 million
Final Global gross: $829.6 million

10. 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Pt. 1'
Opening Weekend: Nov. 20, 2011
Three-day gross: $138.1 million
Final U.S. cume: $281.2 million
Final Global gross: $712.1 million
Note: Smallest domestic gross among the entire top 10 weekend debuts.

1. "The Avengers"
2. "Iron Man 3"
3. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 2"
4. 'The Dark Knight Rises'
5. "The Dark Knight"
6. "The Hunger Games"
7. "Spider-Man 3"
Photo FBThe Twilight Saga | More Details HitFix

'Breaking Dawn Part 2' Takes The Biggest Box Office Bite of All 'Twilight' Movies!

With a powerful overseas box office, Breaking Dawn Part 2 has surpassed all previous Twilight films to become the most successful!

Excerpts from The Wrap:

The vamps and vampires of “Twilight: Breaking Dawn 2- Part 2” have sunk their fangs into the domestic and global box office, and won’t let go. The franchise finale took in $17.4 million to claim its third consecutive weekend victory in North America, but it has been even more impressive overseas.

...

"Breaking Dawn 2" has now taken in $254.6 overall in the U.S., which is just behind the comparable three-week total of 2009's “New Moon” ($259 million), but ahead of “Eclipse” and “Breaking Dawn 1," both of which had $251 million after three weeks. However “Breaking Dawn 2” is taking a much bigger bite of the overseas box office. It added $48.9 million this weekend and has grossed $447 million abroad to become the franchise’s biggest foreign earner, passing the $430 million rung up last year by “Breaking Dawn 1.”

With a total of $702 million, "Breaking Dawn 2" will pass "New Moon" ($709 million) to become the franchise's biggest money earner ever at the worldwide box office.

“This will be the biggest “Twilight” movie ever at the box office and the foreign grosses will be the driving force,"  BoxOffice.com editor-in-chief Phil Contrino told TheWrap. “These franchise films build and build overseas, and then they explode.”

Lionsgate’s head of domestic distribution Richie Fay said he isn’t surprised by the foreign success.

“You could see it coming,” he told TheWrap. “The last one, ‘Breaking Dawn 1,’ did 60 percent of its business overseas and we were confident we could build on that.” "Breaking Dawn 2" opened internationally at the same time as it did in North America, and Fay said the overseas marketing strategy played up the international aspects of the film.

The only wide opener set for next weekend in the U.S. is FilmDistrict’s “Playing for Keeps,” so "Breaking Dawn 2" could stay on top until Dec. 14, when Warner Bros. rolls out its blockbuster “The Hobbit.”

 

Via ROBsessed  \ ThoseBritBoys 

Source: The Wrap 

'Twilight' takes bite out of international box office

'Twilight' takes bite out of international box office

variety Lionsgate-Summit's "Twilight" finale, "Breaking Dawn -- Part 2," took a massive bite out of the international box office over the Nov. 16-18 weekend, debuting 40% ahead of "Part 1," with a hulking $199.5 million from 61 day-and-date territories, and repping the year's biggest overseas debut.

While the "Twilight" finale's $141.l million fell short of a domestic franchise record, the film's global bow of $340.6 million came in significantly higher than any of the previous installments, shattering the opening of the franchise's previous worldwide best, last year's "Breaking Dawn -- Part 1," which debuted to $283.5 million.

"Part 2" drew its best results from the U.K., which contributed a franchise-best $25.1 million, followed by Russia ($22 million).

In Latin America, the vampire finale outperformed its predecessor by 57%, with $43 million, including $18.1 million from Brazil and $12.2 million from Mexico. And while "Part 2" trailed 2009's "New Moon" in France, the finale scored Gaul's highest debut so far this year, grossing $17.5 million (or 2 million admissions).

As part of Lionsgate's business model of selling off international rights, "Part 2" was released overseas via local distributors. The company, however, will partake in overages in most territories.

"Part 2" has only a few major markets yet to go: Up next are Germany and India, Nov. 22. Japan will be the last market to launch the film, on Dec. 22.

#Cosmopolis (EOne Film) Dylan Wiley Mentions Rob With @EW

More than just 'Twilight': Robert Pattinson gains broader box office chops with 'Cosmopolis'
EW Robert Pattinson, after years of puckering his sparkling vampire lips and gaining female fans with every perky strand of his swoopy hair in theTwilight films, has finally graduated with alumni cred at the box office, showing he has what it takes to draw in moviegoers beyond the romantic realm of blood-lusty (and just lusty) Edward and Bella.

