1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 - $141.3M - $141.3M
2. Skyfall - $41.5M - $161.3M
3. Lincoln - $21M - $22.4M
4. Wreck-It Ralph - $18.3M - $121.4M
5. Flight - $8.6M - $61.3M
6. Argo - $4M - $92M
7. Taken 2 - $2.1M - $134.6M
8. Pitch Perfect - $1.26M - $62M
9. Here Comes The Boom - $1.2M - $41M
10. Hotel Transylvania -$900K - $142.6M
10. Cloud Atlas - $900K - $24.8M
10. The Sessions - $900K - $2.8M
Another big weekend was on the cards as Summit unleashed the final movie
in the Twilight franchise, Breaking Dawn Part 2. Edward and Bella would
be up against the second frame of Skyfall, which had opened to the best
numbers of any film in the series' 50 year history. Steven Spielberg's
Lincoln would also be expanding this week after its strong debut at
eleven theatres. Ahead and three new releases join the fray on
Wednesday, prior to the lucrative Thanksgiving holiday, including the
long-delayed Red Dawn remake and Ang Lee's adaptation of Life of Pi.
This weekend, after only four years, the Twilight saga comes to a close
with the release of Breaking Dawn Part 2. Based on the books by
Stephenie Meyer, it has become a global phenomenon, creating its own
literary sub genre with many imitators (the multi-million selling 50
Shades of Grey started out as Twilight fan fiction). Primarily, the
series concerns the romance between 17 year old Bella Swan and the
eternally youthful vampire, Edward Cullen. Like Harry Potter, the series
has also spawned all manner of related (and not so related)
merchandise, along with gaining a fervent fan base. The first book,
Twilight, had not been an easy sell for Meyer, and had been rejected a
number of times before securing a publishing deal with Little, Brown and
Company, who paid $750K as part of a three book deal (LBC originally
offered $300K, Meyer had wanted $1M). Published in October 2005, the
initial print run of 75,000 sold out, and the book debuted at number
five on the New York Times Best Sellers list within a month of its
release (it would eventually reach the top spot). In September of 2006, a
follow up was released, entitled New Moon. Like its predecessor, the
book was incredibly successful, selling out of its entire 100,000
hardback print run and making the top spot on the USA Today best sellers
list (as well as the NY Times one again). While the series was already
on its way to becoming a phenomenon, it's arguable that it was the third
book, Eclipse, that really put the Twilight Saga front and centre on a
global scale. Eclipse was released just eleven months after New Moon,
with a print run of one million copies and sold 150,000 within the first
24 hours of its publication (It also knocked Harry Potter and The
Deathly Hallows off the top of the best seller's chart). But even
greater success was to come with the release of the final part of the
series - Breaking Dawn, in August 2008. By this point the fan base was
firmly established and incredible sales were a given - something
indicated by its huge initial print run of 3.7 million copies (It would
sell 1.3 million in the first 24 hours). Not only that, but with the
first three books now going down a storm on paperback, The Twilight
series held the first four places on the 2008 biggest sellers list -
ordered as Twilight, New Moon, Breaking Dawn and Eclipse. This success
hadn't gone unnoticed by Hollywood, which was always on the look out for
the next 'Harry Potter'.
The rights to produce a movie based on the first book were secured by
MTV Films, a sub-division of Paramount Pictures in 2004, while Meyer was
still shaping the story. Their screenplay differed quite considerably
to the finished book and a decision was made not to move forward with
the project. With the adaptation stalled, the potential picture was put
into turnaround. In 2006, Summit Entertainment, (who up until that point
had been a distribution house for studio pictures overseas), moved into
fully-fledged film production thanks to a $1 billion dollar deal led by
Merrill Lynch. The studio then moved to secure the rights to Twilight
by agreeing to cover Paramount's development costs to date (plus
interest). Summit assigned Catherine Hardwicke to direct and Melissa
Rosenberg to adapt Meyer's first book for the screen. Rosenberg began by
outlining the story, sending excerpts and scenes to Hardwicke for
approval and feedback. However, with the impending Writer's strike set
to begin in October 2007, she had to work full time to complete the
screenplay before the deadline hit, especially if the film was to make
its November 2008 release date. With Hardwicke and the studio happy with
what Rosenberg had turned in, casting could began on the now $37M
budgeted Twilight. For the lead role of the vampire Edward Cullen, the
director chose Robert Pattinson, a young model turned actor whose most
notable role to date had been as the tragic hero Cedric Diggory in Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire. As for Bella Swan, the female
protagonist and narrator of the story, Kristen Stewart was selected. In
comparison to Pattinson, Stewart was something of an old hand at the
acting game, having featured in over fifteen movies prior to signing up
for Twilight. The remainder of the cast would be made up of similar new
faces and old hands (so to speak), notably Taylor Lautner, Peter
Facinelli and Billy Burke. Signs of its future success came with the
news that the first trailer had been viewed more times than the one for
the long-awaited fourth Indiana Jones film, Kingdom of the Crystal
Skull. With midnight ticket sales accounting for $7M worth of business,
Summit knew they'd struck gold. Twilight would make $35.9M over it first
day, on its way to a stunning $69.6M weekend. It's worth noting that
prior to release the film's potential was something of a complete
unknown - the books had very little cross over from the female
demographic and this was a brand new property. But, by the end of that
first weekend, everyone knew Twilight's name.
