November 21, 2009 | by Rob Keyes 

New Moon’s Record-Breaking Opening Day

twilight new moon box office record

Summit Entertainment is pretty happy with themselves this weekend with their Twilight sequel New Moon already breaking loads of sales records in just the first day. It surely seems now that rushing the film into production after last November’s success of the first book in Stephanie Meyer’s vampire novel series was a good idea. Continuing the momemtum and hype, the third installment Eclipse has already wrapped filming and is set for a summer release, only half a year away.

Check out after the jump for a list of ridiculously high financial stats for New Moon coming in from reports everywhere.

With the expected (and now realized) opening success of New Moon, I am surprised that in my screening of the movie, there were no trailers for other major upcoming films – What we saw instead was all just for upcoming movies from Summit and E1 Entertainment and no other studios took advantage of the masses of eager moviegoers sitting in packed theaters everywhere.

Here are the numbers reported from Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood as of this morning:

  • Debuted at around $72 million in 4024 theaters but results still coming in.
  • Breaks the record for Friday opening and single day sales ($67 million from The Dark Knight).
  • The Friday totals include the insanely high midnight screenings that brought in 26.27 million from 3514 theaters – this beats both The Dark Knight and the latest Harry Potter.
  • Tracking for a $125 opening weekend which is still under numbers for the third Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight or Spider-Man 3.
  • Last year’s Twilight brought in just under $70 million so this one is destroying it as well as expectations which had the movie likely getting close to Iron Man numbers around $100 million.

Fandango is reporting that New Moon is selling 10 tickets/second throughout Friday and it’s the number one advanced ticket seller of all time for them.

What do you think of the box-office success of the Twilight films so far and what do you expect from next year’s installment?

If you missed it, check out Screen Rant’s New Moon Review.

Directed by Chris Weitz, New Moon stars Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson and Ashley Greene – it’s playing everywhere currently. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse opens June 30, 2010 and is directed by David Slade.

Source: Deadline Hollywood

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  • Lily
    Its ridiculous. But one of those films that will be forgotten by Christmas. TDK had incredible word of mouth. More people went to see it later on than in the beginning.
  • Tim "Cloverfield"
    What do I think? I think it is Bloody sad. I know the fan base dictates the numbers, with little regard to the craft of film making, ( or lack there of). Think how many quality films have come from the MGM studios over the many years. With a piece of tripe such as Twi-"lite" the $$$ is the only thing to matter. I understand this, however had MGM been involved, they would not these problems. Perhaps being true to the craft does matter to some studio heads. My only hope is 790 and Vic come up with the "jake" to save MGM.
  • Torri
    Went opening day ~ throughly enjoyed it and can't wait for the release of Eclipse...
  • Longshanks
    While the opening weekend numbers will be impressive,I don't really see this movie having any real staying power.

    It won't even come close to touching TDK's total U.S. gross.I don't even think it will beat TDK's weekend totals.It still has about $86 mil to go.
  • ogb
    Another sign the world is ending in 2012?

    Or are we just getting dumber as a society?
  • rich
    and ogb, oprah out in 2011 also, weird times

    dude, maybe she knows something we dont lol.
    or maybe not l. o. l.
  • luke
    god damet. stupid twilight, the wolrd has liduraly come to a flippin end.
  • "Or are we just getting dumber as a society?"

    Well, they are making a third "Jackass" film, so yes I would say we are.
  • DrSamBeckett
    I think everyone needs to calm down, it may not be everyones cup of tea, but obviously a lot of people disagree with you. Just let the fans enjoy their movies and stop bashing them and the films. The biggest grossing film of all time is Titanic for gods sake! And it's hardly the greatest film ever made is it?!
  • Evan
    I bet "Eclipse" beats "New Moon's" records too. This phenomenon is only gaining steam right now. Whatever you think about the movies, I think we can all agree that Summit gets the gold star for marketing decisions in regards to filming those two installments back to back. Strike while the iron is hot.

    I could see "Breaking Dawn" making less coin though since reception of that book is poorer, and there will be probably an 18 month gap between "Eclipse" and the final film.
  • ogb
    twisteburton

    TDK might have its oscars but Twilight sweeped the MTV movie awards...lol


    Seriously though, I was pleasantly surprised how well TDK did in the box office. Same thing with Iron Man. I got hope that the main stream audience does prefer substance, good acting, good directing, etc.

    But for ever TDK and Iron Man we have Twilight and New Moon to bring us back to reality.
  • ogb
    *swept
  • Iron Knight
    Nooo! Dammit! Why do people go see this crap? I say we guys break this record when Iron Man 2 gets released. But then again this Twicrap will be all forgotten in a couple of years.
  • blipvert
    Twilight was on a movie channel the other night. I tried to give it a real and honest watch through and I was actually surprised as I started to watch it and it wasn't as bad as I had thought. Then... it was revealed that these "vampires" when exposed to sunlight sparkle like diamonds and I had absolutely no choice but to hit the power button on my television. I think that is as far as I will ever get with this series.
  • Jose
    For those TwiCrap Fans just wait Until Batman 3 comes out with same Director...Its going to smash the box office like never before...I dont see what people see in Twicrap..I saw the first one and it was boring as F*** I fell asleep.
  • There's no reason to get nasty folks. Let's keep things civil.

    Vic
  • KantStandYa
    just goes to show u that girls 9-17 run this world.
  • Magnus
    why do u guys care if it beats records or not? or how much money it makes? it obviously have a huge fanbase. and if it has that, the quality hardly matters.

    TDK was better in every way, just be happy with that.
  • I'm with Magnus. Personally I don't care that this had a great opening weekend - let the Twilighters have their fun.