 Pattinson’s whoozy, philosophy-laden pairing with director David Cronenberg, Cosmopolis, racked up a solid $70,339 in three theaters this past Friday through Sunday, when it opened in tightly limited release domestically, according to box office tracker Hollywood.com. The film, about Pattinson as a disillusioned, overly sexed billionaire making his way across Manhattan to get a haircut, has made roughly $266,900 in North America, including theatrical screenings in Canada. Next weekend the film jumps into nationwide limited release in 60 theaters across the U.S., said Dylan Wiley, vice president of theatrical marketing and distribution for the movie’s distributor Entertainment One Films U.S.

“Rob, with this performance, has shown there is more to him than just Twilight,” Wiley tells EW.com. “This is a very serious actor playing a very serious role with a very serious filmmaker. 
While EW’s review — similar to other critical takes — panned the film itself as flat and robotic, it noted that Pattinson delivers his purposely emotionless role with “rhythmic confidence.” The New York Times said Pattinson “made a fine member of the Cronenbergian walking dead, with a glacial, blank beauty.”

Last year’s traveling circus romance Water for Elephants with Pattinson and blondie Reese Witherspoon ranked No. 3 at the box office in more than 2,800 theaters its opening weekend, making $16.8 million at the box office, a far cry from the latest Twilight installment, last year’sThe Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, which reaped $138 million during its opening weekend, in 4,061 theaters. But Pattinson didn’t fully carry Water for Elephants — Witherspoon did.

In Cosmopolis, he’s the main star, going toe-to-toe with the likes of heavy hitters Paul Giamatti and Juliette Binoche, with the oeuvre of Cronenberg (The Naked Lunch, Eastern Promises, A Dangerous Method) pounding behind him. As Wiley notes, Pattinson’s also in every single scene.

Plus his theater-going fans are growing older. That shrieking TwiHard tween with her tattered copy of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight book in hand at 2008’s first film premiere? She’s older now, and maybe, just maybe, her tastes have skewed as well.

“The theatrical audience in general ages up every year. When you think about Rob’s fans, andTwilight’s fans, you think of 13-year-old girls. But Rob’s fans now are five years older,” says Wiley.

Box office experts also see some hope in Pattinson, a relatively shy, musically inclined intellectual sort, compared to other Twilight graduates (Taylor Lautner, anyone?).

“Perhaps of all the Twilight folks, he’s the one, with this movie, who has gained credibility,” says Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office division of Hollywood.com. “His personal life has not been great, but his acting life is just beginning. I think Pattinson has a lot of gravitas, and that translates on screen.”

Mostly, to straddle the hurdles of both mega movie franchise fame and artsy indie flick gusto at the box office, he needs guys to go out and watch him too, not just women.

That may or may not happen with upcoming films such as the Werner Herzog-directed Queen of the Desert, in which he’ll play T.E. Lawrence — Lawrence of Arabia — alongside Naomi Watts. There’s always The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, the franchise’s fifth and last installment, set to premiere in November.

“The challenge for Pattinson is winning over the male fans, who stayed away from the Twilightfilms,” says Dergarabedian. “I think he can do it… If he were to work with a [Quentin] Tarantino or [Steven] Spielberg, who have that kind of credibility themselves, he’ll gain credibility. He’s still pretty young, and has time to build his career. He may be able to bounce between the big budget films and independently minded films. Look at Jeremy Renner.”

The Weekend Estimates For "Cosmopolis" Are Great

Boxoffice

Revised official domestic weekend estimate: $72,327 for COSMOPOLIS from 3 locations. Location avg. = $24,109.

ERCboxoffice

ROBsessedBlog
Update:
latimes The "Twilight" star's latest film, "Cosmopolis," opened in limited release this weekend and took in $72,327, according to an estimate from distributor Entertainment One Films. Playing in three theaters, that amounted to a per-location average of $24,109 -- a decent figure, but one far behind some of the year's more successful releases. By comparison, Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom"took in an average of $130,749 in the four theaters it launched in back in May.
NikkiFinke Cosmopolis launched its run in the U.S. and qualified as a master of the specialty universe – at least this weekend. After a blitz of media coverage worthy of a studio blockbuster, the David Cronenberg-directed, Robert Pattinson-starrer averaged a fairly impressive $24K-plus in three locations Stateside. The Cannes opener somehow failed to impress Canadian audiences when it opened in early summer (distributor Entertainment One reported its North American cume at $268,900, which includes Canada). Next week, eOne will add 20 markets in the U.S. followed by more at the end of the month.

