Holy Box Office Smash! New Moon Beats Dark Knight?

Official Summit Number now in!

“Summit has announced that The Twilight Saga: New Moon has officially set a new all-time midnight box office record, taking in $26.27M from 3514 theaters.”

According to Larry at ProNetworks (someone who regularly watches these things):

“UPDATE 12:00 NOON:

Unofficial reports say The Twilight Saga: New Moon has shattered The Dark Knight’s $18.4M midnight debut for a 3-day weekend. Sources put the total at $23-24M. This would also surpass Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, whose 5-day weekend began with $22.2M on a Tuesday night. Summit has not yet released official numbers.”

EDITED: HitFix also chiming in:

“No one expected “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” to disappoint at the box office, but even Summit Entertainment has to be surprised by the massive opening the sequel garnered from midnight shows across the country.  Distributors are still submitting their grosses but sources tell HitFix “New Moon” has set a new record and may have made as much as $25 million from its midnight launch.

To compare, previous record holder “The Dark Knight” made $18.4 million in over 3,000 theaters, but some of those screens were of the IMAX variety which charge higher ticket prices thereby inflating the overall gross.  Not jumping on the IMAX bandwagon (so far), only makes “New Moon’s” gross even more remarkable.”

The Hollywood Reporter on Overseas Sales:

“Summit reported Thursday afternoon that at midnight showings on 466 screens in Australia, the movie took in AUS$1.7 million ($1.6 million). It sailed past the previous Australian midnight record set by “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” which took in AUS$1.26 million ($1.2 million) in 2005….” Click here to see European sales totals.

LA Times:

“The vampires have beat the boy wizard.

According to four people close to the movie, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” sold more than $22.2 million worth of tickets in midnight shows last night, beating a record set this summer by “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”

Two people close to the pictures said the exact gross, which is still being calculated by Summit Entertainment, could be as high as $26 million.”