‘Twilight’ Opens as No. 1 Film With $139.5M

“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1,” the fourth movie in the teen vampire series, opened as the top weekend film in U.S. and Canadian theaters, collecting $139.5 million for Summit Entertainment LLC.

“Happy Feet Two,” an animated comedy from Time Warner Inc. (TWX)’s Warner Bros. studio, debuted in second place with $22 million, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said today in an e-mailed statement.

Sales for “Breaking Dawn” marked the second-best three-day opening for a “Twilight” movie, falling short of the $142.8 million debut for the second film, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” according to Hollywood.com. “Breaking Dawn Part 1,” made for about $110 million, was expected to have weekend sales of $148 million, the estimate of researcher Box Office Mojo.

The “Twilight” series is scheduled to end a year from now with “Breaking Dawn Part 2.” The first three movies in the series, based on the novels by Stephenie Meyer, have hadworldwide sales of $1.8 billion, according to Box Office Mojo.

The all-time record for a three-day opening is $169.2 million generated in July by the final “Harry Potter” movie, according to Hollywood.com.

In “Breaking Dawn Part I,” heroine Bella Swan, played byKristen Stewart, marries vampire Edward Cullen, portrayed by Robert Pattinson. She becomes pregnant and is targeted for death by werewolves. Taylor Lautner returns to the series to co-star as Jacob Black, whose unrequited love for Bella is tested by his commitment to his werewolf clan.

‘Happy Feet Two’

In “Happy Feet Two,” tap-dancing penguin Mumble is vexed by his son Erik’s lack of rhythm. The situation is worsens when Erik runs away and the penguin colony is isolated by shifting ice. The first film, “Happy Feet,” had global sales of $384.3 million. “Happy Feet Two” features the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.

Among returning films, the action-adventure film“Immortals,” from Relativity Media LLC, dropped to third from first with $12.3 million in sales. In the film, a stone mason in ancient Greece gets help from the gods to battle a ruthless king set upon expanding his empire. The movie stars Henry Cavill,Freida Pinto and Mickey Rourke.

Bloomberg

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net