In all, the first film in the saga generated $192M domestically, with an
equally impressive $199M coming overseas - all from that budget of
$37M. In the month the first movie was released, Summit announced they'd
been granted the rights to produce further films in the series, and
planned to release the next one, New Moon, just twelve months later. Due
to the tight production window, Hardwicke opted not to return, and she
was replaced by American Pie helmer, Chris Weitz. Melissa Rosenberg
would return to script on what was now being called The Twilight Saga:
New Moon. The picture would receive a slight budgetary increase, to
$50M, but that aside, it was business as usual as the vast majority of
the existing cast would return. The story this time around would focus
more on Bella's relationship with Jacob Black, a friend with a dark
secret. Any worries that Twilight was a flash in the pan were soon
dispelled when the new picture smashed the midnight screenings records,
taking $26.3M. It would make an astonishing $142M over the next three
days, and finished up at the end of its 19 week run with $296M in its
coffers. The news was even better internationally, where New Moon
amassed $413M. From a $50M budget, the picture saw a $709M global
return. If the series wasn't a cinematic phenomenon thanks to the first
film, it most certainly was after the second. While the first sequel was
still in post-production, Summit announced work had already begun on
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Due to still working on the second picture,
Chris Weitz would not return to direct the third and instead, the studio
hired David Slade, who had recently finished work on a different type
of vampire flick, the ultra-violent 30 Days of Night. Eclipse received
another slight budget increase, to $68M and would be the first of the
series to debut mid-Summer - only seven months after the release of New
Moon. The majority of the principle cast would return, with the notable
exception of Rachelle Lefevre, who would be replaced by Bryce Dallas
Howard (Summit claimed this was due to a scheduling conflict, something
Leferve vehemently denied). Having had November all to itself, Eclipse
would face a number of summer blockbusters, and while they did impact on
some levels, the film still performed exceptionally well. It set a
record prior to opening thanks to seeing the highest theatre count of
all time (4,468), a feat it still holds to this day. It smashed the
midnight screening record set by New Moon back in November, taking $30M,
and went on to have the biggest Wednesday in cinematic history
($68.5M). The flick would make $300.5M in North America, a series best,
with a further $397.9M abroad (stronger than Twilight, slightly weaker
than New Moon). The only blip on the horizon was that there was only one
book left to adapt. Or was there?
Meyer stated in 2009 that she thought that if a Breaking Dawn film was
to be made, it would almost certainly have to split into two parts due
to its length (something Warner Bros. did with Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows). But it wasn't as simple as that due to the cast being
contracted for one film, not two. Furthermore, any new deal would need
to reflect how huge (and essential) the three main leads were to the
films - though Summit were not against recasting any other role,
according to reports, if deals could not be brokered for 'two' pictures.
By June 2010, the studio confirmed that they would indeed split the
release of Breaking Dawn into two films and that all players would
return for both parts. However, it was decided to still shoot the film
as one huge project, with a view to splitting it up during post
production. The budget would require a huge boost - with the entire
endeavour said to have cost around $241M to bring to screens (split
$110M for Part 1, $131M for Part 2 according to sources). Tasked with
the now enormous undertaking was Bill Condon, who had directed Chicago
and Dreamgirls, and had won the job over Sophia Coppola and Gus Van
Sant. Filming officially began in November 2010 in Brazil, before moving
on to Baton Rouge and Vancouver over the course of the next six months.
