NEW MOON NEWS – New Moon Tears,Breaks, Shreds, Smashes,Shatters = Decimates Opening Weekend US Box Office Records!!!
YEP! You’ve heard of it and you’ve read about it and now we’re bring you MORE of it!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!
From MTV News
1. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” ($72.7 million)
2. “The Blind Side” ($10.9 million)
3. “2012″ ($8.1 million)
4. “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” ($3.6 million)
5. “Planet 51″ ($3.2 million)
With “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” in over 4,000 theaters nationwide, there was virtually no chance that the continued romance of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan would fall anywhere short of first place — but perhaps no one could have predicted just how far ahead of the competition “New Moon” would end up.
The second “Twilight” installment has already shattered records and expectations by earning $26.3 million from midnight showings alone, decimating the record previously held by “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” Additionally, “New Moon” enjoyed the single most lucrative opening day in the history of cinema with $62.2 million, a record previously held by “The Dark Knight.” Combined with the midnight intake, “New Moon” has already earned $72.7 million — and the weekend isn’t even over.
Though the debut day for “New Moon” was unprecedented, the full opening weekend will probably be merely massive. Ticket sales for the first “Twilight” film, which opened on the same weekend last year, plunged 41% on the Saturday after it opened. “New Moon” will probably see an even bigger drop, given the massive amount of interest that helped it set a record as the biggest pre-seller on online ticketing services Fandango and MovieTickets.com.
Nonetheless, a total weekend gross of more than $110 million is all but certain and more than $120 million is very possible. That would give “New Moon” the biggest domestic weekend gross for any film this year, the biggest for an opening outside the summer movie season, and one of the top five of all time, not accounting for inflation.
Ticket sales from the 25 other countries where “New Moon” is opening this weekend will almost certainly push the worldwide weekend gross to more than $150 million.
Summit spent only $50 million to make “New Moon,” including tax incentives from Canada, where it was produced. Even including marketing costs, the picture is certain to be profitable based on ticket sales alone, even before Summit starts making money from DVD and other post-theatrical markets.
Studios usually keep about half the revenue a movie collects from theatrical ticket sales.
The vampire romance sequel earned $72.7 million across the United States and Canada on Friday, a figure that includes record-breaking midnight sales of $26.3 million, said the film’s closely held distributor Summit Entertainment.
The old record for a single-day opening was $62.2 million, held by last year’s “Batman” sequel “The Dark Knight,” which went on to become the second-biggest grossing movie of all time in North America before accounting for inflation.
Such heights could be difficult for the “Twilight” sequel to attain. Still, industry observers expect it could finish up with upwards of $125 million for the weekend once Saturday sales data and Sunday estimates are issued early on Sunday.
The opening day for “New Moon” posted more than a 100% gain over the first Friday of “Twilight” which made $36 million a year ago and a three-day weekend of $69.6 million.
For a franchise that has clearly targeted females, “New Moon’s” first day is so exceptional that it’s probable that the film played beyond its core crowd to males. However, Summit plans to release the pic’s moviegoing demos, as well as international results, in its three-day estimate report tomorrow. Ever since the first installment finished its play in theaters, the production of “New Moon” has garnered non-stop headlines on glossy covers and fansites with the media savoring details on the film as well as its cast members Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.
Manager Gary Burgess said: “We had a lot of hysterical girls. It was quite manic. When we opened yesterday we still had screams.
“The only thing I could compare it to is like girls at a pop concert.”
Lorna McFadzean, general manager at the Odeon in East Kilbride, said the film’s opening days have been phenomenal: “I can’t remember seeing anything like this in my time at the cinema. It’s busier than Harry Potter and Star Wars.
“We expected our audiences to be mostly teenage girls but we have had older people, couples, groups of guys.” Tim Richards, CEO of Vue Entertainment cinemas, said the movie is massive: “These were the largest attended midnight shows we have ever done.”Independents also saw a rush. Andrew Poole, boss of The Pavilion in Galashiels in the Borders called New Moon “the most popular film we have ever had”.
It shattered opening day records in America, beating the sixth Harry Potter film and The Dark Knight.
SATURDAY NUMBERS: Early estimates show The Twilight Saga: New Moon taking in another $43M on Saturday. Adding in Sunday projections means a $140M weekend may be taking shape.
This would translate into a 40% drop from Friday to Saturday, about the exact same percentage decrease Twilight had one year ago (down 40.8% Saturday, down 41.9% Sunday). Adding the $43M estimate to Friday’s official number of $72.7 brings the total to $115.7M. Another 40% drop going into Sunday is projected to yield in about $24M, based on advance sales, tracking polls, and other industry formulas. That would bring the weekend total to around $140M and put New Moon in third place overall for all-time opening weekends, behind The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 3 but ahead of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.
These numbers are not official and are only estimates based on early reports. However, these preliminary figures are usually fairly close to the final data.
New Moon Opening Night: From Britain to China – fans are going crazy.
“New Moon” was the fastest advance-selling film of the year in Britain, exceeding the £1 million ($1.6 million) mark, according to the country’s largest cinema chain, Odeon.
In India, teenager Ritisha Mishra was so outraged at having been bypassed by the first movie that she rallied likeminded partisans online – and galvanized distributor PVR into bringing both the first and second films to the big screen over the next two weeks.