"On the Road" Total Foreign Sales of July 15

ON THE ROAD

Distributor: IFC Release Date: 2012 Genre: Drama Runtime: 2 hrs. 17 min. MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated Production Budget:N/A

BO Via @vonch

SWATH in the top films at the North American box office

LOS ANGELES, July 1 - Following are the top 10 movies at
North American box offices for the weekend starting June 29, led
by "Ted" at No. 1, according to studio estimates compiled by
Reuters. 

 
#9  Snow White and the Huntsman . $  4.4 million

 
Comcast Corp's Universal Pictures distributed
"Ted" and "Snow White and the Huntsman," and the company's
specialty division, Focus Features, released "Moonrise Kingdom."
 
Source: reuters 

Update: #SWATH Box Office Report - tnxs @robstenation

 Box Office Mojo - June 5 , as of Tuesday Snow White and the Huntsman‘s partially updated worldwide box-office cume stood at $106.45m. I say “partially” because although domestic box-office figures have been updated daily, international figures are estimates up to Sunday. For the record: Snow White and the Huntsman has taken in $67.15m in the US/Canada and (as of Sunday) an estimated $39.3m in 45 markets.
SWATH easily topped the North American box office last weekend, though, screening at fewer theaters (and in 2D), it trailed Men in Black III and Prometheus overseas. Box-office actuals are currently available for only 31 of SWATH‘s 45 international markets; those total $30.5m. Snow White and the Huntsman‘s top territories were the United Kingdom (an estimated $5.5m), Mexico ($4.9m), Germany ($4.07m), Spain ($3.96m), South Korea ($2.95m), and Brazil ($2.58m).


June 5 Update! Domestic: $67,159,400 63.1% + Foreign: $39,300,000 36.9% = Worldwide: $106,459,400 


Source | Via Box Office Mojo As of June 3, 2012.  Domestic: $56,217,700 + Foreign: $39,300,000 = Worldwide:
 $95,517,700 


Box Office Mojo Snow White and the Huntsman attracted strong interest on opening day, and wound up earning more than the next six movies combined. Meanwhile, MIB 3 had a decent hold in second place, while The Avengers passed two major milestones.


The year's second Snow White movie opened to an estimated $20.3 million from 3,773 locations on Friday, which is more than the first Snow White movie (Mirror Mirror) made in its entire opening weekend. It's also way ahead of Universal's Robin Hood, which earned $13.03 million on its opening day in May 2010. Based on Friday's results, Universal is forecasting a $55 million weekend. (You can check regular updates on Box Office Mojo)


The Hollywood Reporter Universal's latest summer event pic Snow White and the Huntsman is overperforming in its domestic launch, grossing $20.3 million on Friday for a projected weekend opening north of $55 million. 


If Snow White -- starring Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth -- stays on course, it will be the first of Hollywood's recent fairy tale re-tellings to work with moviegoers. The film also could mark a much-needed win for Universal after big-budget stumble Battleship and recent comedy miss The Five-Year Engagement.


Box office observers will be watching carefully to see whether Snow White's B CinemaScore affects word of mouth over the weekend. Snow White wasn't a cheap proposition, costing at least $170 million to produce, excluding a eight-figure marketing spend. It also will need to do good business overseas, where it is opening in 45 markets this weekend.


Based on initial numbers, Universal is predicting a $39.3 million international opening for Snow White, higher than two other female-skewing properties, The Hunger Games ($38.7 million) and the first Twilight ($30 million). Snow White opened No. 1 in 30 of the markets, and is doing particularly well in Latin America and Asia, including placing No. 1 in Mexico with $1 million on Friday. Snow White, however, is getting trounced in the U.K. by Ridley Scott's 3D sci-fi action tentpole Prometheus, which 20th Century Fox is opening in 15 foreign markets a week ahead of its June 8 North American launch.


 Prometheus -- likewise headlining Theron, along with Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender -- earned a stellar $3.4 million in the U.K. -- three times more than the $1 million taken in by Snow White, which earned at additional $1.7 million in previews earlier in the week. Both films are looking to take advantage of the four-day holiday weekend surrounding Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.


