Daily Chart - Friday, November 20
| | | Movie | Gross | % Change | Theaters | Total Gross | Days |
| 1 |
(new) |
The Twilight Saga: New Moon |
$72,700,000 |
  |
4,024 |
$72,700,000 |
1 |
| 2 |
(new) |
The Blind Side |
$10,900,000 |
  |
3,110 |
$10,900,000 |
1 |
| 3 |
(1) |
2012 |
$8,060,000 |
+153.90% |
3,408 |
$89,781,000 |
8 |
See the full daily chart
Most Popular Movie Pages (24 Hours)
The Twilight Saga: New Moon made box office history on Friday, earning more money in a single day than any other movie.
Its opening day figure, including midnight screenings that earned $26.3 million, was an extraordinary $72.7 million, according to early estimates.
That's $5 million more than The Dark Knight's opening day last year, and gives the movie a shot at posting the biggest weekend ever, which is a record also currently held by The Dark Knight with $158 million.
That's still a tall order, since The Dark Knight benefited from a July release, but after a day like that, anything seems possible.
More...
- All-time biggest weekends at the box office
- All-time biggest single days at the box office (New Moon figures will be added later this morning)
Everyone in the industry was expecting the opening of The Twilight Saga: New Moon to be big, but few would have predicted that it would top the performances of The Dark Knight and Harry Potter to record the biggest midnight opening in movie history.
But that's exactly what it did, as it earned a massive $26.27 million in 3,514 theaters to beat the previous record of $22.2 million, held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
More...
- All-time biggest weekends at the box office
- All-time biggest single days at the box office
This could be a surprising weekend at the box office, as the buzz for New Moon has hit new heights of insanity.
There's no doubt that it will be the number one film of the weekend, and almost no doubt that it will top Twilight, which was the number one film this week last year.
It appears the only real question is how many records can it break along the way.
More...
- Will There Be a Full Moon Over the Weekend?
- Will Bad be the Best of the Limited Releases?
- New Contest: Going to the (Old) Dogs
- Weekend Theater Counts
Trailers for this weekend's openers:
- The Twilight Saga: New Moon
- The Blind Side
- Planet 51
2012 crushed the competition with $166.19 million on 12,943 screens in 76 markets and $231.43 million worldwide over its debut weekend.
This is the fifth best international opening of all time, and is massively better than expected.
The film's biggest market was Russia where it pulled in $16.31 million on 840 screens, while it topped $10 million in Germany ($12.53 million on 756 screens) and the U.K. ($10.83 million on 480 screens).
Other major markets included Spain ($8.56 million on 606 screens), South Korea ($8.26 million on 855 screens over the weekend and $10.04 million in total), Italy ($7.64 million on 532), Australia ($5.67 million on 405), Brazil ($5.29 million on 550) and Mexico ($5.03 million on 780).
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There were five new releases sprinkled throughout the top 30 on this week's sales chart, mostly in the top ten. This includes a new number one best selling DVD, G.I.Joe - The Rise of Cobra, which sold 2.54 million units and accounted for $41.00 million in consumer spending at retail.
This is on par with Wolverine sales late in September.
More...
- DVD Sales: The Rise of G.I. Joe
- DVD Rentals: G.I. Joe Takes Top Spot
- The Numbers' Exclusive DVD Sales Chart
There's an excellent mix of new releases this week, including Star Trek on DVD and Blu-ray.
There are a few TV on DVD releases, including Andy Barker, P.I. - The Complete Series, as well as several Blu-ray releases of note: Galaxy Quest, Gone With the Wind - The Ultimate Collector's Edition, and The Professional.
All of these are contenders for the DVD Pick of the Week, but if I were to narrow them down to one selection, it would be Star Trek on Blu-ray.
More...
- This Week's New Releases on DVD: Part 1
- This Week's New Releases on DVD: Part 2
- Featured Blu-ray Review: Kevin Smith Blu-ray Collection
- Featured DVD Review: Bruno
- Full DVD and Blu-ray Release Schedule
Great news at the box office, as the number one film topped expectations by a significant margin.
