TWILIGHT SEQUEL CONTINUES TO TAKE A BITE OUT OF TICKET SALES
Retail shopping might have been stagnant over the big holiday weekend, but the movie box office set a record with an estimated $275 million, beating the previous mark in 2000 by 12%, according to Hollywood.com.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon, released by indie studio Summit Entertainment, landed at #1 for a second week, despite dropping 70%, even more than that of the original, which was off 62% the same weekend last year. That gave it a two-week total of $230.7 million in the U.S. and $243 million worldwide. The movie cost just under $50 million to make, and is well on its way to grossing more than $600 million all told.
The other big box office hit remains Sandra Bullock’s inspirational football movie The Blind Side, which increased sales by 18%, with $40.1 million, almost topping Twilight from its perch. It is on track to gross more than $200 million domestically, making it a major hit for Alcon Entertainment, which financed the picture for $35 million, as well as Warner Bros, which gets a distribution fee.
Neither Disney’s Old Dogs ($24.1 million) nor Fox’s animated The Fantastic Mr. Fox ($9.5 million), appear to be hits, with their respective studios now just hoping they will play through the holidays, while Warner Bros.’ Ninja Assassin earned $21 million over the five-day period its its opening frame and The Weinstein’s Co.’s film version of Cormac McCarthy’s apocalyptic The Road got off to a “pretty good start” at 111 locations despite mixed reviews.
Disney's A Christmas Carol saw ticket sales increase by 30% from last weekend, while the studio's new animated feture The Princess and the Frog sold out nearly all its screenings at two theaters in L.A. and N.Y. Lionsgate’s controversial Precious continued to do brisk business, with a five-day total of $9.4 million bringing its domestic take to $32.4 million.