    Vic
  • Jose
    Exactly, Fanbase thats why Titanic broke records thats why The Dark Knight broke records because alot of Females fell in love with the story between Leonardo Decaprio and Kate Winset thats why Big Superhero Fans had a big taste for The Dark Knight film especially because it was Heath Ledgers Last Film or (Maybe second last) those 2 movies also had huge Fanbases and thats why they made bank..Until I see Twilight listed in the top 3 of this list then I will believe that it also broke records as well..It may have won the battle between Dark Knight and Titanic but can it win the war? Only one way to find out and thats by this list: http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/boxoffice/alltime/
  • ogb
    Jose

    I don't know about that. Titanic did not have a fanbase in the sense that Twilight does. There are no Titanic books or anything like that. Same thing with TDK, no main stream fanbase. Sure, a lot of ppl remember the previous Batman films but not sure there were a lot of Batman films outside of comic book fans and the cartoon fans. I think a lot of the success of TDK and Titanic had to do with the quality of the film. They were VERY well received by the critics and the audience. There were great films with some break through special effects, performances from the actors, etc.

    And that is why Twilight making so much money is making a statement about our society. There's very little quality in the movies and even the books (the books have grammatical errors!). It's a "phenomenon", a pop culture phenomenon, nothing more.
  • Indybeth
    Who cares how much a movie makes? It doesn't affect you directly. If you don't like Twilight why are you "wasting" your time to post about. Everyone has different taste in what we choose to watch and that is what makes life interesting. Personally I am a fan of the series and even though the movies don't stand up to the quality of the books I will continue to go see them for my personal enjoyment. My husband would rather watch movies like TDK, Spiderman, Superman etc. and that is his choice as it is yours. But don't hate those of us who do like it. For the record we have 6 males (our husbands and all of us are 27-31 yrs old) with us last night at New Moon and all were wearing twilight shirts that they had made. These are the same men who enjoy the action movies and help your oh so important opening weekend numbers of the action flicks. You don't have to pick sides. Love life and do what you want. Why don't you start by not caring so much about what others like or don't like. Worry about yourself.
  • ogb
    Okay Twilight fans, let me clear some things up.

    No one is loosing sleep over how much money this crap makes. We're not obsessive about the success/failure of this franchise because it does not play an important role in our lives.

    It is perfectly appropriate to comment on the movie breaking records in the context of a MOVIE BLOG that we're all subscribing to. I'd also say that it's appropriate to comment on the trends in movies and what it means for future movies, film makers, etc. Movies have become a VERY important component of the American society and watching these trends unfold can say a lot about our culture. So the whole "don't say anything if you don't like it" thing means nothing.
  • 790
    Tim, your starting to freak me out. ;-)
    ^
    @IndyBeth, I like your attitude,,, I just don't want to watch any dvds with you,,, :-D
    ^
    I'm going to make a confession, (if anyone cares?) I think "Twilight" is just as lame as the "Harry Potter" films... 8-)

    There I said it,,!
  • Paul Young
    I don't know about you but I don't have a lot of dispoable income to be throwing at a movie to see it more than once. Teenagers do, so I look for this movie to do about half of this weeks #'s next week.

    Wanna watch a good movie? You're gonna have to go with an indie studio because major studios will start making movies for money only. Can't blame them I suppose. Expect more fluff in the coming years to be fast tracked.
  • Tiffany
    I think that this discussion shows more about people and their love for movies, then any box office numbers. I have read the Twilight books and will see the movies, I also loved TDK. Why can't people just respect that eveyone has different tastes. If you think the Twilight movies suck, fine. Just respect the people who did like it, because at the end of the day the movies will make money or it won't. Some are saying that because a lot of people saw the Twilight movies, that society is going down hill. Our society being the way it is has nothing to do with movies. Our society is messed up because people overlook common human decency. Sorry about the rant, but it's late and I felt like it.
  • ogb
    "because at the end of the day the movies will make money or it won’t"

    a bit vague, no?

    There are reasons why movies make money. Reasons that are identifiable and that can reflect/say something about the mainstream audience and comment on the society.

    No one said we're going down hill BECAUSE of Twilight. One can interpret that the fact that these low quality, badly reviewed movies are making huge amounts of money can be grouped with other things that contribute to the dumbing down of our culture. The boom of "reality" tv shows instead of scripted, well written and well acted shows is one of those things. Taken as a whole, a lot of signs do point to the main stream audience not being the brightest.

    This might be thinking too much into it, but I'd rather be thinking than turning off my brain and jumping on whatever story the local news are covering the most or whatever piece of gossip is the most popular or whatever poorly acted, written and directed movie is making the most money (New Moon).
  • 790
    Ogb, I think your kinda over reacting on Twilight fans. You can't expect others to share your positions and opinions,,,

    Also if you want to talk dumbing down of our society its more than bad films or American Idol, our Main Stream Media along with subliminal advertising practices, modified food, etc have cultivated our current state of intellectual bankruptcy... ;-)
  • BP
    Getting a little heated aren't we?
    TDK is my favorite movie but Twilight's fanbase is gigantic. I expected records to be broken and in the end it doesn't really affect me. I enjoyed the Twilight movies and TDK. Let the fans enjoy their movies.
  • The Twilight movies bring in hordes of fans that may not be your average mainstream moviegoer and that's a good thing that the franchise is able to succeed so well.

    I just wish the production quality and budget were up to to par and the schedule wasn't so rushed so much that it does more to earn such massive numbers.

    Look how much money Spider-Man 3, Pirates 3, X-Men 3 and Matrix 3 made and they all were big disappoints that I wish folks didn't support so much, lol.

    As for New Moon, it had a few neat scenes better than anything in the first movie but overall, Twilight was a better movie and I expected an improvement.

    I'm not sure Eclipse will beat these numbers, I think we'll see a slight slow down and people waiting a little bit the next time around.
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