Twilight movie passing $300m milestone. (Photo: Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart kissing, Twilight: Eclipse.) Despite losing 848 theaters — following a weekend-long increase in venues (officially) to celebrate Bella Swan’s birthday — David Slade’s The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has finally crossed the $300m milestone at the North American box office after 12 weekends (81 days) out. The third installment in the Twilight movie franchise star Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart (kissing above), in addition to Taylor Lautner as the third side in the saga’s vampire-human-werewolf romantic triangle.
According to studio estimates found at Box Office Mojo, Summit Entertainment’s Eclipse (budget: $68m) took in $205k at 339 sites, reaching a grand total of $300.099m. Thanks to higher ticket prices and a highly profitable IMAX run in July, Eclipse has become the first Twilight Saga movie to pass the $300m milestone in the US/Canada.
On Box Office Mojo’s chart (not adjusted for inflation) showing the fastest movies to reach $300m domestically, Eclipse is at the no. 27 slot, sandwiched between David Yates / Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($300.01 million after 77 days in 2009) and Gore Verbinski / Johnny Depp / Orlando Bloom’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ($300.08 million after 101 days in 2003).
Twilight movie box office: Eclipse vs. New Moon
Yet, to date Chris Weitz’s Nov. 2009 release The Twilight Saga: New Moon (total US/Canada gross: $296.62m) in all probability has sold more tickets domestically than Eclipse.
In order for Eclipse to beat New Moon in that regard, it’ll have to gross another $2m-$3m. That’s not an impossible task.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ended its run with $301.95 million, while Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl took in $305.41m.
Note: The fastest movie to pass the $300m milestone domestically was Christopher Nolan / Christian Bale / Heath Ledger’s The Dark Knight in 2008: 10 days. The slowest was Robert Zemeckis / Tom Hanks’ Forrest Gump in 1994: 193 days. Bear in mind that at the time Forrest Gump came out, movie ticket prices were considerably lower and film distribution was quite different than nowadays.
Three other 2010 releases have passed the $300m mark to date. They are Lee Unkrich / Tom Hanks’ Toy Story 3 ($410.6 million), Tim Burton / Johnny Depp / Mia Wasikowska’s Alice in Wonderland ($334.19 million), and Jon Favreau / Robert Downey Jr / Scarlett Johansson’s Iron Man 2 ($312.12m).
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse cast
In addition to Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse features Bryce Dallas Howard, Xavier Samuel, Dakota Fanning, Billy Burke, Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Jackson Rathbone, and Kellan Lutz.
Plus: Cameron Bright, Daniel Cudmore, Charlie Bewley, Michael Welch, Anna Kendrick, Booboo Stewart, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Christian Serratos, Sarah Clarke, Alex Meraz, Kiowa Gordon, Bronson Pelletier, Chaske Spencer, and Julia Jones. Melissa Rosenberg adapted Stephenie Meyer’s third Twilight novel.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse / Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart kissing picture: Kimberley French / Summit Entertainment.
They increased theater counts just to reach the $300 Million mark? Talk about cheating. Won’t catch ‘Inception’ pulling that cheap move. It will get to $300 Million the good old fashion way: it will earn it fair and square.
Even with that ugly wig, Kristen was awesome. She owned every scene. Those indies helped her acting and it showed. For me, she is the only reason to see this. I’m glad it was a success because she said Twilight allowed her to do WTTR and it’s probably the reason she can take a pay cut for On the Road.
And worth every penny it earned. It was a great movie and Rob looked gorgeous in every frame.