Thanksgiving is a time for families to gather, whether pigging out at the dinner table or watching movies on the big screen. In the last few days, families of some kind or other have flocked to see Bill Condon's The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, which grossed about as much in three days (Fri.-Sun.) as The Muppets, the no. 2 movie on the North American box-office chart, in five days (Wed.-Sun.)
Starring Robert Pattinson as the very married vampire Edward Cullen, Kristen Stewart as the very pregnant human Bella Swan Cullen, and Taylor Lautner as very high-strung werewolf Jacob Black, Breaking Dawn was down a not unexpected 61% on its second weekend out after collecting an estimated $42 million — a not unexpected figure, especially considering that the latest Twilight Saga movie grossed about as much from Mon.-Thu. this past week. In other words, why wait for the weekend when the Wednesday before Thanksgiving feels just like Friday?
For comparison's sake: According to figures found at Box Office Mojo, Chris Weitz's The Twilight Saga: New Moon was down 62% on its second weekend in late November two years ago. Earlier this year, David Yates' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was also down 62% on its second weekend out.
Breaking Dawn Part 1's domestic cume stands at $221.3m, in addition to [an updated] $268m abroad for a worldwide total of $489.3m after about ten days. International figures would have been even been even higher if Thanksgiving were an international holiday; people elsewhere had to work this past week. Anyhow, the $489.3m cume means that Breaking Dawn will likely pass the $500 million mark sometime on Monday. [Note: This paragraph has been corrected from a previous, non-updated version.]
For comparison's sake: New Moon's domestic cume was $230.94m at the end of its second weekend. Released in early summer 2010, David Slade's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse took in $235.37m during the same time frame (though that includes first-week Wednesday and Thursday figures totaling about $92.5m).
Adapted by Melissa Rosenberg from Stephenie Meyer's bestselling novel, in addition to Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 also features Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Dakota Fanning, MyAnna Buring, Booboo Stewart, and Michael Sheen.
Plus Maggie Grace, Lee Pace, Sarah Clarke, Anna Kendrick, Christian Serratos, Christopher Heyerdahl, Michael Welch, Christian Camargo, Julia Jones, Gil Birmingham, Kiowa Gordon, Billy Burke, Bronson Pelletier, Charlie Bewley, Tyson Houseman, Daniel Cudmore, Jamie Campbell Bower, Casey LaBow, Mia Maestro, and Alex Meraz.