Opening at midnight last night in North America, the tweeny vampire sequel “New Moon” broke all previously held midnight screening records.
The second installment in the “Twilight” franchise scooped up an estimated $26.27 million in 3,514 theaters for a per-theater average of $7,476.
As a result, it surpassed the previous record set and held by “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which opened July 15 with $22.2 million.
Summit also played the original “Twilight” movie in 2,057 on Thursday as a 9 p.m. warm-up screening for “new Moon,” and it sickenly grossed an additional $1.3 million despite the film already being out on DVD and Blu-ray.
On Friday, “Moon” will be playing in 4,024 theaters as it settles in for its first weekend run and conquer.