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UPDATES Twilight Fans Lining Up For Monday’s ‘New Moon’ Premiere
EXCLUSIVE: That’s what I’m told by Fandango, even though there are still 5 more days before the Summit Entertainmnent’s vampire pic based on Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling books has its November 20 release date. New Moon has already leaped over previous record-holders to become the top-selling pre-release title in Fandango’s 10-year history. The new record for Fandango’s fastest-selling film was set on Saturday night after 8:00 PM.
The Top 5 Advance Ticket-Sellers on Fandango are now as follows:
1. New Moon (2009)
2. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
4. The Dark Knight (2008)
5. Twilight (2008)
The latest chapter of The Twilight Saga is currently accounting for 86% of weekly ticket sales on Fandango, the nation’s leading movie ticketing destination. Thousands of Thursday night midnight showtimes for New Moon are already sold out across the country. Yet New Moon tickets continue to be available. To meet the fan demand, the nation’s top theater owners are regularly posting brand new showtimes on additional screens. “For many fans, it’s the year’s most anticipated film event,” Fandango COO Rick Butler said in a statement for me. “Ever since tickets went on sale in September, it’s been among our top five weekly ticket-sellers, as New Moon has a strong pull on audiences. We’re seeing a higher-than-usual number of tickets per transaction for this film, suggesting that moviegoers will show up en masse at theaters this weekend with their friends and family.”
According to a recent Fandango survey of 2,000+ New Moon ticket-buyers:
– 98% say the action in New Moon looks better than the action in Twilight
– 72% plan to see the movie with a group of three friends/ or more.
– 52% of survey respondents say they dream about vampires.
– 22% are mothers and daughters planning to see New Moon together
– 10% plan to show up at the theater dressed as the saga characters.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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I believe it. People have gone New Moon crazy. Twilight was such a huge hit and this film is rumored to be 10x better!
well that wont really be hard…i mean the first movie was such a let down in comparison to the book so i really hope that it will be as good as its rumored to be!
This is looking like a 100+ million opening. The first one opened around 67-70, since that the vampire culture in the U.S has gone up by 1000%. Everyone knows Rob Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, & Taylor Lautner. This 2nd one actually looks better but besides a huge opening what can it do. If New Moon opens 90-100. Drops into the 43-48 range on 2nd weekend. Obviously sails to 200 mil but chances for 300 M?
Yeah, I think it could easily do a Harry Potter-level $280-290. First one was big enough and the hype has exploded since then. Never underestimate how many times teen girls will be willing to watch it.
If Twilight broke 300k, this one will make it into the Top 10.
Also according to the survey, 99.9% of them are girls under the age of 17 with a rather skewed notion of what vampires actually are.
Skewed notion of what vampires are? As FICTIONAL monsters, vampires can be whatever the writer dreams up as long as you stick to the basic rules of undead blood-drinker.
This is not a “vampire” story per say, but a teenage love story, a romance with out sex. The series of Twilight books were written by a Mormon woman by the name of Stephanie Meyers (google her).
She’s tapped into the notion of romance and first love, etc.
I seen a lot of older woman go for this movie and the books as well… so the audience range is not only tweens but women in their 40′s.. Summit Entertainment has tapped into a gold mind.
Other studios are too stupid to figure out that this nich market is a billion dollar + industry because they’ve always discounted woman… me thinks its because women are not well represented in this industry.
There are not that many women execs.
Its a metrosexual guys world in Hollywood.
“There are not that many women execs.”
Seriously?! Have you ever even worked in this business?!
If anyone doesn’t think “sex sells,” think again. Fans may not be willing to admit it, but Taylor Lautner’s incredible physiche will be filling theatres and causing lots of hot flashes. Robert WHO?
ROBERT WHO***** UR TRIPPIN’
It does look like a U$100 million opening, alright. And I’ve been saying for some time, I believe this movie will have the highest grossing opening weekend in November. All it has to do is make more than U$103 million.
BOM is reporting the movie will open in 4000+ theaters. That means New Moon would need to make a per theater average of about U$26,000. And those numbers are certainly reachable. The first movie, Twilight, had a PTA of U$20,000.
The first one really surprised me with the box office, but the early, heavy-handed advertising with this one leads me to suspect the producers don’t exactly have the confidence one would expect of this ilk. I’m not sure why…it would appear to be a shoe-in. I suspect there is a back-lash from the male, vampire culture fans, but they didn’t make up the majority of the fanbase anyway. But, that still counts as tickets lost.
So I’ll chaulk the projections up to “hype” designed to get people out and into the theaters. Whether that works or not remains to be seen. I recognize this franchise is quite popular, but I’ll project 55-65$ million opening week. Sharp drop-off (55%) the following (Thanksgiving) week.
I wouldn’t quit my day job to become a box office forecaster if I were you.
