Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
A saga in ‘Twilight,’ a weekend in bloom
In the end, “Breaking Dawn” couldn’t generate as much light as “New Moon.”
The fifth and final “Twilight” film hit theaters this weekend and did incredible business, grossing $141.3 million domestically and a whopping additional $199.6 million overseas, according to an estimate from distributor Summit Entertainment. Although that is a fantastic start for “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn— Part 2,” at the domestic box office the film came in just shy of the franchise opening-weekend record held by 2009’s “New Moon,” with $142.8 million.
“Breaking Dawn— Part 2” could easily become the highest-grossing domestic film in the “Twilight” franchise (the third, “Eclipse,” made $300.5 million in 2010). The film sees newlywed vampire couple Edward and Bella struggling to protect their child from an evil vampire clan, and it has received the best reviews of any film in the franchise. Fans rushed out to see the finale late Thursday evening, when the movie debuted in roughly 2,000 theaters nationwide and proceeded to collect $30.4 million by Friday morning.
As a result of the movie’s excellent business domestically, North American ticket saleswere up11 percent compared with the same weekend last year. And a strong lineup of holiday films is set for release in the coming weeks, including “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and “Les Miserables.”
Another film that did well this weekend was Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” which expanded from11 theaters to 1,775 and grossed $21 million. Meanwhile, “Skyfall” became the highest-grossing movie in the James Bond franchise. Thisweekend it reached a phenomenal worldwide total of $669.2 million, easily surpassing the $599.2 million global tally held by 2006’s “Casino Royale.”