Weekend Box Office: 'New Moon' sets new records and has a monster size opening!

[The Clown Prince]

Setting itself some new records, The Twilight Saga: New Moon was of course the number one movie this weekend taking in $140.7 million thanks to some pretty die hard fans. It also brought in an additional $118.1 million overseas. New Moon set the record for a midnight opening with $26.27 million and also for single day opening with $72.7 million. However it came in third for all-time opening weekend behind The Dark Knight ($158.4 million) and Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million). The first Twilight which opened in November of last year opened with $69.6 million and finished with a domestic take of $192.7 million. I think this one will surpass that.

Opening in second place and doing pretty well for itself was The Blind Side with $34.5 million! Another hit it seems for Sandra Bullock.

Coming in third place an adding three theaters was 2012. It dropped 59.4% with a $26.5 million weekend and a $108.2 million total.

Debuting in fourth place was Planet 51 with $12.6 million.

And rounding out the top 5 is A Christmas Carol with $12.2 million and a $79.7 million total.

Adding 455 theaters for a total of 629, increasing business by 87.4% but dropping from 3rd to 6th place was Precious with $11 million and a $21.4 million. That's still doing very well for itself.

Out of the top 12 is Paranormal Activity (13th), Where the Wild Things Are (15th), and The Box (17th).

Opening next weekend which is Thanksgiving weekend are two new movies, one opening wider after limited release, and two limited openings. First up is Ninja Assassin (rated R) starring Rain, Naomie Harris, Ben Miles, Sho Kosugi, and Rick Yune.

Next up is Old Dogs (rated PG) with John Travolta, Robin Williams, Kelly Preston, Seth Green, Ella Bleu Travolta, Lori Loughlin, and Matt Dillon.

Opening wide after a limited engagement is the stop motion Fantastic Mr. Fox (rated PG) starring the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, and Jarvis Cocker.

Opening in limited theaters is the long delayed and on the shelf adaptation of author Cormac McCarthy's The Road (rated R). It stars Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Guy Pearce.

Opening in New York and Los Angeles before opening wide December 11 is Disney's The Princess and the Frog (rated G).

Here are your numbers....


1) The Twilight Saga: New Moon- $140,700,000 ($140,700,000) NEW!
2) The Blind Side- $34,510,000 ($34,510,000) NEW!
3) 2012- $26,500,000 ($108,221,000)
4) Planet 51- $12,600,000 ($12,600,000) NEW!
5) A Christmas Carol- $12,230,000 ($79,791,000)
6) Precious- $11,008,000 ($21,403,000)
7) The Men Who Stare at Goats- $2,773,000 ($27,624,000)
8) Couples Retreat- $1,952,000 ($105,001,000)
9) The Fourth Kind- $1,730,000 ($23,343,000)
10) Law Abiding Citizen- $1,615,000 ($70,027,000)
11) This Is It- $1,575,000 ($70,216,000)
12) Pirate Radio- $1,449,000 ($5,174,000)

[Old Guy]

Since, New Moon didn't beat Batman and Spider-Man, fanboys can sleep tonight. Also, it's amazing how long the first Spidey movie had the record. That $114 million was the record for 5 years. In this day and age when records seem to be broken every year, it was nice that atleast one was around for a while.

[HomeMoviesFan]

Boo.

It seems that the BO demographic fight is between rabid, shirtless-men loving fangirls and rabid, comic-book loving geeks. According to Titanic, I think rabid, shirtless-men loving fangirls put a tad more effort into all of this, so I'm not surprised about this. The only reason New Moon didn't beat SM3 and TDK's records (and why it won't beat Transformers 2) is because there's that other part of the population who would see the other movies, but wouldn't touch New Moon with a ten-foot pole. The repeat viewings by girls wanting to swoon over Edward and Jacob again and again make up only slightly for that.

Isn't a little degrading for our American culture that some very successful films have nearly only relied upon sex appeal to skyrocket its numbers? Consider how even more twisted and ironic it gets when the sex appeal more often that not appeals to women rather than men.

The real question now is how Eclipse does this summer. Will it once again excel in topping itself, or will the craze dwindle? Is this all really a fad or is it something more?...

[Old Guy]

Originally Posted by HomeMoviesFan

The real question now is how Eclipse does this summer. Will it once again excel in topping itself, or will the craze dwindle? Is this all really a fad or is it something more?...

When it comes to Twilight it doesn't really matter. This isn't a $200 million franchise. These movies cost about $30 million to make. So, it just making $100 million is already a profit. Even if you included advertising, Summit isn't spending more than $60-70 million on each installment.

[HG Revolution]

Originally Posted by HomeMoviesFan

Consider how even more twisted and ironic it gets when the sex appeal more often that not appeals to women rather than men.

How on earth is that "twisted"? You're sounding a little bit sexist here. Almost as sexist as the Twilight series.

[CaptainHero]

Originally Posted by HG Revolution

How on earth is that "twisted"? You're sounding a little bit sexist here. Almost as sexist as the Twilight series.