And in China, where at least one of the books in the series has perched atop the bestseller list for nearly a year, hundreds of thousands of admirers have been soaking up pirated versions of the first movie, which opens in general release only next week.
Ursula Mackenzie, CEO at Little-Brown, Twilight’s UK publishers, told the Daily Telegraph that the success of the franchise spoke to the broad appeal of Meyer’s focus: “She touches on themes – rebellion, angst, and finding your place in the world against tough odds – that resonate with girls and boys, teens and adults.”
Rea, a South African 8th-grader, says the book series is popular among teenagers because, “It has romance, it has trust and friendship, love, and hatred, it has it all.”
Dhalyn, an American 8th-grader who attends school in Johannesburg, is impatiently rereading “New Moon’s” 500-plus pages as she awaits the movie, which won’t open till Dec. 4.
She says it’s all about the storyline. “[It] has that kind of a hook to it that makes you want to read all the books,” she says. “There’s not a lot of stories about girls falling in love with a vampire.”
“I would say over 60 percent of the readers are middle school and high school girls,” says Chang Xiaowu, deputy marketing director of Jieli, the publishing house that bought the Chinese rights. “Edward [Cullen] is a vampire, he is dangerous. Girls love to fall in love with this kind of dangerous boyfriend.”
Edward’s appeal reaches beyond teenagers here, though. Many of his fans are young women in their twenties. “He is supposed to be the evil one, but actually he is a good person,” says Sun Junmei, a 26-year-old financial consultant in Beijing who downloaded audio versions of three of the books.
Robert Pattinson IS Edward Cullen (sometimes)
“Rob shifted into character and my jaw dropped open,” Meyer said in a fan forum that’s linked on her Web site.
“Suffice it to say, he really nailed it. He’s not playing a version of Edward, he’s playing Edward. There is still quite a difference between Rob’s Edward and the Edward in my head, but there are moments when they look eerily similar. I’m still not sure how he does it, but I’m glad he can. As for emotions, I think he does a great job.”
In the meantime, Meyer says she loves “New Moon,” which opened last night at midnight, and says she can’t name just one favorite part.
“I love so many things. Bella’s and Edward’s first conversation in the parking lot … the painting (of the Volturi — it comes alive!) … Jessica’s monologue … the scenes in Jacob’s garage … the first time you see the werewolves!! … Jacob in Bella’s room — thanks, Chris! (that’s Chris Weitz, the director) … the underwater moment … what you see while Thom Yorke’s amazing song is playing … everything in Italy … and I could go on. It’s all so good.
Twilight News
The New York Times has just posted a great article on how Twilight fans are literally boosting the economy of a li’l town in Washington named Forks.. 
and we love it!
Jane Margolies of The New York Times writes:
….Over the last year or so, Forks (population 3,120) has morphed into a mecca for Twilighters, or Twihards as they are sometimes called. Visitors to this rainy town, whose main industries are logging and two correctional facilities, have more than tripled for the first eight months of this year, compared with the same period last year, according to the local Chamber of Commerce. Lodging occupancy is up, and local merchants sell little-vampire pacifiers and Bella and Edward action figures.
“You used to say you were from Forks and people would stare,” said Marcia Bingham, director of the Chamber of Commerce, referring to the “B.T.” (“Before ‘Twilight’ ”) days. “Now when they hear where you’re from, they’re breathless.” (TS: hahaha so true so true;))
….The Pacific Inn Motel decorated a single “Twilight” guestroom last November, painting the walls black and red and putting up movie posters; it now has six of the theme rooms. “They had really cool ‘Twilight’ towels,” said Emma Hand, 14, who stayed in one of the rooms in August with her brother and parents on a cross-country trek from their home in Falls Church, Va.
Revenue from a local hotel occupancy tax is up 26 percent over last year, according to a Forks City Council member, Bruce Guckenberg, who also manages Sully’s Burgers, home of the pineapple-topped Bella Burger (plastic fangs included).
Charlene Leppell’s longtime flower and gift shop was on the brink of closing until she started printing up “Bella for Prom Queen” T-shirts and applying glitter to red ceramic apples. Now her shop, renamed Twilight Central, is doing so well that “the question isn’t whether I could afford to take a vacation this year,” Ms. Leppell said, “but whether I couldtake off time from the store.”
Read the 2 page article at New York Times.
While at the Christian Science Monitor they have this article : Twilight helps Forks, Washington beat the recession.
….To cater to starry-eyed fans, Forks’ Chamber of Commerce launched a van tour that points out spots featured in the Twilight books. The town even created a “reserved” parking spot at the local hospital for the fictional character Dr. Carlisle Cullen.
….Forks isn’t the only town that’s benefitting from Twilight mania. Port Angeles, Wash., a town northeast of Forks, where Bella has her first dining experience with Edward and shops at a bookstore, has been a draw as well. This year, fans visited the restaurant, Bella Italia, where the couple dine in the first Twilight movie, and purchased 4,500 $17 bowls of mushroom ravioli (which Bella ordered in the movie and the book). Meanwhile, Margolies reports that the bookstore Bella declines to visit because of its new age vibe – Port Book and News – says business has increased by as much as 20 percent.
More of Forks on Reelzchannel’s Twilight Weekly : Spotlight
