‘New Moon’ Scores Huge Opening Day

The Twilight Saga: New Moon was always going to have a huge launch but the size of the audience who flocked to see the film has surpassed even the most hopeful estimates.

New Moon enjoyed a midnight opening on Thursday night and managed to an unprecedented $26.3 million in that time frame. That easily beat the previous record of $22.2 million managed by Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince earlier this year.

Summit Entertainment is also claiming first-day estimates (including the midnight opening figures) of $72.7 million. That beats the previous record of $68 managed by The Dark Knight. And the question now is whether the weekend totals can carry on in the same vein.

Twilight did very well on its opening day but then saw a big drop-off through the weekend. Estimates are suggesting a similar trend and a first weekend total of $135.6 million, which would put it close to the third highest opening weekend of all time.

The Dark Knight holds the record with $158.4 million, with Spider-Man 3 in second place on $151 million. For New Moon to even get close to these giants would be a phenomenal result.