Due to solid word of mouth and it being the final film in the franchise, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 managed a bit better than Friday’s predictions, taking in $141.3 million over the weekend, making it the second most successful opening in the franchise.
Opening in 4,070 theaters domestically, Breaking Dawn – Part 2 averaged a whopping $34,717 per theater to reach the mark, standing only behind New Moon as the highest grossing opening weekend for the Twilight franchise. In fact, as New Moon took in just $142.8 million back in 2009, it’s possible that Breaking Dawn – Part 2 could surpass this with Monday actuals, thanks to the strong word of mouth and its “A” CinemaScore.
In second place was Skyfall, which suffered only a 53% drop and took in a solid $41.5 million in its second weekend in domestic theaters. With an international box office count of $669.2 million, it is now the highest grossing James Bond film ever (not counting inflation), and that number should continue to climb in the coming weeks.
In third place was Lincoln, which took in a remarkable $21 million in just 1,775 theaters in its first weekend of wide release. Steven Spielberg continues to light up the box office, as this showing should seriously help the film’s Oscar chances moving forward.
Other notables, Silver Linings Playbook and Anna Karenina both opened in limited release, taking in $458,430 and $315,395 respectively in 16 theaters apiece. These numbers are nowhere near as impressive as Lincoln‘s last weekend, although they aren’t terrible either. For Silver Linings Playbook, it will need to have a strong showing when it opens into about 400 theaters for Thanksgiving if it wants to stay near the top of Oscar pundits’ predictions.
Here’s a breakdown of the top ten earners of the weekend of November 16, 2012:
Weekend: $141.3 million
Theaters: 4,070
Budget: $120 million
CinemaScore: A
Rotten Tomatoes: 51%
Hypable Grade: A-
2. Skyfall – $41.5 million ($161.3 million total)
3. Lincoln – $21 million ($22.4 million total)
4. Wreck-It Ralph – $18.3 million ($121.4 million total)
5. Flight – $8.6 million ($61.3 million total)
6. Argo – $4 million ($92 million total)
7. Taken 2 – $2.1 million ($134.6 million total)
8. Pitch Perfect – $1.2 million ($62 million total)
9. Here Comes the Boom – $1.2 million ($41 million total)
10. Cloud Atlas – $0.9 million ($24.8 million total)