Eclipse approaches $612M worldwide, $286M domestic
UPDATE SATURDAY, JULY 31 3:00 PM:
Final box office estimates are in for Friday, July 30. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse took in another $1.275M from 2,334 locations for a per theater average of $546. This represents an increase of 20.5% from Thursday. Its new cumulative domestic total is $285.46M after 31 days in release. Adding in overseas returns of $326.4M gives Eclipse a current worldwide total of $611.86M.
It drops into a tie for 10th place behind Dinner for Schmucks, opening with $8.4M at 2,911 locations for a per theater average of $2,886, Inception, with $8.15M at 3,545 locations for a per theater average of $2,299 and a domestic cumulative total of $173.978M after 15 days in release, Salt with $5.9M, Charlie St. Cloud, opening with $5.615M, Despicable Me with $4.685M, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, opening with $4.225M, Toy Story 3 with $1.45M, Grown Ups with $1.4M, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice with $1.325M. Eclipse is tied with Ramona and Beezus with $1.275M.
For those comparing the films in The Twilight Saga, at this point in its release history (after 31 days) New Moon had taken in $274,598,319. Eclipse is now at $285,460,000. Both films hit the $250M mark on the 16th day.
UPDATE SATURDAY, JULY 31 1:00 PM:
Early box office estimates are in for Friday, July 30. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has dropped out of the top 10. Therefore, no numbers are available at this time for it. Topping the charts is Dinner For Schmucks opening with $8.3M, followed by Inception with $8.1M, Salt with $5.9M, Charlie St Cloud opening with $5.6M, Despicable Me with $4.6M, Cats & Dogs: Kitty Galore opening with $4.2M, Toy Story 3 with $1.4M, Grown Ups with $1.3M, Sorcerer's Apprentice with $1.3M, and Ramona and Beezus with $1.2M.
UPDATE FRIDAY, JULY 30:
Box office numbers are in for Thursday, July 29. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse took in another $1,057,969 from 3,121 locations for a per theater average of $339 representing a decrease of 0.5% from Wednesday. This gives the film a cumulative domestic total of $284,184,954 after 30 days in release. Adding in overseas returns of $326.4M gives Eclipse a current worldwide total of $610,584,954.
It stays in seventh place behind Inception with $5,289,225 at 3,792 locations for a per theater average of $1,395 and a domestic cumulative total of $165,828,496 after 14 days in release, Salt with $3,403,960 at 3,612 locations, Despicable Me with $3,455,325, Toy Story 3 with $1,356,738, Ramona and Beezus with $1,171,566, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice with $1,197,715. Rounding out the top 10 behind Eclipse are Grown Ups with $995,574, The Last Airbender with $528,177, and Predators with $363,110. Indie drama The Kids Are All Right is in 11th place with $306,962 from just 201 locations for a per theater average of $1,527, the #1 average of the top 13 films. It's earned $6,110,923 on a budget of $4M after 21 days.
Here are the weekly numbers for the period from Friday, July 23 - Thursday, July 29. In its fourth full week, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse took in $11,543,862 from 3,121 locations for a per theater average of $3,699. This represents a 45.74% decrease from the previous week. It dropped from fourth to seventh place for the seven-day period behind Inception, Salt, Despicable Me, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Toy Story 3, and Ramona and Beezus.
Keeping track of records, the film with the least number of days to reach $250M was The Dark Knight, which hit $261,847,503 after eight days. New Moon is in 13th place, having taken 16 days to reach $251,530,186. Eclipse lands just behind it in 14th place, taking 16 days to reach $251,371,417. This puts the film ahead of Shrek the Third, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Iron Man 2, which all took 17 days to hit $250M.
For those comparing the films in The Twilight Saga, in its fourth week New Moon was in fourth place with $10,830,138 from 3,635 theaters for an average of $2,979, representing a decrease of 44.2% from week three. In cumulative domestic totals over time, at this point in its release history (after 30 days) New Moon had taken in $273,220,014. Eclipse is now at $284,184,954. Both films hit the $250M mark on the 16th day.
So far, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has set all-time box office records for Opening Wednesdays, Single Day Wednesday Gross (non-adjusted), and Single Day Wednesday Gross (adjusted for inflation). It is in second place for Opening Day Gross, Single Day Gross, and Non-Opening Thursday Gross. Release records include Widest Releases, Widest Independent Releases, Widest Opening Independent Releases, Widest PG-13 Rated Openings, and Widest PG-13 Rated Releases.
There's been quite a bit of discussion online regarding the film's box office success. In particular, I wonder about the fairness of comparing the Twilight films against each other. The validity of judging Eclipse vs. New Moon is questionable given their strikingly different release schedules. As I've been saying since it opened, the idea was not to compete against or beat New Moon's early numbers. That may be a goal of some people but the idea is to make money, and maybe set some records in the process.
First, remember that the film's opening weekend started on a Wednesday. There is no way that a "weekend" that begins on a Wednesday can be compared to a "normal" 3-day weekend (when New Moon opened). So any comparison between the two based on how many "weekends" it's been out simply isn't valid. Next, look at the time of year the two films were released. New Moon came out during the Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday season. It's a big time of year for Hollywood but still doesn't compare to summer, when they put out their "tentpole" films -- the potential blockbusters that will keep the studios in the black for another year. The competition is much more fierce beginning Memorial Day weekend through the 4th of July. It's simply a different marketplace.
Is Summit happy with the first few weeks' box office returns? I don't know but I'm fairly sure they must be. Again, the goal was not to "beat New Moon." That may be something the press or some others will latch on to but it may not be a fair comparison. It was very easy to compare Twilight to New Moon since they opened at the same time one year apart. Not so much New Moon to Eclipse. I think it's wise to just see how the film does over time in its own right.
UPDATE THURSDAY, JULY 29 4:30 PM:
Theater counts for the week of Friday, July 30 - Thursday, August 5 reflect a decrease of 787 for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse to 2,334 locations. It drops from #5 to #9 behind Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore opening at 3,705 locations, Salt with 3,612 (no change), Despicable Me with 3,594 (loss of 6), Inception with 3,545 (loss of 247), Dinner for Schmucks opening at 2,911 locations, Charlie St. Cloud opening at 2,720, Ramona and Beezus with 2,719 (no change), and The Sorcerer's Apprentice with 2,524 (loss of 980).
source