I’m pretty sure the producers are plenty confident on this one.
55-65 million is going to happen on the first day in my opinion. Like Captain Obvious said, don’t quit your day job.
I would say there is literall 0% chance this does less than $90 million and in all likelihood, it will do quite a bit more than $100.
Sounds like Kilroy works for someone who passed on Twilight and is now opening a competitive product Thanksgiving. I’d be surprised if there was more than 33% drop second week, in fact with the extra long holiday weekend New Moon might well drop significantly less than 20%.
I’m pretty sure you’re only guessing teenage girls will be seeing New Moon. Don’t forget the Twi-moms. Also think about just how many times these people will go see this movie. I know as a teenager I saw Titanic 4 times on the big screen. Don’t underestimate the hormonal fandom of teenage girls (or the adult fans for that matter)!
As a Twi Mom seeing the film with my pre-teen daughter… just wanted to let everyone know the guys are joining us this time! So count guys in when you’re estimating. My pre-teen son and husband are along for the ride. Shape shifters, vampires, motorcycles, anchored by a good story. 103.2 million this weekend is my estimate.
After what “Twilight” and “Precious” are doing and going to do at the boxoffice, I don’t want to hear any more crap out of Hollywood about how girls, women and black women don’t go to the movies. Any exec that makes that claim after next week should have his head bitten off by a vampire.
every1 went twilight crazy when the book and the movie came out and the only thing they talk bout is twilight the movie. Now it seemed that every1 r impatient 4 the new moon movie 2 come out including me….every1 r crazy bout it.
it will open big. but from a quality perspective, the film looks like it sucks ass.
So it’s faithful to the source material.
Plenty of repeat buys with this one … Watch this beat Avatar that would be funny.
This isn’t that amazing. This record will be smashed in the near future as more and more people are buying tickets online and in advance. So who really cares?
When you buy a ticket on Fandango, you pay $1.50 extra per ticket. So, the only people who are buying their tickets in advance or who will buy their tickets in advance in the future, are those that are concerned that it may sell out.
Not many will pay that kind of fee if they don’t feel like they have to do so.
And let’s say that the theaters get smart and let you pay in advance without fees in the future. Then the record shown in the headline above can’t be comparable in the future for that little $1.50 reason I just gave.
This record is significant especially considering online ticket sales via Fandango.com have been available for over 10 years now. It’s not like this is a new concept.
I was dubious about all this New Moon excitement until driving to work this morning over by UCLA. The line goes for blocks of young teens and their parents. I couldn’t believe such a tween movie would receive such loyalty, but it has.
I don’t think it will be another Titanic, but the audience it appeals to is similar, tween girls. I saw virtually no boys in the line, but did see older men (dads) with their daughters.
Granted, I’m not going to see it. But the idea of teen romance and never-ending love, repackaged, appears to always sell.
I was wrong. This picture is going to smash records (no matter how good or bad it is), at least in the first two weeks.
It’s not just a tween movie. The number of adult women in my office who have been hooked on Twilight for the past few years is staggering. I would guess that at least 30-40% of the audience will be adult women there without kids.
So how many times is “Entertainment Weekly” going to put these “Twilight” people on their covers? Enough already.
“New Moon” – Biggest hit of the Fall? As long as it makes more $$$ then the awful “2012″ I’ll be happy. And I didn’t even like “Twilight.”
Um..was it Supposed to look like a Black & White movie? Where was the color?
I am going to go out on a limb and predict that New Moon will pass $450,000,000 in sales. People will see it more than once, and it will have long legs.
I don’t want to see New Moon nor Twilight, but I heard you have to see Twilight first before seeing New Moon. I guess it sells ’cause LOTS of people really want to see it.
Regarding Precious, BoxOfficeMojo has the budget at 10 million and the domestic revenue at $8 million. Considering that its opening weekend brought in only $1 million and change, Precious is so far a financial failure and likely to remain one.
Census Bureau has 304 million US residents, about 76% of them White. That is a potential audience of 231 million people. Blacks are about 12.5% of the population, or around 38 million. Yes, that few (contrary to TV advertising, movies, and television roes which profoundly over-represent Blacks portion of the population). Black women are about half that, or 19 million.
Honestly, which Market would you rather have? There are a lot of things to excoriate Hollywood marketers and studio execs for, but basic demographic reality is not one of them.
Black films need to do one of two things: be amazingly cheap like Tyler Perry’s films and turn out the very small demographic that is Black, or appeal to Whites in a fairly wide way. Even at its most racist and Segregationist past, Whites in America have made folks like Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington rich. Assuming an average ticket price of $11, about 727,000 people went to see “Precious.” That’s about 3% of the possible audience of 19 million Black women.
