'Eclipse' Breaks Wednesday Record But Falls Short of 'New Moon'

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse drained more of its opening day demand with its midnight launch than The Twilight Saga: New Moon did. Despite setting the midnight record with over $30 million, Eclipse's full day came in at $68.5 million, falling short of New Moon's $72.7 million record ($26.3 million of which from its midnight debut). Their first days, though, didn't have a precise apples-to-apples comparison, because Eclipse started on Wednesday, while New Moon was on a Friday.

Playing on approximately 8,000 screens at an opening-record 4,416 locations, Eclipse still had a phenomenal debut, setting two other records. The vampire romance sequel boasted the largest Wednesday gross of all time, surpassing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen's $62 million. It also logged the top-grossing summer day ever, surpassing The Dark Knight's $67.2 million.

Overall, Eclipse posted the second highest-grossing single day of all time, behind only its predecessor.

The last time June 30 landed on Wednesday and Independence Day landed on Sunday was in 2004. That's when Spider-Man 2 established the record for that holiday. It made $40.4 million on its Wednesday opening, or the equivalent of around $52 million adjusted for ticket price inflation. By its sixth day, it had pulled in $180.1 million, or more than $230 million adjusted.

For full Eclipse analysis, click here to read the Weekend Briefing.

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