Vampire love seems to be contagious these days, as the
highly anticipated “Twilight” took in approximately $70.6 million at the North
American box office during its opening weekend, according to studio estimates
released on Sunday.
In spite of the fact that the movie, which is based on one
of Stephenie Meyer’s outstandingly popular vampire novels, was expected to achieve
incredible results for the blossoming independent studio Summit Entertainment,
the debut-weekend gross exceeded even the most daring of expectations, as
box-office analysts had estimated a $60 million revenue at most, because of the
narrow interest among male moviegoers.
“Twilight” helped boost Hollywood
earnings, which were up 6 percent compared to the same weekend last year,
according to Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracking firm Media by
Numbers. This weekend’s top 12 movies took in approximately $159.4 million.
The teenage sensation registered the best opening weekend
for a producion since the summer’s blockbuster, “The Dark Knight,” starring
Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger, drew a record $158 million in July.
In addition, the film directed by Catherine Hardwicke saw the fourth-highest
November opening weekend ever.
“Twilight” also registered the greatest opening for a female
helmer, effortlessly surpassing the $41.1 million mark established by Mimi
Leder’s 1998 “Deep Impact.”
And the franchise will certainly go further than this, as
the studio responsible for the release of the vampire love story, whose project
was rejected by MTV Films and Fox Atomic, announced that a new film adaptation
of one of Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling books would be made. The saga will be
continued by “New Moon” and while it is definite that Robert Pattinson and
Kristen Stewart will go on with their big screen romance, it is still unclear
whether Catherine Hardwicke will serve as a director again.
The new James Bond flick, “Quantum of Solace,” came in
second at the North American box office, by earning an estimated $27.4 million
in ticket sales this weekend and taking its 10-day domestic total to $109.5
million. The film starring Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko grossed
approximately $418 million worldwide to date.
Walt Disney Studios’ computer-animated movie “Bolt,” about a
John Travolta-voiced canine TV star who thinks he’s got super powers, claimed only the third
position during its opening weekend with a disappointing $27 million.
“Madagascar
2: Escape 2 Africa” was No. 3, with $16 million,
followed by “Role Models” with $7.2 million and “Changeling” with $2.6 million.
While “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” came in seventh
with $2 million, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” took in about $1.7 million,
barely surpassing No. 9’s “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” with $1.67 million.
“The Secret Life of Bees” rounded out the top 10 with $1.28
million.
