Twilight has turned out to be quite the phenomenon, no? The tween vampire adaptation has turned into a monstrous hit, filling the hole (at least for one weekend) left by the moving of Harry Potter to warmer climates. The romance nearly topped the $70 million mark, making it the fifth biggest November open of all time. This is also the third consecutive week with a film staking claim to fifth place, following the Madagascar sequel and Quantum of Solace. It's a shame the movie wasn't better.
There was one other wide release getting some attention. The latest Disney animated release, Bolt, opened to the tune of $26.2 million, finishing in third place, merely $0.5 million behind second place finisher Quantum of Solace. I had the pleasure of taking in a 3D screening on opening night and what a blast it was. The movie has a strong Toy Story-like feel, but the similarities are not distracting. The tale is familiar but well-written and briskly paced, populated with colorful characters, and animated in a loose, comfortable manner that easily draws the viewer in.
Quantum of Solace, despite finishing in second place, took a steep hit its second weekend out. It fell just over 60%. Despite the steep hit, the film crossed the $100 million plateau easily and looks like it is on its way to a healthy final tally. This movie is not as strong as Casino Royale, but it is a good film and a good continuation of the previous film's threads, giving us a new origin for the superspy.
The rest of the top ten finishers had relatively strong holds, although High School Musical 3 did plummet more than 68%, but that is to be expected as it dropped a number of theaters and lost a lot of its audience to the phenomenon that is Twilight. Then there is Zack and Miri Make a Porno. The Kevin Smith film is flattening out and looks to finish right in the vicinity of Smith's highest grossing films. Will he ever have a film breakthrough? I suppose he has a limited audience, but it also seems like he was Judd Apatow before there was a Judd Apatow.
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