TWILIGHT SET TO MAKE $30 MILLION ON OPENING DAY
After initial reports that Twilight had made more than $7 million in midnight showings on Thursday, Variety is now reporting that the movie is set to make nearly $30 million on opening day alone. They also have some interesting statistics about where the top grossing theaters are, how much the movie is set to make through the weekend, and more.
Here is what Variety had to say:
Summit Entertainment’s “Twilight†could see an opening day take of $30 million from 3,419 playdates after grossing north of $7 million in Thursday midnight shows.If so, “Twilight†could land a spot on the top 20 list of best opening day grosses, somewhere between No. 17 and No. 20.
“Twilight” is expected to open in the $50 million to $60 million range, although it has a shot of ending in the 60s. It depends upon how much traffic slows down from Friday to Saturday.
“Twilight,” based on the best-selling book series by Stephenie Meyer, is No. 3 on online ticketer Fandango’s list of top advance ticket sales. Only “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” and “The Dark Knight” sold more.
Females, specifically tween girls and teenage girls, are driving “Twilight.” But it’s not just younger femmes turning out to see the teen vampire romancer, but older women and teen boys, too.
The top three grossing theaters so far are in Utah. Meyer, who lives in Arizona, is Mormon.
Sunday could be a bigger movie-going day than normal since 17% to 18% of kids will be out of school the next day. According to a Fandango survey, 34% of moviegoers said they intended to duck out of classes Friday in order to see the movie.
“Twilight†is a tremendous victory for Summit Entertainment. “Twilight†landed at Summit after several other shops passed, including MTV Films.
It’s a ready-made franchise for Summit, since there are four books in Meyer’s series, which have sold more than 17 million copies worldwide, including $8.2 million in the U.S.
I’m loving all the statistics that are being reported. $30 mil on opening day is huge and those numbers alone prove some of the pessimistic critics wrong already.
Are you surprised by these statistics? Do you expect things will slow down between today and tomorrow, or do you think it will just continue to get busier?
UPDATE:
BoxOfficeMojo.com covers Twilight’s opening day success HERE, and you can follow the box office numbers HERE.




















