UPDATE: Opening in just 21 foreign markets, Summit Entertainment’s “Twilight: Eclipse” premiered to $16.2 million internationally Wednesday.
It outperformed the previous “Twilight” installment, last November’s “New Moon,” in Russia, Brazil, Italy, South Africa, Turkey, the Philippines, Spain, Greece and Hungary, among other territories.
“Eclipse” is set to launch in Spain, Australia and Mexico on Thursday. Debuts in World Cup-crazy France, Germany, South Korea and Japan will come in the ensuing weeks.
It was a huge first day for “Eclipse” … but not bigger than “New Moon.”
The Wednesday debut of the third “Twilight” movie tallied $68.5 million at a 4,416 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, breaking a slew of records that included best Wednesday opening ever and best summer first day.
But the start fell short of the all-time best first day of $72 million, set on a Friday last November by “Twilight Saga: New Moon.”
According to officials for producer/distributor Summit Entertainment, “Eclipse” garnered an A grade from customer satisfaction survey company CinemaScore, as it beat out the $62 million Wednesday record set last June by “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”
And in surpassing 2008’s “Dark Knight” ($67.2 million), “Eclipse” – which opened in more theaters domestically than any other movie in motion picture history — also owns the distinction of best summer first day ever.
Through the conclusion of the Fourth of July holiday weekend on Monday, the film is expected to surpass $150 million in domestic gross. International sales data – which is still pending – should paint a robust picture, too.