I can't be the only one here who finds it incredibly disturbing that 35 year old women on Entertainment Tonight are asking the 17 year old Taylor Lautner to take off his shirt for them so they can see his abs.

Imagine a 35 year old man on Entertainment Tonight asking Miley Cyrus to take her shirt off so they can see her midriff.

[Ragebot]

Yeah, but that's not what HomeMoviesFan said:

Consider how even more twisted and ironic it gets when the sex appeal more often that not appeals to women rather than men.

[HomeMoviesFan]

Originally Posted by HG Revolution

How on earth is that "twisted"? You're sounding a little bit sexist here. Almost as sexist as the Twilight series.

Because it is naturally assumed in our culture that men are more obsessed with sex than women are. The Twilight saga proves that to be somewhat opposite.

It's like Captain Hero said, it's wrong if a 35 year-old man would want to see Miley Cyrus take her shirt off, but it apparently isn't wrong that 35 year-old women want to see that 17-year old woflboy's abs...

[Martianinvader]

They're finally showing "Precious" in my town, but I won't be seeing it, because I read the plot in the paper's review and it sounded EXTREMELY depressing. It has guts, though. Nobody casts an overweight lead anymore.

The reason it's doing so well, as opposed to other indie films, is because it's got both Oprah's AND Tyler Perry's names on it.

[DarthGonzo]

I'm sick of mindless Twilight hate. And I don't even like the franchise.

I didn't think Area 51 was going to do all that well. So I'm not surprised it finished at number 4. I'd love to see Fantastic Mr. Fox do well this week, since I've heard a lot of good things about it.

[CaptainHero]

Originally Posted by DarthGonzo

I'm sick of mindless Twilight hate. And I don't even like the franchise.

I didn't think Area 51 was going to do all that well. So I'm not surprised it finished at number 4. I'd love to see Fantastic Mr. Fox do well this week, since I've heard a lot of good things about it.

Nobody on these boards is mindlessly hating it. Everyone so far has given solid reasons why they are poor books and films.

[Super Leviathan]

A Christmas Carol is already in 5th place.

Even though I don't care for either film, I must appreciate 2012 and New Moon simply for pushing it down the radar. Hopefully the next Zimeckis/mocap film will outright bomb.

[Silverstar]

Originally Posted by DarthGonzo

I didn't think Area 51 was going to do all that well. So I'm not surprised it finished at number 4.

Me neither. I didn't expect Planet 51 to break any box office records; it doesn't look bad, it just doesn't look great. Planet 51 looks like it might've made a fun half-hour TV special, but not a 90-minute theatrical release.

[HG Revolution]

Originally Posted by HomeMoviesFan

Because it is naturally assumed in our culture that men are more obsessed with sex than women are. The Twilight saga proves that to be somewhat opposite.

It's like Captain Hero said, it's wrong if a 35 year-old man would want to see Miley Cyrus take her shirt off, but it apparently isn't wrong that 35 year-old women want to see that 17-year old woflboy's abs...

Abs aren't considered "private parts" like boobs are, though.

The Twilight stuff doesn't really prove the opposite. It just proves that stereotype is wrong. How is that "twisted"?

[HomeMoviesFan]

Originally Posted by HG Revolution

Abs aren't considered "private parts" like boobs are, though.

The Twilight stuff doesn't really prove the opposite. It just proves that stereotype is wrong. How is that "twisted"?

Okay, twisted is probably not the greatest word choice if that's your problem. Let's lean more heavily on ironic...

[Old Guy]

Originally Posted by CaptainHero

Nobody on these boards is mindlessly hating it. Everyone so far has given solid reasons why they are poor books and films.

Actually, they haven't since most people here haven't read the books or seen the movies. So, it's blind criticism.

[Mesousa]

Originally Posted by DarthGonzo

I'm sick of mindless Twilight hate. And I don't even like the franchise.

It's not I hate Twilight, it's that...HOW THE HECK DOES IT GET SO MUCH MONEY?!

Summit shoudln't even be considered as a indie studio anymore, they've pretty much sold out since, well, Twilight.

[Old Guy]

Originally Posted by Mesousa

they've pretty much sold out

Summit is a business not an artist. Their job is to make money.

[CaptainHero]

Originally Posted by Old Guy

Actually, they haven't since most people here haven't read the books or seen the movies. So, it's blind criticism.

That's a pretty wild assumption to make. I actually read the first book and had to put it down. Loads of cliche, incredibly bland writing, the female character was incredibly unlikeable and there were countless typos.

The first film had the value of a crappy television film IMO.

And to HG Revolution, Abs might not be considered "private parts", but would you ever ask a minor to show you their stomach? It's still incredibly creepy, and you know if a reporter asked Miley Cyrus to lift her shirt and expose her midriff, he would be crucified.

[halinar]

Sigh... and I wonder why I don't see many movies in the theater any more.