Like any giant blockbuster worth its salt, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 opened in theaters across the country at midnight last night, and has practically broken the box office based on those screening alone. According to estimates at THR, Breaking Dawn earned $30.3 million from midnight screenings at 3,251 locations last night, just narrowly beating out Eclipse to set the record for midnight screenings in the Twilight franchise.
It would have been enough to set the midnight screenings all-time record if it weren't for that blasted Harry Potter, which brought in ridiculous $43.6 million over the summer and set a new record that will probably last for a long time. Don't be too sorry for Breaking Dawn though-- last night's $30.3 million puts it well on pace to match the $142.8 million opening weekend notched by New Moon, and definitely last summer's disappointing $64 million weekend. Hell, they're halfway there already.
If you've been following the site throughout the week you probably know that even though we didn't review it all that well, Breaking Dawn is still a pretty big deal around here too. If you want more on the movie, you can check out Eric's interview with director Bill Condon, or if you want to get away with it, we've also got suggestions for movie weddings we'd rather attend than Edward and Bella's. We'll be back at the end of the weekend with the final tally of Breaking Dawn's box office weekend, but I think you probably know already it's going to be a massive one. It's Edward Cullen's world; we'll just living in it.
