Weekend Box Office: Twilight Breaks the Competiton in Near Record-Breaking Fashion

By Chris Kavan - 11/21/11 at 12:07 AM CT

Twilight fans show they had teeth this weekend as they helped Breaking Dawn: Part 1 take first place and the competition could only look on with envy.

The $139.5 million that The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 took in was only the 5th-best opening of all time - and it was just below New Moon's $142.7 million - though I'm guessing the studio isn't too worried about that. It's obvious that Twilight fans are still coming out in force - a decidedly female (80%) audience but it bodes well that the final installment can end up even higher.

Meanwhile, Happy Feet 2 couldn't crow as loud. While it did wind up in 2nd place with $22 million, that is a far cry from the original's $41.5 million. However, it did have a decent boost from 3D (50% of the gross). Consider the competition, however, it should take heart it managed to do as well as it did.

The week's other new release, The Descendents, wound up in 10th place with $1.2 million. That may seem like a weak start, but wait, it managed that total from just 29 theaters (as opposed to the 9th place $1.67 million In Time took in from 1,367 theaters). Alexander Payne should be happy as it opened stronger comparatively than either Sideways or About Schmidt and if it can continue this strong should wind up somewhere in the $65 - $70 million total.

Not surprisingly Immortals took the biggest hit compared to last week, dropping 62% to wind up in 3rd with $12.25 million. It managed to hold up better than Conan, but couldn't match Clash of the Titans or 300. The $53 million total is also behind the other fantasy/action films, but it still has a decent chance of at least getting back its $75 million budget.

Rounding out the top five, Jack and Jill dropped 52%, taking in $12 million - good enough for fourth place and a $41 million total. It may have dropped less than both Don't Mess with the Zohan (58%) and Grown Ups (53%) but its total gross is till quite low for Adam Sandler.

In fifth place Puss in Boots took a 57% hit - its first significant drop coming in its fourth week in the face of vampires and penguins. The $10.75 million bumped it up to a $122.3 million total and it should manage to surpass its $130 million budget this week even with the competition.

Speaking of competition the family market looks to get crowded as Arthur Christmas, Hugo and The Muppets fight for your attention. Two Oscar hopefuls also make their debut - the black and white mostly silent film getting huge buzz - The Artist and Michelle Williams playing the titular blonde bombshell in My Week with Marilyn. We'll see what audiences are in the mood for and how Twilight fares in its second week.

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