Prometheus, which is performing especially well for an R-rated pic (in the U.K., it has the equivalent of a 15 rating), launched 124 percent ahead of Inception and scored the biggest opening day ever for Scott. As much as 76 percent of the film's earnings came from 3D, including 6.7 percent from two IMAX theaters, which reported sell-out shows and had to juggle both Prometheus and Men in Black 3. Snow White hopes to have strong legs in the U.K. since it may not be as impacted by the male-skewing European soccer championships, which get underway June 8 (the games are a big reason why Prometheus went out early internationally).

Via Robstenation

‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ Debuts #1 at the Boxoffice!

It was a big box office debut for Snow White and the Huntsman!

Snow White and the Huntsman opened at 3,773 locations and grossed a strong $56.2 million. That’s the fourth-highest debut this year behind The Avengers, The Hunger Games and The Lorax. Men wound up accounting for a very solid 47 percent of Snow White’s attendance this weekend. Audience skewed older (52 percent were 30 years of age and up), meaning Snow White had true four-quadrant appeal.

This success is a testament to the stellar creative and promotional effort put in by the cast, director, crew, production team and Universal to make this film one that people not only want to watch, but want to go to see twice and bring a friend along. A special congratulations to Miss Stewart who earned her first #1 film outside of the Twilight Saga. All hail the Queen!




 via KStewartnews
Box Office numbers and analysis via FBS

Box Office Preview: 'Snow White and the Huntsman' Primed to Take Over the Top Spot

 Box Office Preview: 'Snow White and the Huntsman' Primed to Take Over the Top Spot


The female-centric fairy tale, starring Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron, should easily eclipse last weekend's champ "Men in Black 3."


Mirror Mirror, Relativity’s campy, comic take on the venerable fairy tale, didn’t cast much of a spell at the multiplex earlier this year. Opening March 30, it collected just $18.1 million on its opening weekend and eventually faded from the scene with just $62.5 million domestically.

Universal is looking for more than that from Snow White and the Huntsman, which under Rupert Sanders’ direction takes the familiar story in a different direction -- turning it into more of a female-empowerment adventure tale that plays out against an imaginatively designed landscape. At the same time, having seen its Battleship debut to a disappointing $25.5 million two weekends ago, the studio is downplaying expectations for Snow White, produced by Joe Roth and Sam Mercer for about $170 million, predicting an opening weekend in the low- to mid-$30 million range. Others peg it as coming in somewhat higher than that, possibly even entering $40 million-plus territory.
The key is whether males show up in significant numbers. Right now, the film starring Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth appears to be skewing heavily toward women, though interest among older males has been picking up.


In any case, Snow White, the only new wide release of the weekend -- it’s opening in 3,772 theaters in North America -- should easily capture the No. 1 spot, coming in ahead of the second weekend of Sony’s Men in Black III, which grossed $54.6 million over the first three days of last weekend’s holiday frame. With MIB3 likely to post about $25 million this round, with the still-powerful The Avengers close behind that, the door is open for a Snow White victory.
The film also will be venturing abroad, where it is opening in 42 territories, including Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, Spain and the U.K. 


HR via KstewAngel

Top 10 films of 2011 by Canadian box office #4 "Breaking Dawn"

Globe and Mail Update Published Wednesday, Feb. 08, 2012 4:00PM EST 
Last updated Wednesday, Feb. 08, 2012 4:10PM EST 
Source: Motion Picture Theatre Associations of Canada 
Full List HERE

EW Scan: Top Box Office Films of 2011

3) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1

9 ) Thor (Chris Hemsworth)

13) The Help (Bryce Dallas Howard)

38) Immortals (Kellan Lutz)

*Entertainment Weekly January 27, 2012*
Twilightish

Box office update: "Breaking Dawn" holds on to first place with $5.5 mil on Friday

There’s just no stopping those Twihards. What was supposed to be a close race between The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1 and The Muppets instead looks to be a comfortable victory for the vampire-human love story.
According to early estimates, Breaking Dawn — Part 1 grossed $5.5 million on Friday — a drop of 67 percent from last Friday. That may sound like a steep decline, and it is, but keep in mind that the weekend following the Thanksgiving holiday weekend is typically one of the slowest box-office frames of the year. Also, Breaking Dawn held up slightly better than The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which plummeted 71 percent on the same Friday in 2009. (Both movies were released on the same November weekend, making them especially appropriate to compare.) Breaking Dawn should finish the weekend with about $16 million.
Check back on Sunday for the complete box office report.


