The box office had its best weekend in 16 months, mostly thanks to the incredible $140 million opening of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" as well as the surprisingly strong numbers of drama "The Blind Side." Both releases hit big with their targeted demographics, posting impressive per venue and overall totals and giving the box office a boost heading into what should be a busy Thanksgiving holiday week.
With a studio estimated $140 million, "New Moon" earned the third most of all-time over one weekend, landing behind only "Spider-Man 3" ($151 million) and "The Dark Knight" ($158 million). Though expectations for "New Moon "were certainly high heading into the weekend, it was unclear whether or not it would have enough to push past the $108 million that "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" brought in this past summer.
At more than 4,000 theaters, "New Moon" hauled in an impeccable $34,965 per theater, allowing it to double the opening weekend from 2008 smash hit "Twilight." Also distributed by Summit, "Twilight" earned $69 million in its opening weekend last November on its way to a robust $192 million domestic intake. "Twilight" also hit big outside of the United States, where it took in an additional $192 million and pushed its worldwide total to $394 million, giving Summit its first legitimate blockbuster.
As anticipated, "New Moon" is also doing very well internationally and has already pushed its worldwide total to $258 million. It still seems very unlikely that it has a chance to top the $929 million worldwide total of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," but "New Moon" will easily surpass the totals of last year's "Twilight" and should pull in somewhere in the $600 to $700 million range by the time it is out of theaters, which would make it a top four overall draw for the year.
Drama "The Blind Side" also soared in its opening weekend, earning $34 million on a per theater average of more than $11,000. The $34 million of "The Blind Side" was actually the third highest total of November and the fourth highest since "Inglourious Basterds" opened this past August.
For star Sandra Bullock, it is her second substantial hit of the year, with her romantic comedy "The Proposal" being among the most surprisingly lucrative releases of 2009; with a production budget of just $40 million, "The Proposal" hauled in $295 million worldwide. "The Blind Side" will almost certainly take a substantial dip this week with three new titles hitting at least 2,000 theaters this upcoming Wednesday, but it seems to have a strong pull with audiences.
The other new wide release was "Planet 51," although it struggled to reach its family demographic and brought in a meager first weekend total of $12.60 million. "Planet 51" was no doubt impacted by the presence of "A Christmas Carol," which remained in the top five for the third straight week despite largely missing enormous expectations. "Planet 51" will struggle even further with the release of PG family comedy "Old Dogs" this Wednesday.
In its first weekend at more than 500 venues, acclaimed drama "Precious" continued to do well, posting a solid $11.01 million on a per site average of $17,501. Despite its R-rating, "Precious" should remain a strong overall draw heading into the holiday, particularly among adult audiences.
The weekend also marked the first time since its opening that "Michael Jackson's This Is It" dropped out of the top ten. The concert documentary dropped nearly 70% from its previous weekend totals but was able to push past $70 million domestically and is up to $199 million in worldwide revenue, making it a substantial hit for distributor Sony.
An eclectic set of new releases open wide this upcoming Wednesday, all aimed at predominately different demographics. Action/thriller "Ninja Assassin" opens with an R-rating and should appeal to older teenagers and typical action audiences. R-rated apocalyptic drama "The Road" also opens wide and stars Viggo Mortensen in an adaptation from acclaimed novelist Cormac McCarthy, who also wrote the novel "No Country For Old Men." Director Walter Becker follows up his smash hit "Wild Hogs" from 2007 with the release of the John Travolta starring "Old Dogs," which also stars Robin Williams and Seth Green. Expanding to more than 2,000 theaters will also be director Wes Anderson's "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," a rare animated release aimed more at adult audiences.
Studio Box Office Estimates For 11/20 - 11/22 millions, [RTT Prediction]:
1) The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Summit Entertainment): $140.70 [$95]
2) The Blind Side (Warner Brothers): $34.51 [$16.5]
3) 2012 (Sony/Columbia): $26.50 [$30]
4) Planet 51 (Sony/Columbia): $12.60 [$14]
5) A Christmas Carol (Buena Vista): $12.23 [$16]
6) Precious (Lionsgate): $11.01 [$13]
7) The Men Who Stare At Goats (Overture): $2.77 [$3.5]
8) The Fourth Kind (Overture): $1.73 [N/A]
9) Couples Retreat (Universal): $1.95 [$2.7]
10) Law Abiding Citizen (Overture): $1.62 [$2.4]
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.