“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” premiered strongly enough to break the box office record for a Wednesday opening, but its first day total fell short of the opener for 2009’s “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”
The second sequel to the “Twilight” series garnered a record $68.5 million Wednesday, topping the $62 million for “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” It also scored the best summer opening day ever, besting the $67.2 million for “The Dark Knight.”
“New Moon,” however, still holds the all-time opening day record with $72.7 million for its November 2009 debut.
Eyes will now be on how “Eclipse” progresses over its next few days of release, notably regarding the extent to which the holiday weekend can limit the decline franchise films tend to suffer after their blockbuster first day of release.
“New Moon,” which opened on a Friday, was incredibly front-loaded, scoring more than 50% of its opening weekend gross in its first day, but “Eclipse” marks the first “Twilight” film to start in the middle of the work week.