There is about 23 million White females ages 10-24 (core audience for Twilight) which is not much more than all Black women (of all ages). [Census Bureau data.] There are about 25 million men/boys White ages 15-29 (by way of comparison).
Tyler Perry and Stephanie Meyer are alike in that they produce stuff (which I personally don’t like but understand the appeal) that has a tremendous hold on the fairly similar demographics in size — teen/young White females and Blacks. Meyer if anything probably turns out her demo stronger than Perry his.
BUT … neither have any appeal beyond their base. Don’t expect the Twilight movie to set Star Wars type box office records because of lack of cross-over. Star Wars Attack of the Clones had an $80 million opening weekend because girls/women were willing to see it too with their dates, while New Moon is likely to be 100% male repellent. I’m sure the New Moon movie will do well, and probably better than Avatar (which has flop all over it buzz-wise). But it won’t be Star Wars because it lacks cross-over appeal or at least toleration to men.
I think you’re kinda wrong about New Moon being 100% male repellent. Most young men I know who’ve seen the first one became okay with it (mostly because they don’t have a choice)…
I’m reading and reading… and reading. And I see a lot of percentages and dry numbers logic. But none of the emotional logic that goes into the niche markets.
The same film execs that you defend for wanting the best demographic market – and, of course, cross-over appeal – are the ones that know the reality of BRANDED properties, whether in a popular/critical book (series), festival successes/buzz (critics) and/or markets/advertising.
You can’t possibly know the business if you think Precious in its early, limited release is & will be a financial failure. Lionsgate, Oprah, Perry & co won’t let that happen. The film has plenty of legs, and we haven’t even talked about the ancillary markets.
And you must be smoking something from a rival prod co if you think New Moon won’t do at least 15-20 million above Twilight’s 70 million opening. It’s a sequel: and grown, intelligent women will see this, not just tween girls.
Your numbers may, at first, make sense but you haven’t the “show” in your “business” argument.
“Precious, BoxOfficeMojo has the budget at 10 million and the domestic revenue at $8 million. Considering that its opening weekend brought in only $1 million and change, Precious is so far a financial failure and likely to remain one”
Precious opened in 18 theatres for a $104,025 per theatre average. Despite having only a limited release the film is well on it’s way to making a profit.
“There is about 23 million White females ages 10-24 (core audience for Twilight) which is not much more than all Black women (of all ages). [Census Bureau data.] There are about 25 million men/boys White ages 15-29 (by way of comparison).”
Why are you comparing 10-24 year old females to 15-29 year old males and then claiming there is a greater male audience? Everyone knows there are more women in this country than men. Hollywood MBA marketing and studio execs can skew the numbers any way you like to justify discrimination. Women aren’t an audience, African Americans aren’t an audience, so why bother to hire them as writer/directors or make films to appeal to this demographic.
I know this is hard for a businessman to understand, if you make a good film with an actual story, people of all genders and ethnic backgrounds may go to see the film, even if it doesn’t appeal to their narrow demographic. For example millions of people went to see “Shindler’s List” and the American Jewish population is only 1.7%.
Whiskey, did you even bother to check how many theaters Precious is currently playing in? Of course not. 5.8 million over the weekend while playing in only 174 theaters – to black audiences AND the arthouse crowd. Nationwide release is this Friday and it will probably make 10 million at least. As far as your nonsense about demographics goes, Indian Americans are less than one percent of the US population and yet Slumdog Millionaire went on to make 141 million domestically with nary a white actor in sight. It’s about the story, not the color/gender of the cast.
Secondly, you’re completely “off base” on Twilight. NO FILM can compare to the Star Wars franchise, but Twilight outgrossed recent guy friendly films like Wolverine (373 mil), Terminator: Salvation(371 mil) and G.I. Joe (301 mil) with 383 million worldwide. Next time, try looking at the numbers before coming up with flawed arguments…
Too much consumption of namesake must be the cause of such a seriously ignorant statement
“Considering that its opening weekend brought in only $1 million and change, Precious is so far a financial failure and likely to remain one.”
I have no personal stake or interest in the movie Precious, it’s on a platform release pattern and has to date garnered HUGE per screen revenues. To not take into consideration future week expansions and down stream revenues is clearly showing ignorance of the financial aspect of this business.
Me thinks whiskey has a different agenda entirely.
I think you may find yourself to be very wrong. I am a white female, in my 30s who had to DRAG my husband to see Star Wars. We will be seeing New Moon w/another couple, as it turns out, the white male is dragging his white female girlfriend to see it. (They are also in their 30′s). You may have a hold on your white v.s. black ratios, but you need to take into account what everyones genres are before you can make a call like that.
Just wanted to chime in for the “mature” fans of the series – we are here. We want to see this movie, and we are going to spend our hard-earned, “I-didn’t-get-it-from-babysitting-for-it “ money to see it multiple times this weekend and beyond.
