'Breaking Dawn Pt 1' Stays On Top US B-O

NOV 28, 2011 - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 easily repeated in first place at the box office over Thanksgiving weekend, while The Muppets revived the long-dormant franchise with a strong second place debut. Arthur Christmas and Hugo weren't quite as fortunate, though the true measure of their success will be determined over the next month.

Breaking Dawn added an estimated US$62.3 million for the five-day weekend, which is a bit off from New Moon's US$66.3 million over the same time period in 2009. On Saturday, Breaking Dawn passed US$200 million, and through its first 10 days the penultimate Twilight movie has earned US$221.3 million.

The Muppets opened to an estimated $42 million, which is down from past Disney Thanksgiving entries Tangled ($68.7 million) and Enchanted ($49.1 million). Arthur Christmas debuted in fourth place with an estimated US$17 million. It's US$12.7 million three-day start ranks at the bottom of Aardman Animation wide releases, though it surely relieved some demand with its Wednesday opening.

Here are the Top 5 North American B-O studio estimates for Nov 25-27, 2011 weekend, in terms of rank, (previous week ranking), Movie name (studio), Weekend takings in USD, (Cumulative gross, USD) and week on chart, courtesy of Boxofficemojo. (US$1=RM3).

1. (1) Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Pt 1 (Sum) $42.0 million ($221.3 million) 2

2. (-) The Muppets (BV) $29.5 million ($42.0 million) 1

3. (2) Happy Feet Two (WB) $13.4 million ($43.7 million) 2

4. (-) Arthur Christmas (Sony) $12.7 million ($17.0 million) 1

5. (-) Hugo (Paramount) $11.3 million ($15.3 million) 1