'Twilight' Movie Tickets Sales Over $283.5 Million

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1" earned $283.5 million world-wide in its opening weekend, proving the vampire-romance series hasn't lost any of its bite with audiences.


The latest installment of the fantasy movie took in $139.5 million domestically and grossed $144 million abroad from 54 territories. The movie, which cost $110 million to make, was released by Summit Entertainment LLC.

At the Los Angeles premiere of "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part I," Twi-hards screamed as stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner walked the black carpet. Michelle Kung was there and has details on Lunch Break.

As for domestic openings this year, "Breaking Dawn Part 1" trails only the $169.2 million opening of "Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 2" in July. Unlike the Harry Potter film, "Breaking Dawn Part 1" was released strictly in 2-D and didn't receive any bump from higher-priced 3-D tickets.

The total for "Breaking Dawn Part 1" includes $30.3 million from midnight screenings on Thursday night.

Directed by Bill Condon, "Breaking Dawn Part 1," the fourth movie in a planned series of five, stars Kristen Stewart as a human teenager who marries and become pregnant by a vampire (Robert Pattinson).

The opening was in line with Summit's expectations, said Richie Fay, the studio's president of domestic distribution. Summit was initially concerned that the year-and-a-half gap since the previous "Twilight" installment, "Eclipse," might erode attendance, but fans turned out in record numbers.

As expected, women made up the majority of the audience for "Breaking Dawn Part 1," with females making up 80% of ticket-buyers.

The opening bodes well for "Breaking Dawn Part 2," the final title in the franchise, which is to be released next November.

The weekend's other big release, the animated penguin feature "Happy Feet Two," had to settle for $22 million from 3,606 theaters. The audience was primarily female, with women making up 57% of the audience. Released by Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Pictures, the $135 million film is a follow-up to 2006's original, which grossed $41.5 million its opening weekend and $198 million domestically.

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in the latest 'Twilight' series film.

According to Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. Pictures' president of distribution, the movie's opening was slightly below studio expectations, due to a weekend that was more competitive than expected.

The family film made 50% of its gross from 3-D screenings.

In limited release, the Hawaiian dramedy "The Descendents," starring George Clooney as a cuckolded father of two girls, earned $1.2 million from 29 theaters. The film, which opened Wednesday, has grossed $1.3 million to date with a strong $42,150 per screen average. Distributor Fox Searchlight will expand the theater count to roughly 420 screens in 60 different markets next Wednesday. News Corp. owns both Fox and The Wall Street Journal.

"Immortals" earned $12.3 million over the weekend, dropping 62% from the previous week, when it had been No. 1 at the box office. The Relativity Media LLC 3-D epic has cumulatively earned $53 million to date.

Box Office No.1 'Immortals'

"Immortals" fought off the competition at the box office this weekend, emerging victorious with the No. 1 title.


The film, an expensive 3-D sword-and-sandals epic, claimed the top spot with a solid $32 million, according to an estimate from distributor Relativity Media. That was enough to fend off Adam Sandler's cross-dressing comedy "Jack and Jill," which took in a decent $26 million. The Clint Eastwood-directed "J. Edgar" biopic, meanwhile, collected a modest $11.5 million.

"Immortals" marks Relativity's biggest self-released opening ever. That's welcome news for the independent studio, many of whose films -- including "Machine Gun Preacher" and "Take Me Home Tonight" -- have failed to resonate with audiences in recent months. The company made a big bet on "Immortals," spending about $80 million to produce the Tarsem Singh-directed picture and at least $50 million more to market it.

The audience for "Immortals" was composed largely of young males, a demographic that has proved difficult to lure into theaters in recent months. About 66% of the audience -- 75% of which was younger than 35, and 60% of which was male -- opted to shell out a few extra bucks to watch the movie in 3-D. The film attracted a diverse crowd, as roughly 35% of the audience was Hispanic. Moviegoers assigned "Immortals" an average grade of B, according to market research firm CinemaScore -- the same score that both "Jack and Jill" and "J. Edgar" received this weekend.

"Immortals," set in ancient Greece and starring future "Superman" Henry Cavill, was produced by the filmmakers behind the 2006 blockbuster "300."

"Immortals" will fail to generate the kind of revenues that film did, however," as "300" ended up raking in more than $450 million worldwide. This weekend, "Immortals" opened internationally in 35 foreign markets, collecting an estimated $36 million. The film performed especially well in the United Kingdom, Russia and Greece, claiming the No. 1 spot in each country. Relativity is not self-releasing the film overseas, however -- the company presold the film to a number of foreign distributors, minimizing the upside if "Immortals" is successful abroad.

"Jack and Jill" is one of the lowest debuts Sandler has had with a broad commercial comedy. In the last decade, most of the actor's similarly themed films have started off with between $30 million and $40 million. The opening for "Jack and Jill" is only slightly higher than that of 2009's "Funny People," the Judd Apatow-directed comedy about cancer that premiered with about $22 million.

Sony Pictures spent about $79 million to make "Jack and Jill," which appealed to a 53% family audience this weekend. While Sandler's films typically maintain strong holds at the box office, a number of kid-centric pictures are opening around Thanksgiving and will present some serious competition.

