New Moon Estimates – $140.7 Million Opening Weekend

The L.A. Times had the following to report about how much New Moon has made (third best weekend opening of all time):

Summit Entertainment’s “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” sold an astounding $140.7 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada this weekend, according to studio estimates, blowing away already huge expectations and giving the teen vampire saga the third-biggest domestic debut of all time.

In the 25 foreign countries where “New Moon” launched, it added an extra $118.1 million, giving it a mind-bending worldwide total of $258.8 million. That’s the seventh-biggest worldwide launch of all time and is particularly notable given that several international markets where the first “Twilight” performed very well, including Germany, South Korea and Russia, haven’t gotten the film yet. [Updated 9:21 a.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said that the worldwide ticket sales total was $248.8 million.]

The domestic debut is the biggest, by a margin of $38 million, for a film opening outside of the summer movie season, between May and July, when the biggest tentpoles traditionally launch. The No. 1 opener of all time is “The Dark Knight,” which opened to $158.4 million in July 2008, followed by “Spider-Man 3,” which started with $151.1 million in May of 2007.

The first “Twilight” collected $385 million worldwide.

Volturi: The De Facto Royal Family of Vampires

The vampire coven known as the Volturi resides in Volterra, Italy. They are regarded as "royalty" by other vampires because they have lived for well over three thousand years and act as police, enforcing the rule that vampires' existence remain a secret from humans. They often send others to travel from Volterra to prevent overzealous covens and renegade vampires from exposing their kind. They are guarded by several powerful vampires who have been recruited for their powers and skills. Carlisle once stayed with the coven as a guest, but left due to his desire to avoid harming humans and established his own coven in the United States. At the end of New Moon, the Volturi discover that Bella, a human, has learned that vampires exist and demand that she become a vampire or else be killed. In Breaking Dawn, the vampire Irina goes to the Volturi and warns them that the Cullens have created an immortal child after seeing Edward and Bella's daughter, Renesmee, hunting close to the Cullens' house. The Volturi coven travel to Forks to destroy Renesmee, but leave once they realize that she poses no threat.

The Volturi leaders include Aro, who can read every thought a person has ever had once he has made physical contact, Marcus, who senses relationships, and Caius, who has no known power. Aro's wife, Sulpicia, Caius' wife, Athenodora, and formerly Marcus' wife, Didyme, who had the power to make others happy, also act as leaders. The Volturi guard consists of 32 members, including Jane, who creates illusions of pain; Alec, who is able to block the others' senses; Demetri, who can track anyone once he has the tenor of their mind; Chelsea, who can change emotional bondings; and Renata, who can make anyone feel distracted and wandering when they are near her (classified as a "shield"). The majority of the Volturi remain nameless throughout the series. There is also a human secretary named Gianna who appears in New Moon. Despite her hopes to become a vampire, she is killed by the Volturi by the events of Breaking Dawn. The Volturi have invited Carlisle, Edward, Alice, Kate, Benjamin, Zafrina, and Bella to join them, though all have refused.

In the New Moon film, the cast of the Volturi includes Michael Sheen as Aro; Jamie Campbell Bower as Caius; Christopher Heyerdahl as Marcus; Dakota Fanning as Jane; Cameron Bright as Alec; Charlie Bewley as Demetri; Daniel Cudmore as Felix; and Noot Seear as Heidi. Fanning, Bright, Charlie Bewley, and Cudmore will reprise their roles in the 2010 film Eclipse.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

On Isabella "Bella" Swan's 18th birthday, Edward Cullen, the vampire she loves, and his family throw her a birthday party. While unwrapping a gift, she gets a paper cut, which causes Edward's adopted brother, Jasper, to be overwhelmed by her blood's scent and attempt to kill Bella. To protect her, Edward decides to end their relationship, and the Cullens move away from Forks. This leaves Bella heart-broken and depressed.

In the months that follow, Bella learns that thrill-seeking activities, such as motorcycle riding, allow her to "hear" Edward's voice in her head. She also seeks comfort in her deepening friendship with Jacob Black, a cheerful companion who eases her pain over losing Edward. Bella later discovers that Jacob is a werewolf. He and his fellow werewolves protect Bella from the vampires Laurent and Victoria, the latter of whom seeks revenge for her dead mate, James, whom the Cullens killed in Twilight.

Meanwhile, a series of miscommunications leads Edward to believe that Bella has killed herself. Distraught over her supposed suicide, Edward flees to Italy to provoke the Volturi, vampire royalty who are capable of killing him. Alice and Bella rush to Italy to save Edward, arriving just in time to stop him. Before leaving Italy, the Volturi tell Edward that Bella, a human who knows that vampires exist, must either be killed or transformed into a vampire. When they return to Forks, Edward tells Bella that he has always loved her and only left Forks to protect her. She forgives him, and the Cullens vote in favor of Bella being transformed into a vampire, to Edward's dismay. However, Edward gives Bella a choice: either she lets Carlisle change her after her graduation, or, if Bella agrees to marry him, he will change her himself.

Twilight: The First Series

Twilight is a series of four vampire-based fantasy romance novels by American author Stephenie Meyer. It charts a period in the life of Isabella "Bella" Swan, a teenage girl who moves to Forks, Washington and falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire named Edward Cullen. The series is told primarily from Bella's point of view, with the epilogue of Eclipse and Part II of Breaking Dawn being told from the viewpoint of character Jacob Black, a werewolf. The unpublished Midnight Sun is a retelling of the first book, Twilight, from Edward Cullen's point of view.

Bella Swan moves from Phoenix, Arizona to live with her father in Forks, Washington to allow her mother to travel with her new husband, a minor league baseball player. After moving to Forks, Bella finds herself involuntarily drawn to a mysterious, handsome boy, Edward Cullen. She eventually learns that he is a member of a vampire family who drinks animal blood rather than human. Edward and Bella fall in love, but James, a sadistic vampire from another coven, is drawn to hunt down Bella. Edward and the other Cullens defend Bella. She escapes to Phoenix, Arizona, where she is tricked into confronting James, who tries to kill her. She is seriously wounded, but Edward rescues her and they return to Forks, having killed James.

Check the movie trailer for the worldwide box office phenomenon Twilight-Final Trailer.