Three films opened in wide release on Wednesday hoping to snag some of the bite “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Pt. 2” has had with moviegoers since Friday. As expected, “Twilight” fans are going to take their time saying goodbye to Bella, Edward, Jacob and the rest of Stephenie Meyers’ vampire universe.
“Breaking Dawn, Pt. 2” grossed another $13.5 million Wednesday for an mammoth $176.4 million in just six days of release. The Bill Condon directed fantasy melodrama should cross $200 million by Saturday and easily win both the 3-day weekend and the 5-day Thanksgiving frame.
Solid in second was Sony Pictures and MGM’s “Skyfall.” The latest James Bond film took in another $7.5 million for a franchise-record $178 million in just 12 days. “Skyfall” will hit $225 million by Sunday and the question now is whether $280 million domestic is out of the question.
Opening in third place was DreamWorks Animation’s “Rise of the Guardians” with $4.9 million. The last DWA picture to be distributed by Paramount Pictures, “Guardians” had a soft start, but should jump on Friday, Saturday and Sunday when families are free from holiday obligations. At this point, “Guardians” 5-day gross could be anywhere from $33-40 million depending on the weekend take.
The long-delayed “Red Dawn” pulled in a strong $4.2 million on Wednesday, but its expected to quickly lose steam over the frame. The Open Road Films acquisition is looking at a $22-25 million five-day at best.
“Lincoln” tied with “Red Dawn” for fourth with with another $4.2 million and $32 million to date. It’s expected the acclaimed Steven Spielberg drama will hit an impressive $58-60 million by end of day Sunday.
Last among the new releases is 20th Century Fox’s expensive epic “Life of Pi.” Ang Lee’s adaptation of Yann Martel’s novel grossed $3.7 million. It could end up with anywhere from $25-30 million for the holiday frame. That’s an OK start for a film that cost over $125 million budget and wasn’t cheap to market. International grosses, word of mouth and Oscar buzz may be the only way “Pi” will find itself in the black.
Look for box office updates all weekend long on HitFix.