The film could make up some ground overseas, where Sandler's big comedies have crossed the $100-million milestone in recent years. The movie -- which received a dismal 3% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes -- grossed $2.7 million from Mexico and Colombia this weekend.

Eastwood's film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as late FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, appealed largely to an older crowd this weekend. About 66% of those who saw the picture were older than 50.

While "J. Edgar" earned the best reviews of any new film released this weekend, critics did not like it nearly as much as some of Eastwood's other recent movies. In an effort to spread positive word-of-mouth about the picture, Warner Bros. released the movie in seven theaters on Wednesday. Including those midweek grosses, the film has now made $11.6 million.

"J. Edgar," which was produced for about $35 million, opened to slightly less than Eastwood's last film, "Hereafter." That movie also earned middling reviews, debuting last year with $12 million and ultimately collecting $32.7 million domestically. The film did far better abroad, however, where it grossed $72.5 million. It remains to be seen how "J. Edgar" -- which has far more American themes than the supernatural "Hereafter" -- will fare internationally.

[Updated at 12:57 p.m. Nov. 13: Is Justin Timberlake the latest Hollywood star to hold surprising clout overseas? The singer-turned-actor is hardly Johnny Depp, but his last few films have done better abroad than domestically. "In Time," his sci-fi action flick released in the U.S. three weeks ago, has already collected $53.7 million abroad compared to its $30.7-million stateside tally. The Andrew Niccol-directed movie is currently playing in 53 foreign countries and has performed best in Russia, where it has grossed $13.2 million. The film, which also stars Amanda Seyfried, has yet to open in a number of major international markets, including France and Japan.

The last film in which the actor had a major role, July's romantic comedy "Friends With Benefits," also did well abroad. The movie costarring Mila Kunis made $93.7 million of its $149.5 million global total internationally. Even "Bad Teacher" -- the raunchy summer comedy in which he had a supporting role -- and last year's "Yogi Bear" -- in which he voiced the animated sidekick Boo Boo -- sold slightly more ticket sales in foreign countries than in the U.S.

Weekend Box Office Result - Immortals on Top

Weekend Box Office Result - Immortals on Top

 Here are the top 10 current movies at the domestic box office, with international grosses when available, according to studio estimates and Hollywood.com:


1. "Immortals" (Relativity): Opened to $32 million. $36 million overseas in 35 foreign markets.

2. "Jack and Jill" (Sony): Opened to $26 million. $2.7 million overseas in two foreign markets.

3. "Puss in Boots" (Paramount/DreamWorks Animation): $25.5 million on its third weekend, down 23%. $4.5 million overseas in four foreign markets. Domestic total: $108.8 million. International total: $48.1 million.

4. "Tower Heist" (Universal/Relativity): $13.2 million on its second weekend, down 45%. $7.6 million overseas in 36 foreign markets. Domestic total: $43.9 million. International total: $20.6 million.

5. "J. Edgar" (Warner Bros.): Opened to $11.5 million. Domestic total: $11.6 million.

6. "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas" (Warner Bros./New Line): $5.9 million on its second weekend, down 54%. Domestic total: $23.2 million.

7. "In Time" (Fox/New Regency): $4.2 million on its third weekend, down 45%. $8.5 million overseas in 53 foreign markets. Domestic total: $30.7 million. International total: $53.7 million.

8. "Paranormal Activity 3" (Paramount): $3.6 million on its fourth weekend, down 57%. $7.1 million overseas in 52 foreign markets. Domestic total: $100.8 million. International total: $88.6 million.

9. "Footloose" (Paramount): $2.7 million on its fifth weekend, down 39%. Domestic total: $48.9 million.

10. "Real Steel" (Disney/DreamWorks): $2 million on its sixth weekend, down 42%. $12 million overseas in 41 foreign markets. Domestic total: $81.7 million. International total: $147.5 million.

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International Hollywood Box Office Results

International Box Office: ‘Fast Five’ sets Universal record with US$86.6M

Universal Studios Fast Five roared to the Top of the foreign theatrical circuit’s box office chart on the weekend, grossing US$86.6M from 6,979 locations; for a per-screen average of more than US$12,000 in 58 overseas territories.

Opening in 44 new markets and almost doubling its $45.9 million gross from the pastr week, Fast Five’s take was described by Universal as the biggest International weekend in the Company’s history, besting the previous weekend record, US$84.3M grossed by Y 2005’s King Kong update.

Fast Five, has been playing overseas for three weeks no, and has taken US$184.8M offshore, lifting its Worldwide total to date to US$324.7M.

The film’s Mexico opening, US$8.6M from 500 spots, was a market record for a Universal title. In Brazil, Fast Five was # 1 with US$5M from 310 locations.

Market opening records for Universal were also set in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Uruguay. Fast Five is also # 1 in Italy, US$7.4 million at 420 spots, and in France US$8.8M from 500 sites.

The 5th sequel in the Turbo-charged Car action franchise, directed by Justin Lin and co-Starring Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Paul Walker, has 5 territories yet to play with 3 opening this week including China.

