The Twilight Saga: New Moon came up short of toppling The Dark Knight’s weekend box office opening record but still managed to double that of the original Twilight.
Per early studio estimates, New Moon racked up an incredible $140.7 million from Friday through Sunday. Only two films, The Dark Knight ($158.4 million) and Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million), have made more their opening weekend and both benefited from the summer blockbuster season when kids are out of school.
The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock also blindsided box office predictions with a huge $34.5 million opening. Some of that can be attributed to spillover from New Moon sellouts but even so, Sandra Bullock’s return to the big screen in 2009 churned out two hits (The Blind Side and The Proposal) versus one moderate success (All About Steve).
A total of six films finished in double digits this weekend with 2012 holding strong against New Moon in its second frame, Planet 51 bouncing back after a dismal Friday, A Christmas Carol continuing to hang around, and Precious building steam as it opens in more theaters. Michael Jackson’s This Is It faded from the top 10 after placing 5th last weekend while Couples Retreat continues to hang around.
The complete weekend box office results for November 20 – 22 is as follows:
- 1. Twilight New Moon: $140.7m
- 2. The Blind Side: $34.5m
- 3. 2012: $26.5m
- 4. Planet 51: $12.6m
- 5. A Christmas Carol (2009): $12.2m
- 6. Precious: $11m
- 7. The Men Who Stare At Goats: $2.8m
- 8. Couples Retreat: $1.9m
- 9. The Fourth Kind: $1.7m
- 10. Law Abiding Citizen: $1.6m
Thanksgiving weekend will see Ninja Assassin, The Road and Old Dogs get an early Wednesday release while The Fantastic Mr. Fox expands into a wide release.
You can try to predict what all of these films will make in our recurring Weekend Box Office Prophet game which will launch early Tuesday and close Wednesday evening – a day earlier than usual – in observance of Thanksgiving.
