Smash 'Twilight' sequel enters record books
* "Twilight" sequel earns $140.7 million
* Women account for 80 percent of audience
* Sandra Bullock film outperforms at a distant No. 2
LOS ANGELES, Nov 22 - The "Twilight" sequel scored the third-biggest opening weekend of all time at the North American box office on Sunday, as millions of young women swooned over the complex love triangle involving a high school girl, a vampire and a werewolf.
"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" earned an estimated $140.7 million during its first three days of release across the United States and Canada, closely held distributor Summit Entertainment said, crushing industry expectations.
The record for an opening is $158 million, set last year by the Batman sequel "The Dark Knight." The 2007 movie "Spider-Man 3" follows with $151 million. "New Moon" replaced "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" at No. 3.
The vampire romance is well on its way to exceeding the $193 million total of its predecessor, "Twilight," which was released exactly a year ago.
Summit Entertainment said "New Moon" also set an opening-day record with Friday sales of $72.7 million, surpassing the $67.2 million haul of "The Dark Knight."
That tally was bolstered by record-breaking midnight sales of $26.3 million. The old mark was set earlier this year by "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" with $22.2 million.
A FEW MORE MEN
The closely held studio said "New Moon" also earned $118.1 million from 25 foreign markets. Data from individual countries were not immediately available.
Exit-polling data in North America indicated that women accounted for 80 percent of the audience and half the audience was under 21. Summit said male moviegoers increased their share by a couple of percentage points, and the new film also brought in a few more older women.
"New Moon" revisits the dangerous romance between high school student Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen .
After falling in love with each other in "Twilight," Bella and Edward break up in "New Moon." Bella hooks up with Jacob Black , an American Indian who is also a werewolf. Jacob protects Bella, but she still longs for the gentle blood-sucker Edward. Chris Weitz directed the $50 million project.
Reviews were largely scathing, but the franchise is considered critic-proof. Indeed, the stars have become sex symbols whose real-life romances with each other (Stewart and Pattinson) or with country star Taylor Swift have long been gossip-column fodder. Fans lined up outside theaters days before the sequel opened.
The "Twilight" film franchise is based on a series of four novels of the same name by Stephenie Meyer, which her publisher says have sold 85 million copies worldwide. A third film, "Eclipse," is due in June.
Also new at the box office was the Sandra Bullock family drama "The Blind Side" at a distant No. 2 with $34.5 million, the best opening of her career. The fact-based movie was released by Time Warner Inc's <TWX.N> Warner Bros. Pictures on behalf of independent producer Alcon Entertainment. Bullock plays a Tennessee housewife who transforms a homeless black teenager into a high-school football star.
The cartoon "Planet 51" opened at No. 4 with a modest $12.6 million, playing almost exclusively to parents and young children.
Last weekend's champion, the disaster movie "2012," fell to No. 3 with $26.5 million, taking its 10-day haul to $108.2 million. The picture led the foreign box office for a second weekend with $100.5 million; its foreign tally soared to $341.1 million. Both "Planet 51" and "2012" were released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp <6758.T> <SNE.N>.
Walt Disney Co's <DIS.N> stop-motion adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" fell three places to No. 5 with $12.2 million in its third weekend; its tally stands at $79.8 million.