EW

boxofficemojo:On Saturday, 'Breaking Dawn' passed $200 million, and the 'Twilight' franchise reached $1 billion in domestic earnings:

BoxOffice

‘Twilight’ Keeps Shining With $42M Second Weekend

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- The latest “Twilight” movie has plenty of daylight left with a second-straight win at the weekend box office.
“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1” took in $42 million domestically over the three-day weekend and $62.3 million in the five-day Thanksgiving boom time from Wednesday to Sunday. That raised its domestic total to $221.3 million, while it added $71.5 million overseas, lifting its worldwide total to $489.3 million.
Debuting at No. 2 was the family flick “The Muppets,” with $29.5 million for the three-day weekend and $42 million over the five-day holiday haul.
Three other family films rounded out the top-five for the three-day weekend: “Happy Feet Two” at 3 with $13.4 million; “Arthur Christmas” at No. 4 with $12.7 million; and “Hugo” at No. 5 with $11.4 million.
AH

Deadline Reports Friday's Box Office - WFE is #3 with 7M

(No Easter Weekend estimates yet.) Twentieth Century Fox's Rio may be about a bird, but very early numbers show "it's holding like a rock," a studio exec just emailed me. Lionsgate's latest in Tyler Perry's franchise, Madea's Big Happy Family, looks soft. This is, after all, Perry's sixth cross-dressing film; the last one opened to $41M and the one before was $30M. But overperforming is Fox's intriguing for adults and Robert Pattinson's Twi-hards Water For Elephants based on Sara Gruen's best-selling book and written by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Francis Lawrence. "Terrific start for Elephants as we could hit higher teens," a Fox exec tells me. It's also a good day for Universal's holdover Hop from Illumination Entertainment which will pop on Saturday and Sunday for the little bunnies and their parents. And Disneynature's African Cats narrated by Samuel Jackson is also playing strong for a nich nature movie. So it's not a bad Good Friday in more ways than one!

Refined numbers and full analysis coming later. Here are Top 5:

1. Rio 3D (Blue Sky Studio/Fox) Week 2 []

Friday $11M

2. Madea's Big Happy Family (Tyler Perry Studio/Lionsgate) NEW

Friday $10M

3. Water For Elephants (Fox 2000/Fox) NEW

Friday $7M

4. Hop (Illumination Entertainment/Universal) Week 3 []

Friday $5.5M

5. African Cats (Disneynature/Walt Disney Studios) NEW

Friday $3M

6. Scream 4 (Miramax/Dimension/Weinstein Co) Week 2

Friday $3M

Deadline Via rpattzscene

Eclipse Box Office Update

UPDATE THURSDAY, AUGUST 26:

Box office numbers are in for Wednesday, August 25. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse took in another $71,270 from 557 locations for a per theater average of $128, representing a decrease of 5.5% from Tuesday. This adds up to a cumulative domestic total of $297,439,330 after 57 days in release. Adding in overseas returns of $380.6M gives Eclipse a current worldwide total of $678,039,330.

Theater counts for the week of Friday, August 27 – Thursday, September 2 reflect a decrease of 81 for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse to 476 locations, dropping it from #18 to #20.

For those comparing the films in The Twilight Saga, at this point in its release history (after 57 days) New Moon had taken in $291,550,109. Eclipse is now at $297,439,330. Both films  hit the $250M mark on the 16th day. The total domestic gross for New Moon was $296,623,634 (after 132 days). Eclipse has now broken that total by $816,696 (after 57 days). The film is now within striking distance of the elusive $300M mark. It needs about $2.56M to get to that number. It took New Moon 22 more days to earn an additional $2.56M after its 57th day, and Eclipse is clearly doing better. On the other hand, New Moon was in 724 theaters after 57 days while Eclipse is dropping to 476 locations tomorrow. Still, even after New Moon’s theater count had dropped to 444 (after 63 days) it still went on to take in another $3.8M. Therefore, it should take no more than one more month for Eclipse to earn another $2.6M and pass $300M.