There was also some talk that the second half would be shot in or
converted to 3D to reflect Bella's heightened awareness since becoming a
vampire. However Condon was against the idea unless he could shoot in
3D, being fearful of post-converted features since seeing the work done
on Clash of the Titans. (In the end, the production stuck to two
dimensions). The shoot officially finished for the majority of the cast
on April 15th 2011, with the actual final day of filming on the entire
Twilight Saga being April 22nd. Post production began while shooting was
still taking place in order to meet Breaking Dawn Part 1's November
2011 release date. One issue that was still to be dealt with, and that
had come up repeatedly prior to and during shooting, was the graphic
nature of some of the sequences in the story (amongst others, the birth
of Bella and Edward's daughter) leading some to speculate that the new
films would need to be R-rated to do the scenes justice. However, the
studio simply couldn't risk alienating the fanbase by accepting a higher
rating. Condon, as director, was more than aware of this and shot the
sequences to be intense, without being graphic. [Both films would
receive a PG-13 rating from the MPAA, though the intial cut of Part 2
scored an R]
Breaking Dawn Part One would cover the wedding of Edward and Bella, and
the birth of their daughter Renesmee, a vampire/human hybrid. Part two
would then cover Bella coming to terms with her newly acquired vampire
status and the impact their child has on the vampire world. While
reviews have never been a strong point of the series, the first Breaking
Dawn flick is the lowest rated at the time of writing. It opened in
November 2011 to a $71.6M first day haul, heading towards a weekend
total of $138.1M, slightly weaker than New Moon's $142M but still very
strong. Even with a huge drop the following week, the film still managed
to hit $200M in only nine days. All up, Breaking Dawn Part 1 finished
its domestic run with $281.2M, ranking it as the third best performing
of the series. Internationally the news was similar to the two previous
releases, the latest finishing with $423M. What came to light with these
figures was that the series had pretty much reached saturation point.
The fan base had remained steady (perhaps due to the lack of a new book)
and meant that while the films had been incredibly successful, the
final part is unlikely to break out further and hit $900M in total
ticket sales, for example. Given that the entire production budget for
Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2 was covered amply by just the first film's
revenue, Summit is unlikely to be too concerned if the final flick
doesn't find a wealth of new fans. As it stands today, the series has
made a global total of $2.5 billion dollars, from a budget of $265M -
and that doesn't include any DVD/Blu-ray or related merchandise sales.
Reviews for this latest entry have been the best of the entire series,
and it clocked in with a 51% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes (the
previous best was the original, with a score of 49%). On Thursday,
online vendor Fandango announced that Breaking Dawn 2 accounted for 92%
of all tickets sold that day (and many initial screenings had already
sold out completely). It made its international debut in a few
territories on Wednesday, with France and Italy recording the best
single day figures of any film of 2012 (attendance in France was up 45%
on Breaking Dawn Part 1).
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 was set to open at 4,070 theatres
this weekend and the first record up for grabs would be the midnight
screenings one, currently held by Harry Potter & The Deathly
Hallow's Part 2 with $43.5M. The boy wizard breathed easy late Friday
when figures showed that Breaking Dawn Part 2 had made $30.4M from 10pm
and midnight screenings, roughly the same as its predecessor made. Even
though it wasn't a record breaker, it was still a very strong start
though highlighted the aforementioned saturation point reached by the
series - something further evident in the film's first full day total of
$71.2M (which included that midnight figure). In terms of first full
day numbers for the series, it is again almost exactly in line with New
Moon and Breaking Dawn Part 1 ($72.7M and $71.6M respectively).
Comparisons aside, that still puts it at number six on the all time
opening day chart, just ahead of The Avengers. Obviously the picture
comfortably secured the top spot from Skyfall on Friday but as the
weekend wore on, the first effects of the huge front loading BD2 had
been witness to began to take their toll. By the end of play on Sunday,
the final part of the Twilight series wound up with an impressive, yet
almost predictable, $141.3M three-day total (8th best weekend of all
time). In terms of opening weekends in regards the rest of the series,
Breaking Dawn 2, slots in behind New Moon ($142.8M) and ahead of BD1
($138.1M). Summit won't be at all disappointed with that figure
(especially given the success of Part 1 practically covered all costs
relating to Part 2) but one imagines the studio may be wondering how
much more money they could have made had they opted to release this
second part in 3D. All that aside, this is another amazing showing for
the Twilight Saga. Overseas the news was just as good, and since
Wednesday, Breaking Dawn Part 2 has made $199.6M. With both numbers
combined, it has made a staggering $340M over the last five days. A huge
fall next weekend is almost a forgone conclusion but will ultimately do
the film little damage, and like the rest of the top ten, it will
benefit from Thanksgiving cinema visits next week. The only question now
is whether this final part will wind up being the biggest of the entire
series - something that currently resides with the $300M-earner
Eclipse.
