NEWS'New Moon' Rakes in $26.3 Million in Midnight Screenings
Nov. 20 2009, Published 10:20 a.m. ET
The bark certainly lived up to the bite: New Moon grossed $26.3 million in Friday midnight screenings, E! News reports. New Moon's record breaking midnight numbers trump former box office smashes including Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($22.2 million), which surpassed The Dark Knight ($18.5 million) this summer.
A Fandango poll of New Moon advance-ticket buyers showed 39 percent intended to play hooky from school or work today in order to sink their teeth into the action, E! News reports.
New Moon is on course to blow away Twilight's opening-day take of $36 million.
Summit Entertainment reported that last night's one night exclusive screening of Twilight reissue grossed $1.3 million.
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Not only did New Moon beat out The Dark Knight at midnight, but box offices are predicting The Dark Knight's opening-weekend record might be trumped as well.
"This caliber of midnight opening is absolutely freakish," Exhibitor Relations box-office analyst Jeff Bock tells E! News. "If Twi-hards can keep up the momentum over the weekend, Batman may be in trouble."
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Exhibitor Relations is now projecting a $125-$130 million weekend. Numbers like that would place New Moon fourth on the all time list, trailing only Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Spider-Man 3 and The Dark Knight.
