Twilight Saga: Eclipse Breaks Midnight B-O Record

JULY 1, 2010 - Twilight Saga: Eclipse broke the box-office record with its midnight launch, grossing over US$30 million (RM96 million) at more than 4,000 cineplexes. That surpassed Twilight Saga: New Moon's previous benchmark of US$26.3 million. Included in Eclipse's sum was a new IMAX midnight milestone of over US$1 million at 192 venues, topping Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen's $959,000.

Additionally, the first Twilight and New Moon were re-issued as a one-off, pre-Eclipse double-feature on Thursday night at 2,037 theatres and they made US$2.4 million. Previously, Twilight took in US$1.3 million in its re-issue the night before New Moon's opening.

Casting the widest opening net ever, Eclipse bit into a whopping 4,416 locations on Wednesday while more cinemas are expected to be added on Friday.

Iron Man 2 previously held that title with 4,380 locations, while Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince holds the overall record for highest location count ever at 4,455. Eclipse's count includes 193 IMAX venues, which is just shy of Shrek Forever After's 194 record. Eclipse's overall screen count, though, is estimated at 7,600, which is far from a new high. - Courtesy of Boxofficemojo