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
“Twilight: New Moon” sets midnight screening record with $26.3 million
“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” has set a box-office record for midnight screenings, according to the Associated Press.
Summit Entertainment estimated today that the sequel earned $26.3 million after opening in the wee hours of the morning, the AP reports.
If the estimate proves on-target, it would break the previous midnight record, held by “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which earned $22.2 million in its early-morning screenings this summer.
The 2008 sequel “The Dark Knight” comes in third on the midnight screenings list with $18.5 million.
“New Moon,” the second film in the supernaturally popular “Twilight” franchise, opened at midnight in 3,514 theaters with a per-theater average of $7,476.
Paul Dergarabedian, a box-office analyst for Hollywood.com., says the record-setting midnight start “portends an opening weekend that could be one of the biggest of the year.”
-BAM
Box office report for Nov. 16, 2009
Global disaster meant big box-office dollars as ”2012,” doomsday specialist Roland Emmerich’s (”Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow”) latest film, opened at No. 1 domestically with $65 million and blew up $225 million worldwide.
The Sony Pictures actioner, starring John Cusack, Danny Glover and Chiwetel Ejiofor, has the remnants of humanity boarding giant arks as the earth’s crust shifts and waters flood most of the planet, according to the Associated Press.
“2012″ did $17.2 million in France, $15.3 million in Russia, $9.9 million in South Korea and $8.1 million in Spain.
Here in the U.S., “2012″ came in just short of the $68.7 million opening weekend for Emmerich’s “The Day After Tomorrow.”
The weekend’s other new wide release, Focus Features’ rock ‘n’ roll comedy “Pirate Radio,” opened at No. 11 with a week $2.9 million in 882 theaters. The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Kenneth Branagh in a tale about 1960s disc jockeys blasting illicit rock music into stodgy Britain from an offshore radio station aboard a tanker.
“Disney’s A Christmas Carol” slipped to No. 2 with $22.3 million, down only 26 percent from its No. 1 opening gross a weekend earlier. The Jim Carrey holiday adventure, directed by high-tech specialist Robert Zemeckis, raised its 10-day total to $63.3 million.
Big films typically can drop 50 percent or more in the second weekend, but the solid continued business for “A Christmas Carol” indicates it could have a strong legs to take it through the holidays.
While the George Clooney satire “The Men Who Stare at Goats” came in at No. 3, Lionsgate’s acclaimed drama “Precious: Based on the Novel `Push’ by Sapphire” broke into the top 10 at No. 4 as it expanded to more theaters after a huge debut in limited release the previous weekend.
“Michael Jackson’s This Is It” notched another $5.1 million domestically to raise its total to $67.2 million. The Sony release became the all-time top-grossing music documentary, passing the $65.3 million total of 2008’s ”Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert.”
Paramount’s micro-budget horror flick “Paranormal Activity” pulled in $4.2 million to cross the $100 million mark. Shot for just $15,000, the supernatural tale rode a surge of online buzz to become a horror sensation, with a domestic gross now standing at $103.8 million.
Starting in limited release, Fox Searchlight’s animated comedy “Fantastic Mr. Fox” drew big audiences with $260,000 in four theaters, for a whopping average of $65,000 a cinema. The film, directed by Wes Anderson (”Rushmore,” “The Darjeeling Limited”), expands to nationwide release the day before Thanksgiving.
George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Bill Murray lead the voice cast of “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” adapted from the Roald Dahl children’s book about a poultry-thieving fox and three wicked farmers.
Despite the big opening for “2012,” box-office business dipped. Overall revenues came in at $140 million, down 6 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when the James Bond adventure “Quantum of Solace” led with $67.5 million, according to the AP.
But box-office fortunes seem destined to improve as the eagerly anticipated sequel “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” opens Friday in theaters.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. “2012,” $65 million.
2. “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” $22.3 million.
3. “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” $6.2 million.
4. “Precious: Based on the Novel `Push’ by Sapphire,” $6.1 million.
5. “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” $5.1 million.
6. “The Fourth Kind,” $4.7 million.
7. “Couples Retreat,” $4.3 million.
8. “Paranormal Activity,” $4.2 million.
9. “Law Abiding Citizen,” $3.9 million.
10. “The Box,” $3.2 million.
-BAM
