Box office report for Nov. 23, 2009: “Twilight: New Moon” rises high
The vampire romance sequel “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” dominated the weekend box office, sucking in $140.7 million in its first three days, according to the Associated Press.
The second film based on Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling book series also made $258.8 million worldwide, indicating the author’s saga isn’t just supernaturally popular in the United States. Overseas, “New Moon” debuted in 25 countries and sucked up $118.1 million.
The huge opening weekend for the Summit Entertainment release not only landed the sequel at No. 1 on the box-office charts, it also was more than twice the $69.6 million haul over the same weekend last year for “Twilight,” the first film in the franchise.
“New Moon” also rose to third on the all-time domestic box-office list behind 2008′s $158.4 million opening weekend for the Batman blockbuster “The Dark Knight” and 2007′s $151.1 million haul for “Spider-Man 3.”
Among the top-10 all-time openings, “New Moon” is the only one that came outside of Hollywood’s busiest time, the summer season, according to the AP. The movie adaptation of Meyer’s third “Twilight” book, “Eclipse,” has already been filmed and is due in theaters June 30, 2010.
On Friday, “New Moon” set an all-time domestic high for opening day with $72.7 million, topping the previous record of $67.2 million, again set by “The Dark Knight.
“New Moon” continues the love story between human Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen (Rpbert Pattinson) but adds a love triangle to the story with Bella’s best friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), who turns out to be a werewolf.
Overall, Hollywood had its second-biggest non-holiday weekend ever, with final numbers expected to come in slightly behind the $260 million the industry rang up over the weekend of July 18, 2008, when “The Dark Knight” opened, according to the AP. Compared to the same weekend last year, box-office business was up 59 percent.
Females made up 80 percent of the audience for “New Moon,” which makes since since Meyer’s saga is phenomenally popular among girls and women. It also proves again to the movie studios – who seem to need constant reminders – that women will flock to movie theaters if given good reason. Young men aren’t the only ones who will turn out in droves to see a movie.
The “Twilight” franchise “taps into something primal and visceral that drives women crazy, and they’re willing to pay for the privilege,” Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com, told the AP.
The Warner Bros. football drama “The Blind Side” opened at No. 2 with $34.5 million. The film stars Sandra Bullock in the fact-based story of Baltimore Ravens tackle Michael Oher, who was a homeless teen taken in by a wealthy family and enrolled in private school.
As with “New Moon,” females were the big fans of “The Blind Side,” accounting for 59 percent of the audience. That may seem unusual for a sports film, but between Bullock and the movie’s family themes, women wanted to see it, too.
“To have two movies with huge appeal for women result in the second-biggest non-holiday weekend ever is amazing,” said Dergarabedian told the AP.
Sony’s animated adventure “Planet 51,” about a NASA astronaut (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) who causes a panic when he lands on an alien planet, debuted at No. 4 with $12.6 million.
The previous weekend’s top movie, Sony’s disaster tale “2012,” came in at No. 3 with $26.5 million, raising its domestic total to $108.2 million. Worldwide, “2012″ has taken in $449.8 million, despite some fairly disastrous reviews.
With the Thanksgiving, Hollywood is preparing for one of the busiest periods of the year at theaters. Several movies are opening Wednesday, including the Robin Williams-John Travolta comedy “Old Dogs,” the post-apocalypse drama “The Road,” George Clooney’s animated comedy “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and the kung fu actioner “Ninja Assassin.”
Here are the top 10 films for the weekend, according to the AP:
1. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” $140.7 million.
2. “The Blind Side,” $34.5 million.
3. “2012,” $26.5 million.
4. “Planet 51,” $12.6 million.
5. “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” $12.2 million.
6. “Precious: Based on the Novel `Push’ by Sapphire,” $11 million.
7. “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” $2.8 million.
8. “Couples Retreat,” $2 million.
9. “The Fourth Kind,” $1.7 million.
10. “Law Abiding Citizen,” $1.6 million.
-BAM
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