The Top foreign grosser in the Action Car franchise is Y 2009’s Fast & Furious, drawing US$208M offshore.

Paramount’s release of Marvel Entertainment’s Thor, last weekend # 1 title on the foreign circuit, finished 2nd this time with $46 million drawn from 12,476 locations in 60 offshore markets. That was a about a 50% drop from the $87 million gross marked in the 1st round.

Director Kenneth Branagh’s 3-D interpretation of a Stan Lee comic book about an otherworldly Warrior defending Planet Earth opened in 4 markets, the biggest was China where “preliminary indications” put the debut gross at $2.3 million from the film’s 1-day Sunday opening, said Paramount.

In 11 days, Thor has grossed $176 million offshore.

Rio, 20th Century Fox’s family-oriented animation title, finished # 3 on the weekend with $16.2 million from from 8,706 screens in 67 markets, raising the film’s take after a month of overseas playtime to $292.3 million.

Opening in 23 markets on the weekend, Fox’s Water for Elephants, the Depression-era drama costarring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, grossed $11.1 million from 3,764 screens in 45 markets for an offshore take of $21.3 million. Water finished # 4 overall.

Sony opened Priest, a SYFY thriller in 3-D co-starring Paul Bettany and Cam Gigandet, at 1,460 sites in 4 markets for a weekend take of $5.5 million. The biggest debut was Russia, where the take was $2.9 million from some 700 locations. Priest finished # 5 on the weekend.

Summit International’s Source Code opened # 2 in South Korea, and grossed an estimated $4.3 on the weekend overall from 1,350 screens in 39 markets. The thriller starring Jake Gyllenhall has a foreign take of $40.8 million.

Warner’s period Werewolf fantasy Red Riding Hood pushed its foreign gross total to $50 million thanks to a $2.6 million weekend at some 2,400 screens in 44 markets. Its Arthur update starring Russell Brand, drew $2.3 million from 1,100 screens in 17 markets for an international take of 12.7 million.

Other International takes: Sony’s Just Go With It, $109.8 million; Warner’s Hall Pass, $36.4 million; Universal’s Hanna, $1.9 million in opener in the U.K. at 413 sites; Fox’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, $6.6 million; Universal’s Paul, $50.4 million; Fox’s Gulliver’s Travels, $194 million; and Universal’s Hop, $61.9 million.

US Box Office Results Today

Films are ranked in order of total domestic three-day (Friday-Sunday) ticket sales -- the dollar amount listed after each film's title and distributor -- followed by number of theater locations, average receipts per location and then total gross and number of weeks in release.

1. "Rio," Fox, $26,323,321, 3,842 locations, $6,851 average, $80,806,562, two weeks.

2. "Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family," Lionsgate, $25,068,677, 2,288 locations, $10,957 average, $25,068,677, one week.

3. "Water For Elephants," Fox, $16,842,353, 2,817 locations, $5,979 average, $16,842,353, one week.

4. "Hop," Universal, $12,185,905, 3,616 locations, $3,370 average, $100,224,905, four weeks.

5. "Scream 4," Weinstein Co., $7,030,747, 3,314 locations, $2,122 average, $31,035,010, two weeks.

6. "African Cats," Disney, $6,003,200, 1,220 locations, $4,921 average, $6,003,200, one week.

7. "Soul Surfer," Sony, $5,436,868, 2,240 locations, $2,427 average, $28,502,151, three weeks.

8. "Hanna," Focus, $5,276,801, 2,384 locations, $2,213 average, $31,717,987, three weeks.

9. "Insidious," Film District, $5,207,622, 2,130 locations, $2,445 average, $44,001,416, four weeks.

10. "Source Code," Summit, $5,091,347, 2,363 locations, $2,155 average, $44,692,591, four weeks.

11. "Arthur," Warner Bros., $4,066,109, 2,770 locations, $1,468 average, $29,216,091, three weeks.

12. "Limitless," Relativity Media, $2,664,461, 1,363 locations, $1,955 average, $74,002,055, six weeks.

13. "The Conspirator," Roadside Attractions, $2,190,440, 849 locations, $2,580 average, $6,893,123, two weeks.

14. "The Lincoln Lawyer," Lionsgate, $1,789,519, 1,220 locations, $1,467 average, $53,381,451, six weeks.

15. "Your Highness," Universal, $1,706,590, 1,610 locations, $1,060 average, $19,764,545, three weeks.

16. "Win Win," Fox Searchlight, $1,107,961, 388 locations, $2,856 average, $6,630,650, six weeks.

17. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules," Fox, $933,540, 928 locations, $1,006 average, $50,290,531, five weeks.

18. "Atlas Shrugged: Part 1," Rocky Mountain Pictures, $881,034, 465 locations, $1,895 average, $3,096,815, two weeks.

19. "Jane Eyre," Focus, $782,372, 319 locations, $2,453 average, $7,913,203, seven weeks.

20. "Born to be Wild," Warner Bros., $652,739, 208 locations, $3,138 average, $3,075,211, three weeks.