In fact, the top three films all did much better than expected.
On the down side, the rest of the films we talked about on Thursday struggled and this hurt the overall box office.
The total take was up 16.9% from last weekend at $140 million, but this was 5.8% lower than the same weekend last year.
Year to date, 2009 has pulled in $8.91 billion, which is 7.0% higher than last year's pace, and by this time next week 2009 will be only the seventh year to cross $9 billion in total ticket sales.
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Weekend Top 3
| | | Movie | Gross | % Change | Theaters | Total Gross | Days |
| 1 |
(new) |
2012 |
$65,237,614 |
  |
3,404 |
$65,237,614 |
3 |
| 2 |
(1) |
Disney's A Christmas Carol |
$22,308,913 |
-25.76% |
3,683 |
$63,272,757 |
10 |
| 3 |
(12) |
Precious (Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire) |
$5,874,628 |
+213.74% |
174 |
$8,699,180 |
10 |
See the complete weekend chart
We have a new champion on the Per Theater Chart with The Fantastic Mr. Fox leading the way with an average of $66,475 in four theaters.
Precious expanded into more than 100 additional theaters but still pulled in an amazing average of $33,762, which was enough for second place.
La Danse climbed to $28,104, while playing again in a single theater (albeit now on two screens).
The overall box office leader, 2012, opened with an average of $19,165 in just over 3,400 theaters.
Uncertainty only earned mixed reviews, but it scored $13,075 in its lone theater.
The End of Poverty? was richly rewarded with $12,593 in its solitary theater.
Two other new releases were neck-and-neck with Four Season Lodge earning $11,667 while The Messenger managed an average of $11,131.
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Weekend Top 10 By Theater Gross
| | Movie | Gross | Theaters | Per Theater | Total Gross | Days |
| 1 |
The Fantastic Mr. Fox |
$265,900 |
4 |
$66,475 |
$265,900 |
3 |
| 2 |
Precious (Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire) |
$5,874,628 |
174 |
$33,762 |
$8,699,180 |
10 |
| 3 |
La Danse |
$28,104 |
1 |
$28,104 |
$66,102 |
12 |
| 4 |
2012 |
$65,237,614 |
3,404 |
$19,165 |
$65,237,614 |
3 |
| 5 |
Uncertainty |
$13,075 |
1 |
$13,075 |
$13,075 |
3 |
| 6 |
The End of Poverty? |
$12,593 |
1 |
$12,593 |
$12,593 |
3 |
| 7 |
Four Seasons Lodge |
$11,667 |
1 |
$11,667 |
$16,921 |
5 |
| 8 |
The Messenger |
$44,523 |
4 |
$11,131 |
$44,523 |
3 |
| 9 |
Dare |
$13,200 |
2 |
$6,600 |
$13,200 |
3 |
| 10 |
Disney's A Christmas Carol |
$22,308,913 |
3,683 |
$6,057 |
$63,272,757 |
10 |
Disney's A Christmas Carol took in $4.2 million on 181 IMAX screens during its opening, which represented 14% of its total box office in just 3% of the theaters it played in.
Some are reporting this is the highest percentage earned by a wide release, which is partially due to its per screen average of $23,000, but it also had a lot to do with its softer than expected theatrical debut.
It opened with $560,000 internationally in 28 IMAX theaters, and it is only half way done with its international rollout.
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Weekend Top 5 IMAX Movies
| | Movie | Gross | Theaters | Per Theater | Total Gross | Days |
| 1 |
Under the Sea 3-D |
$79,351 |
30 |
$2,645 |
$18,640,842 |
276 |
| 2 |
Space Station |
$29,067 |
7 |
$4,152 |
$80,164,958 |
2,768 |
| 3 |
Magnificent Desolation |
$22,893 |
5 |
$4,579 |
$30,309,955 |
1,515 |
| 4 |
Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure |
$13,226 |
8 |
$1,653 |
$22,501,064 |
773 |
| 5 |
Dolphins and Whales Tribes of the Ocean 3D |
$8,837 |
4 |
$2,209 |
$7,182,889 |
640 |
See the all time IMAX chart
|