“Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” and “Skyfall” drove a huge Friday that has the box office on pace for a record-breaking Thanksgiving weekend.
The vamps and vampires of Summit Entertainment’s franchise finale “Breaking Dawn 2” sucked up another $17.4 million Friday, and should bring in around $63.5 million for the five days. Its overall gross should hit $228 million by the end of the weekend.
Back for its third week, the 23rd film in the 50-year-old James Bond franchise, "Skyfall," crossed the $200 million mark in domestic grosses with $14.7 million Friday. It could hit $50 million over the long weekend.
Also read: 'Lincoln' Women: How Sally Field and Gloria Reuben Stole Daniel Day-Lewis' Show
Oscar front-runner “Lincoln” continued to over-perform, and the three films that opened this weekend — DreamWorks Animation’s “Rise of the Guardians,” Fox’s “Life of Pi” and Film District’s “Red Dawn” remake — all saw big jumps from Thursday. That adds up to a holiday weekend that should easily eclipse the $258.6 million standard set in 2009.
DreamWorks' "Lincoln" nearly doubled its Thursday haul and took in almost $10 million Friday. It's overall domestic gross is at $47 million, and it is on track for $34 million over the five days.
The computer-animated 3D family film "Rise of the Guardians" was up nearly 150 percent from Thursday to Friday, and Saturday should be even stronger. With $9.2 million Friday, the final DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by Paramount is tracking for a five-day total of around $31 million. That's at the low end of expectations.
After rising 24 percent on Thanksgiving, Ang Lee's lyrical "Life of Pi" jumped another 97 percent on Friday and took in around $8.8 million. That projects to a $30 million five-day total, and would be a strong start for the film, which looks like an awards contender but was considered a wild card at the box office.
Disney's "Wreck-It Ralph" added $6.6 million and is on a pace for $23 million over the five days in its fourth week. It's domestic gross is $149 million.
"Red Dawn" took in $6 million Friday and is looking at $22 million over the holiday weekend.
The Weinstein Company’s Oscar hopeful “Silver Linings Playbook” took in $1.6 million from 367 locations, which translates to a five-day total in the $5.6 million range.