Midnight Madness! New Moon Beats Half-Blood Prince

Step aside, ‘o The Boy who Lived! Spotlight is for the vampire now.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon beats Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in midnight sales ticket record, collecting $26.27 million, officially estimated by Summit Entertainment. While the original Twilight, which was released in theaters last night, collects $1.3 million.

The $26.3 million places the vampire romance movie based on Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga on top of box office chart. Box office analysts expect it to reach $100 million during its opening weekend, including last midnight screenings.

“This massive fan response portends an opening weekend that could be one of the biggest of the year and reflects the fervor and excitement surrounding this follow-up to last year’s Twilight,” Paul Dergarabedian, head of Hollywood.com’s box office tracking division, stated.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince collected $22.2 million in midnight screenings when it was released in July.

[ via LA Times Blog and Reuters ]

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