Summit Entertainment

Twi-hards, you were right: New Moon's Sunday box office was bigger than estimated. 

Twi-hards, you were wrong: New Moon wasn't big enough to dethrone The Dark Knight as Hollywood's all-time opening-weekend champ. (Or, for that matter, to displace No. 2, Spider-Man 3.)

Final numbers released today show that the Twilight sequel finished the weekend with a spectacular $142.8 million, up from the, well, spectacular $140.7 million of first reports.

In the end, New Moon made $72.7 million on Friday, $42.3 million Saturday and $27.8 million on Sunday.

Twi-hards, take note: Next time, the Dark Knight-beating number you're looking for on Sunday (assuming the other returns stay the same) is $43.5 million. Lotsa luck, Eclipse.

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While New Moon didn't break the Batguy's record, the Pattz-powered sequel did have plenty of pretty people in it. Take a look-see in our New Moon Premiere gallery.

Summit Entertainment

It was big. It was bigger than expected. It was record-setting. But more on the new Sandra Bullock movie later.

New Moon will close out its remarkable debut weekend with an estimated $140.7 million, its studio reported today. 

"I dare say in all the office pools, I don't think anyone had near this top gross," Summit Entertainment distribution president Richie Fay said.

The towering take makes the Twilight sequel the third-biggest opener in Hollywood history. Or, to put it in a way that will appease vampire-dismissing superhero boosters: Yes, The Dark Knight's opening-weekend mark is safe; and, yes, Spider-Man 3's second-place slot is secure.

But get over your spandex-supporting selves, because New Moon sucked up its own share of records:

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Summit Entertainment

As a PG-rated Robin might cry, "Holy crap, Batman!"

New Moon smashed The Dark Knight's single-day and opening-day box-office records with an estimated $72.7 million Friday, its studio reported today.

If the movie's unprecedented midnight business was "absolutely freakish," then its unprecedented full-day take was simply phenomenal.

"It doubled the opening day of the first movie—and Twilight was no slouch itself," Box Office Mojo's Brandon Gray said. "It's just sensational."

With New Moon having already eclipsed its $50 million budget, two of The Dark Knight's showiest records and Twilight's entire opening-weekend gross, about the only question left is: How big can this thing get?

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Kannie Yu LaPack/Lifetime; Lester Cohen/Getty Images; ABC/Donna Svennevik; ABC/CRAIG SJODIN; AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Despite the fact that we all knew New Moon was coming and The Oprah Winfrey Show was going sometime soonish, the stars of both made major splashes this week every time they offered up even the weeniest tidbit of information for their adoring fans.

We, on the other hand, have offered up a tidal wave of info from the week gone by. You better dive in and start swimming...

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Summit Entertainment

What else is there to say about New Moon that hasn't already been gushed? That the sequel to you-know-what starring you-know-who and -who and -who grossed a record-setting, undead-enlivening, "absolutely freakish" $26.3 million in Friday midnight screenings?

Well, there's that.

Yes, New Moon usurped the midnight crown from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($22.2 million), which ousted The Dark Knight ($18.5 million) this past July. Nudge the person in the theater next to you, and pass it on.

How do we know you're reading this on a handheld at a multiplex? Because chances are you are.

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Summit Entertainment

Twilight was huge. New Moon will be huger.

Um, won't it?

Sure, go ahead, and call it now. You won't be disappointed. (Unless you were seriously expecting Teams Edward and Jacob to sink Titanic.)

Projections have New Moon, rising in theaters midnight Thursday—following the one-night-only theatrical return of Twilight—grossing anywhere in the Forks, Wash., neighborhood of $80 million to $100 million by the close of Sunday, and maybe $200 million-plus when all is said and done and swooned over.

On either the high or "low" end, the presumed opening-weekend take would put the sequel in elite company, and leave the franchise with nothing to fear—except perhaps its own hot, media-dominating self.

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Sony Pictures

The world may live to see 2013, after all.

The apocalyptic-minded 2012 started off with a $65 million box office bang, per estimates, beating projections and the weekend competition. 

Elsewhere, bigger wasn't always better—or bigger. In limited release, the potential Oscar heavyweight Precious continued to loom incredibly large ($6.1 million at only 174 theaters), while Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox  enjoyed a fantastic debut ($260,000 at four theaters). 

Taking a look inside the numbers:

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Sony Pictures

Michael Jackson's This Is It has made HIStory at the box office.

The behind-the-scenes concert documentary chronicling what would undoubtedly have been one of the biggest comebacks in musical history has rung up $200 million in worldwide ticket receipts.

The milestone solidifies This Is It's standing as the king of all concert films. With $61 million in domestic receipts and more than $140 million internationally, the critically acclaimed Jackson tribute/goodbye has handily dethroned Miley Cyrus' Best of Both Worlds 3-D movie, which accounted for $65 million in its U.S.-only release.

This Is It has done its biggest business abroad, most notably in Japan, where it earned $27.2 million. In the U.K., where the concert would have been staged, the film bagged $14.3 million; France and Germany accounted for $12.1 million in sales; Australia, $7.2 million.

Sony Pictures, which paid $60 million to win a bidding war to distribute the film, originally planned a two-week theatrical run for This Is It. But with the cash rolling in and the companion soundtrack dominating the charts, the show goes on.

Like the man said, don't stop till you get enough.

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Take a look at what's new—and hot—in our Totally New Releases gallery.

Disney

Holiday movie season and high Oscar season have kicked off. But only one is kicking mistletoe.

While Jim Carrey's A Christmas Carol led a bah-humbug weekend with an underwhelming $31 million, per estimates, the Oprah Winfrey- and Tyler Perry-backed award-show contender Precious grossed a stunning $1.8 million at only 18 theaters.

Elsewhere, Michael Jackson's This Is It did its thing (solid $14 million here, bigger $29 million overseas), George Clooney's The Men Who Stare at Goats ($13.3 million) did better than expected for a movie with goats and George Clooney in it, and Cameron Diaz's The Box ($7.9 million) just didn't really open. 

A look inside the numbers:

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Sony Pictures

This Is It? Hardly. 

Sony announced today that the Michael Jackson concert movie, originally billed as a two-week-only event, will stay in theaters through Thanksgiving weekend.

The non-surprise move comes after This Is It led the box office competition with an estimated $21.3 million Friday-Sunday, and upped its five-day worldwide haul to $101 million.

Even in success, though, the film didn't thoroughly dominate Miley Cyrus. Much less Paranormal Activity. 

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Sony Pictures

No, Michael Jackson wasn't Batman or Miley Cyrus. But more important, he wasn't the Jonas Brothers.

Jackson's This Is It scored a $7.4 million opening day, Sony Pictures estimated today.

Among concert films, the take puts This Is It right behind the eye-popping opening day of Cyrus' Best of Both Worlds show and safely ahead of the Jonas' expectations-game loser, The 3D Concert Experience. 

Comparisons between the three movies are far from perfect, not the least of which is because neither the Cyrus or Jonas Brothers film starred the world's biggest pop star in his final farewell.  

So, given those high standards, how did This Is It measure up?

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