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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.
