‘Twilight’ Tops Weekend Box Office
Twilight tops box office!
Vampires and werewolves ruled at the box office this Fourth of July weekend, with Summit Entertainment’s third installment of “The Twilight Saga” taking in $161.7 million since opening Wednesday.
That’s one of the biggest five-day debuts in Hollywood history, previously surpassed by just a handful of films including “The Dark Knight” and last summer’s sequel to “Transformers.”
After Monday, “Eclipse” is expected to gross around $181 million for the six-day holiday total.
The teen vampire franchise has pulled in major profits for its studio, Summit. A small independent studio in Hollywood, Summit spent just $68 million making “Eclipse,” far less than what many rival studios spend on summer blockbusters, which can cost as much as $150 million or $200 million.
“Eclipse” also helped boost the summer box office, which has trailed behind last year’s record-shattering revenue after a series of movies opened tepidly or flopped at the box office. Still, even with “Eclipse’s” performance, attendance continues to be down nearly 7% compared with last summer and revenue stands slightly lower, too.
Paramount Pictures’ “The Last Airbender,” a 3-D live-action adaptation based on a popular Nickelodeon cartoon, took the second spot at the box office this weekend, grossing $53.2 million since opening Thursday.
That figure stands in line with expectations after the film received poor reviews, but the movie has a long way to go before Paramount can recoup the roughly $150 million it spent on the movie, which the studio also paid to convert into 3-D earlier this year.
The film is, however, estimated to take in more than $70 million after Monday, significantly upping its total.
Source : WSJ.com.
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