Now wouldn’t be a bad time to start planning for your DVD release parties. The street dates for Twilight and New Moon were both on day 121 of their theatrical runs (Saturdays). Following that line of thinking, Eclipse’s 121st day will be October 28th, a Thursday. The following Saturday would be October 30th — Halloween weekend. On the other hand, sources have told me that Summit is planning for a holiday season release — some say November while others say Christmas time.

Source via Eclipsemovie.org

Robert Pattinson-Kristen Stewart’s ECLIPSE Still Top Ten: Box Office

Rounding out the top twelve were:

■Jay Baruchel‘s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice with $4.32m (total to date: $51.8m. Cost: $150m),
■Robert Pattinson-Kristen Stewart-Taylor Lautner‘s The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (still among the top ten despite the loss of 787 venues) with $3.96m (total to date: $288.2m. Cost: $68m),
■Elizabeth Allen‘s Ramona and Beezus with $3.65m (total to date: $16.3m. Cost: $15m),
■Annette Bening-Julianne Moore-Mark Ruffalo‘s The Kids Are All Right with $3.46 (total to date: $9.56m. Cost: $4m).
Directed by David Slade, and starring Pattinson as a lovestruck vampire, Stewart as a lovestruck human, and Lautner as a lovestruck werewolf, Eclipse should be passing the $300m milestone within the next ten days or so. By next weekend, it’ll probably be ahead of The Twilight Saga: New Moon‘s $296.6m.

Gone from the top twelve: M. Night Shyamalan‘s The Last Airbender, Nimród Antal-Adrien Brody‘s Predators, Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz‘s Knight and Day.

altfg

Final Eclipse box office update for today by @Larry411

Eclipse approaches $612M worldwide, $286M domestic


UPDATE SATURDAY, JULY 31 3:00 PM:

Final box office estimates are in for Friday, July 30. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse took in another $1.275M from 2,334 locations for a per theater average of $546. This represents an increase of 20.5% from Thursday. Its new cumulative domestic total is $285.46M after 31 days in release. Adding in overseas returns of $326.4M gives Eclipse a current worldwide total of $611.86M.


It drops into a tie for 10th place behind Dinner for Schmucks, opening with $8.4M at 2,911 locations for a per theater average of $2,886, Inception, with $8.15M at 3,545 locations for a per theater average of $2,299 and a domestic cumulative total of $173.978M after 15 days in release, Salt with $5.9M, Charlie St. Cloud, opening with $5.615M, Despicable Me with $4.685M, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, opening with $4.225M, Toy Story 3 with $1.45M, Grown Ups with $1.4M, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice with $1.325M. Eclipse is tied with Ramona and Beezus with $1.275M.

For those comparing the films in The Twilight Saga, at this point in its release history (after 31 days) New Moon had taken in $274,598,319. Eclipse is now at $285,460,000. Both films hit the $250M mark on the 16th day.


UPDATE SATURDAY, JULY 31 1:00 PM:

Early box office estimates are in for Friday, July 30. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has dropped out of the top 10. Therefore, no numbers are available at this time for it. Topping the charts is Dinner For Schmucks opening with $8.3M, followed by Inception with $8.1M, Salt with $5.9M, Charlie St Cloud opening with $5.6M, Despicable Me with $4.6M, Cats & Dogs: Kitty Galore opening with $4.2M, Toy Story 3 with $1.4M, Grown Ups with $1.3M, Sorcerer's Apprentice with $1.3M, and Ramona and Beezus with $1.2M.


UPDATE FRIDAY, JULY 30:

Box office numbers are in for Thursday, July 29. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse took in another $1,057,969 from 3,121 locations for a per theater average of $339 representing a decrease of 0.5% from Wednesday. This gives the film a cumulative domestic total of $284,184,954 after 30 days in release. Adding in overseas returns of $326.4M gives Eclipse a current worldwide total of $610,584,954.

It stays in seventh place behind Inception with $5,289,225 at 3,792 locations for a per theater average of $1,395 and a domestic cumulative total of $165,828,496 after 14 days in release, Salt with $3,403,960 at 3,612 locations, Despicable Me with $3,455,325, Toy Story 3 with $1,356,738, Ramona and Beezus with $1,171,566, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice with $1,197,715. Rounding out the top 10 behind Eclipse are Grown Ups with $995,574, The Last Airbender with $528,177, and Predators with $363,110. Indie drama The Kids Are All Right is in 11th place with $306,962 from just 201 locations for a per theater average of $1,527, the #1 average of the top 13 films. It's earned $6,110,923 on a budget of $4M after 21 days.

