In what should surprise no one, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 opened up to monster numbers in it's opening weekend with an amazing $141 million opening weekend, shy of the franchise record New Moon by just $1 million. Worldwide the final installment brought in nearly $340 million. It's been a banner year for Lionsgate who has become the first studio to launch two movies to over $125 million openings, the other being this years' other major young adult fiction franchise The Hunger Games.
Skyfall fell to second place taking in $41 million in its second week. The latest Bond film has been holding strong due to excellent reviews and fantastic word of mouth.
Steven Spielberg's Lincoln made a solid debut at number three with $20 million. The movie opened to around 1700 screens and is playing the long game at the box office. This one should be around for awhile as the holiday transitions into the award season.
Wreck-It Ralph landed in fourth place raking in the family friendly finances with $18 million, and Denzel Washington's powerhouse performance in Flight continues to generate notice earning another $8 million in its third week of release.
Next week is Thanksgiving here in the U.S. And we give thanks by stocking the cinemas with a diverse group of films: First up, there's the much anticipated literary adaptation Life of Pi; the marginally anticipated holiday animated tale Rise of the Guardians; David O'Russell teams with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence in the romantic comedy Silver Linings Playbook; and the remake that no one asked for, Red Dawn, pitting a group of attractive young people against the invading army of.... the North Koreans? The last time I checked, the North Koreans couldn't even feed their own people, much less orchestrate a coirdinated invasion of the Pacific Northwest. I might have to see this one out of morbid curiosity. See you next week.
Here's your top films for North America...
1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
Weekend Estimate: $141 million
2. Skyfall
Weekend Estimate: $41 million; $161 million total
3. Lincoln
Weekend Estimate: $20 million
4. Wreck-It Ralph
Weekend Estimate: $18 million; $121 million total
5. Flight
Weekend Estimate: $8 million; $61 million total
Anghus Houvouras