Even with Breaking Dawn's huge opening, there was still plenty of room
for Skyfall. Having opened to a series' best last weekend, the 23rd
James Bond film remained a force to be reckoned with throughout the
week. On Monday, Veteran's Day in North America, it added a further
$11.3M, allowing it to cross $100M in just over four days (Casino Royale
took 14 days to get there, Quantum took 9). Tuesday saw a dip of only
36% on the previous day, adding a further $7.2M to its ever growing
total. By the eve of its second frame, Skyfall was sitting on a very
strong $119.8M (which already puts it at sixth position on the James
Bond series' earnings chart). Perhaps due more to Lincoln's expansion
than Breaking Dawn 2's release (though one can't rule out its impact),
Skyfall found itself down a higher than anticipated 60% on its second
Friday, when it made $12.3M. Given its huge opening day and subsequent
weekend (and weekday) performance, Sony/MGM were probably anticipating a
high initial fall. The film did recover somewhat over Saturday and
Sunday, finishing the weekend with a strong $41.5M total (down 53%
overall), for a 10 day North American total of $161M. That means that
Skyfall is now the third biggest Bond film of all time, with less than
$8M standing between it and the highest earner, Quantum of Solace
($168.3M). While the frame to frame drop was a little high, there's no
doubt whatsoever that Skyfall will become the most successful James Bond
film in the series' history - and will be the first to crack $200M
domestically. Internationally, Bond 23 is still going down a storm, and
managed to cross the $500M barrier over the last couple of days, meaning
its current global tally of $669M puts the picture as the biggest James
Bond film of all time.
Lincoln had an exceptional debut at just 11 screens last weekend, making
$944K. While week day figures weren't anywhere near as strong, it was
expected to break into the top ten once it had expanded wider this
weekend. Lincoln didn't just drop into the top ten, it smashed in at
third place on Friday, making a solid $6.3M and giving both Flight and
Skyfall some concern. Despite another solid return from Wreck-It Ralph,
Lincoln held it at bay, finishing up Sunday night with a sensational
$21M three-day total ($22.4M since release). It's not out of the
question that Buena Vista would opt to expand the picture further in the
coming weeks, and its performance this frame highlights yet again, that
the public will flock to intelligent, adult drama (See also Argo,
Flight and to a lesser degree, Skyfall). Award talk for the picture and
its stars Daniel Day Lewis and Tommy Lee Jones will do the film no harm
in the coming weeks either.
With no fresh competition until Wednesday's Rise of The Guardians,
Wreck-It Ralph once again had the vast majority of the family market all
to itself. Like Skyfall, Ralph's best weekday was Monday, when it made
$5.9M. A day later saw the picture cross $100M, (which was day 12 of its
release, the recent Hotel Transylvania took 17 days) and as we
approached the weekend, Wreck-It Ralph was at $103.1M. On its third
Friday on general release, the videogame themed flick added $4.4M, down
42% on the same time last weekend. Over Saturday and into Sunday, Ralph
sparred with Lincoln (which had pushed it down to fourth place on
Friday) and earnt a further $12.4M, to bring its three-day total to
$18.3M (down 44% on last weekend overall). Even with another family
flick on the block, Wreck-It Ralph should still play well over
Thanksgiving and looks to be heading to a $160M+ finish in North
America. The film's staggered release pattern throughout the rest of the
world means we won't get a clearer view of how successful it will be
overseas for some time, but as of today, it has made $35.7M in a handful
of territories, including $12.3M from Russia.