Here are the weekly numbers for the period from Friday, July 23 - Thursday, July 29. In its fourth full week, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse took in $11,543,862 from 3,121 locations for a per theater average of $3,699. This represents a 45.74% decrease from the previous week. It dropped from fourth to seventh place for the seven-day period behind Inception, Salt, Despicable Me, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Toy Story 3, and Ramona and Beezus.

Keeping track of records, the film with the least number of days to reach $250M was The Dark Knight, which hit $261,847,503 after eight days. New Moon is in 13th place, having taken 16 days to reach $251,530,186. Eclipse lands just behind it in 14th place, taking 16 days to reach $251,371,417. This puts the film ahead of Shrek the Third, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Iron Man 2, which all took 17 days to hit $250M.

For those comparing the films in The Twilight Saga, in its fourth week New Moon was in fourth place with $10,830,138 from 3,635 theaters for an average of $2,979, representing a decrease of 44.2% from week three. In cumulative domestic totals over time, at this point in its release history (after 30 days) New Moon had taken in $273,220,014. Eclipse is now at $284,184,954. Both films hit the $250M mark on the 16th day.

So far, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has set all-time box office records for Opening Wednesdays, Single Day Wednesday Gross (non-adjusted), and Single Day Wednesday Gross (adjusted for inflation). It is in second place for Opening Day Gross, Single Day Gross, and Non-Opening Thursday Gross. Release records include Widest Releases, Widest Independent Releases, Widest Opening Independent Releases, Widest PG-13 Rated Openings, and Widest PG-13 Rated Releases.

There's been quite a bit of discussion online regarding the film's box office success. In particular, I wonder about the fairness of comparing the Twilight films against each other. The validity of judging Eclipse vs. New Moon is questionable given their strikingly different release schedules. As I've been saying since it opened, the idea was not to compete against or beat New Moon's early numbers. That may be a goal of some people but the idea is to make money, and maybe set some records in the process.

First, remember that the film's opening weekend started on a Wednesday. There is no way that a "weekend" that begins on a Wednesday can be compared to a "normal" 3-day weekend (when New Moon opened). So any comparison between the two based on how many "weekends" it's been out simply isn't valid. Next, look at the time of year the two films were released. New Moon came out during the Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday season. It's a big time of year for Hollywood but still doesn't compare to summer, when they put out their "tentpole" films -- the potential blockbusters that will keep the studios in the black for another year. The competition is much more fierce beginning Memorial Day weekend through the 4th of July. It's simply a different marketplace.

Is Summit happy with the first few weeks' box office returns? I don't know but I'm fairly sure they must be. Again, the goal was not to "beat New Moon." That may be something the press or some others will latch on to but it may not be a fair comparison. It was very easy to compare Twilight to New Moon since they opened at the same time one year apart. Not so much New Moon to Eclipse. I think it's wise to just see how the film does over time in its own right.


UPDATE THURSDAY, JULY 29 4:30 PM:

Theater counts for the week of Friday, July 30 - Thursday, August 5 reflect a decrease of 787 for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse to 2,334 locations. It drops from #5 to #9 behind Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore opening at 3,705 locations, Salt with 3,612 (no change), Despicable Me with 3,594 (loss of 6), Inception with 3,545 (loss of 247), Dinner for Schmucks opening at 2,911 locations, Charlie St. Cloud opening at 2,720, Ramona and Beezus with 2,719 (no change), and The Sorcerer's Apprentice with 2,524 (loss of 980).

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UPDATE: ‘Inception’ Wins Big, ‘Despicable’ & ‘Eclipse’ Strong

The dream-based, consciousness-warping Leonardo DiCaprio movie Inception, directed by The Dark Knight’s Christopher Nolan, topped the weekend box office with $60.4 million.

Despicable Me remained strong, coming in second with $32.7 million.

The week’s other big release, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, is having less success. The Nicolas Cage fantasy film is on pace for a mere $17.3 million weekend and a third place finish.

And The Twilight Saga: Eclipse brought in an estimated $13.5 million to round out the fourth position.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse passed the quarter-billion dollar mark (domestic box office) on Thursday. Currently, the film domestically has earned $264.9 million.

Again, all figures are estimates.

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