"New Moon" snaps "Dark Knight" box-office record with $72.7 million opening day

EW ^ | 20 NOVEMBER 2009 | ADAM VARY

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

The Twilight Saga: New Moon grossed $72.7 million on Friday, according to estimates from Summit Entertainment, shattering The Dark Knight’s previous opening-day record of $62.2 million. (The figure includes the $26.3 million New Moon banked from midnight screenings, also a box office record.) The astronomic figure puts Bella, Edward, and Jacob on a clear path to the biggest opening weekend ever, all the more impressive considering New Moon is opening in 342 fewer theaters than The Dark Knight did last year.

[kennedy]

As teenage boys and men increasingly move off into the gaming world, it's clear that Hollywood's biggest customer base is teenage girls and young women.

Marketing to the teenage girl demographic also brings in the teenage boys.

Teenage boys usually pick date movies based on what their girlfriends want to see.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Teenage boys usually pick date movies based on what their girlfriends want to see.

Around here teenagers going out on dates, let alone taking in a movie on a date, are pretty rare. This is the age of the hook-up. They showed some clips of the long lines for this movie on the local news - almost 100% female.

[Drew68]

I must be getting old. The biggest movie in America right now and I just perused the cast and credits on IMDB and I don't recognize the name of a single actor except for Dakota Fanning (and she's near the bottom).

Not an "A-lister" in sight!

[Liberty Valance]

72 Million? Those are impressive numbers for one night...for any film genre.

[USMCWife6869]

I admit it, I saw it. I took my two tween daughters. My oldest went with her fiance. It is pure escapism for me. It’s pretty awful at it’s core for most “sophisticated adults” but life is so serious these days, I enjoy the distraction. Plus, it gives me one extra thing to chat with my 3 girls about.

[Borges]

The difference is that Titanic is sophisticated cinema. This probably isn’t.

[red irish]

I seen it and besides the Werewolf scenes didn’t like it. But then Twilight wasn’t that good for me either. Too much romancing of suppose to be evil beings. Even monsters are pc now. sheesh!

[skipper18]

“I took my two tween daughters. My oldest went with her fiance”

I dont think it’s legal for tweens to be engaged?!?!

[USMCWife6869]

LOL, my oldest is 20.

[Niuhuru]

They ruined “The Other Boleyn Girl” with all the men being young adult men instead of actual adults. This marketing to the Teenies has to end. Barely anything to watch these days except vintage films, movies that actually have humor.

[Niuhuru]

They ruined “The Other Boleyn Girl” with all the men being young adult men instead of actual adults. This marketing to the Teenies has to end. Barely anything to watch these days except vintage films, movies that actually have adults in them.