Despite almost direct competition from Skyfall, Flight only fell 40% in
its second weekend on release. With its $31M production budget
comfortably covered, the Denzel Washington drama made $2.5M on Friday,
dropping to fifth place, as it headed towards a weekend total of $8.6M
(an overall frame to frame drop of 42%). That gives Flight a seventeen
day total of $61.3M, and puts it on track for an $80M finish. If that
figure holds, it would put the picture within the top ten biggest films
of the actors career. Up next for Washington is a role in 2 Guns,
opposite Mark Wahlberg.
Now in its sixth weekend, the Ben Affleck directed Argo earnt $4M,
giving it a cumulative gross of $92M (against a budget of $44.5M). It
has yet to see a bigger weekend to weekend drop than 38% and now sits
just $100K behind The Town's $92.1M finish. $100M is now a certainty for
the picture. Overseas, Argo is at $27M and could go on to perform as
well as it already has domestically.
Taken 2 continues to remain a fixture in the top ten, despite this being
its seventh weekend on release. The Liam Neeson thriller debuted with
$49.5M back at the start of October, and after an initial high fall,
managed to keep its weekend to weekend falls below 42% until this frame
(when it saw a 48% drop), even with only so-so word of mouth. This
weekend, Taken 2 made $2.1M, bringing its total to date to $134.6M.
Something of a surprise last weekend, Pitch Perfect managed to get back
into the top ten seemingly on word of mouth alone (It saw no new
marketing push or expansion, quite the opposite in fact). A week on and
it again retains a top ten placing, hanging tight at eighth place and
making $1.2M. With at least three major releases over the next five
days, there's little chance we'll see Pitch Perfect chart again, but its
$62M return from a budget of just $17M is not to be scoffed at.
Inexplicably, Here Comes The Boom manages another top ten finish. The
film, about a teacher who becomes a mix-martial arts fighter to raise
money for the school in which he works, made $1.2M this weekend,
bringing its 38 day total to $41M.
Finally, there's a battle for the final spot in the top ten. Cloud
Atlas, Hotel Transylvania and limited-release drama, The Sessions, are
all reporting $900K for the weekend. The eventual winner will be
revealed tomorrow evening, when actual figures are issued by their
respective studios.
In limited release this weekend (and expanding wide next) is the
romantic comedy drama, The Silver Linings Playbook, which is directed by
David O. Russell. The story is an adaptation (done by Russell) of
Matthew Quick's book of the same name, and follows Pat Solitano (played
by Bradley Cooper) as he tries to get his life together after losing his
job, wife and house. After moving back in with his Philadelphia Eagles
obsessed parents, Pat meets Tiffany (played by Jennifer Lawrence) who
has issues of her own to work through. The two form a friendship, and
Tiffany agrees to help Pat get his wife back, if he will do something
very important for her in return. Joining Cooper and Lawrence are Robert
De Niro and Jacki Weaver, who play Pat's parents, along with a rare
acting turn for comedian Chris Tucker (this is his first on-screen role
since 2007's Rush Hour 3). The feature actually started with different
leads - Mark Wahlberg was set to play Pat (having worked with director
Russell on The Fighter, I Heart Huckabees and Three Kings) but chose to
play opposite Russell Crowe in Broken City instead. Similarly, Anne
Hathaway had been tagged for the role of Tiffany but filming clashed
with her commitment to The Dark Knight Rises. Blake Lively and Kirsten
Dunst were both said to be in the running too, but Jennifer Lawrence
ultimately won out. Silver Linings shot earlier this year and debuted to
great acclaim at the Toronto Film festival in September 2012, winning
the People's Choice Award over Ben Affleck's Argo. Since then it has
continued to collect plaudits and great notices for both cast and
individual performances. The Silver Linings Playbook opened at 15
locations this weekend and made $458K.
Lastly this weekend we have the limited release of Joe Wright's Anna
Karenina. The film is an adaptation of the Tolstoy classic which was
first published in 1887 and has been bought to the silver screen at
least ten times, in one incarnation or another. This latest version was
adapted by playwright Tom Stoppard, and stars Kiera Knightley, Jude Law
and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Wright signed up as director once work on his
previous release, Hanna, was completed and began assembling his cast
around mid-2011, with a view to start shooting in October at Shepperton
Studios. Like The Silver Linings Playbook, Anna Karenina received its
premiere at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival in September, and debuted in
UK cinemas the same month. Critical opinion has been somewhat mixed, but
generally runs from average to very good indeed. Anna Karenina opened
in 16 theatres and made $315K this weekend.
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