I am an educated, career-oriented, happily-married, middle-aged mom of one who fell in love with this tale. And I am not alone. I only point this out to say that I think the misconception by “haters” and by the press that this is a TWEEN movie are missing the mark.
We are here. We have money. And we are going to spend it on immersing ourselves in a great love story this weekend, hanging out with girlfriends and simply having a good time. That equals box office “gravy”, and if you take a bet that New Moon will do less than $100M its opening weekend, you better get ready to empty your wallet right now.
Right there with you sister. My sister and I love the Twilight saga and are both college educated, married, and in our thirties. Nobody calls Romeo and Juliet a tweens-only story and those characters are younger than Bella and Edward.
See everyone! I was right about the demographic!
Twilight (at its core is a young romance about first love) appeals to females from Tweens to 40′s and beyond.
Romance is not dead.. it just needed a little water to bloom…. and then it took off like a weed world wide.
Hurry for the twihards!
You may end up changing the industry, and opening the doors for more women execs and writers, if you continue to demand this sort of film. Speak up women !!
New Moon will open to at least $100M, mark my words. The hype and awareness for this is astronomical, and this article proves it.
And, to whoever said that New Moon will only open to $55-65M for its opening, why would New Moon fail to open to $70M when even Twilight, which had far less hype and appeal than New Moon has, opened to $70M. As a matter of fact, even 2012, Up, Fast and Furious, Star Trek and Monster vs. Aliens opened to $65M, $68M, $70M, $75M, and $59M, respectively, so to say that a sequel opening in more than 4,000 theaters like New Moon will only open to $55-65M is a telltale sign of ignorance.
Sure, it will do well opening weekend. But will it appeal to moviegoers outside the TWILIGHT base and become a Harry Potter-type mint-money phenomenon, which is obviously what Summit really wants? And since Summit put a ton of money in P&A to ensure broadened box-office will that gamble pay off as well?
Who cares about Twilight appealing to “beyond the base” !!!.. when the base constitutes like 75% of the women world wide, who will see this movie multiple times.
Therefore…Beyond the base?? Who the “F” cares about beyond the base!???
LMAO!
“Precious is so far a financial failure and likely to remain one.”
You do know PRECIOUS is still being platformed out, correct? (If it were failing, it wouldn’t be gaining theaters every week, no?) And you also know it has been drawing white audiences as well as African-American ones, right? Add to that the ongoing Oscar hype and the “little movie that did” underdog/curiosity factor, and this movie will be far from a failure. But, hey, since your baseline debate stance is usually “Real Men go to Real Men’s movies” I guess you wouldn’t be aware of any of the above…
New Moon is going to be massive, every teen in the country has known about this movie for months now… Biggest opening ever, mark my words.
The Twilight series is an American phenomena, so I’m guessing it won’t have the worldwide box-office take some other films did. I can see it hitting the $300 million mark when all is said and done.
Just depends what happens to viewership after the second week of release.
I don’t know where some people are getting there numbers but this movie is so big that it will blow all opening weekend sales out of the water. I have no doubt. I work in this industry and it is clear as day why it will shatter every prediction out there. Every movie that has done well has some general appeal beyond a target demographic (even the Star Wars movies were “date night” movies which got females in seats thus a crossover draw) what all those other movies lack is repeat business beyond expectation or even sanity. I for one have purchased two sets of tickets for me and my friends for opening day. noon showing and night showing and a set for Saturday to take my husband. I am not alone in this, it is an addiction that will only be explained by ridiculous numbers on Monday morning. Take the $110 million predictions and double that. There is not a single person I know that will be seeing this movie just one time. I am thirty something and I can’t remember the last time a movie created such a mass hysteria.
I love how this article is saying New Moon is smashing pre sales records by Stars Wars, Harry Potter, and The Dark Knight but don’t mention how it won’t even come close to doing what those movies did. Those movies have either made close to 1 BILLION DOLLARS or more than 1 BILLION DOLLARS!!! New Moon has ZERO chance of that happening.
The article is about advanced ticket sales and how that affects opening weekend gross. Whether or not New Moon ultimately comes close to Star Wars final box office number is irrelevant to this discussion.
Let me tell you guys that there are tons and tons of ppl going to see this movie it is not just a teen movie. Ugh! It is annoying when ppl say teen/tween movie. There are so many women and men in love with this series, I for sure am. In my opinion it is rare beautiful love story between star crossed lovers. Forget the Vampires! This is pure love in my opinion even comparable to Romeo and Juliet. That is why I believe Twilight became a huge it because of the beautiful story. I am an full grown woman and I tend to stay out of the hollywoood stuff and dont really watch movies. As a matter of fact I forgot the last time I watched a movie. I have never been so excited to see a movie in my life even back in the day when I was a teenager. And may I dare say the this movie/s can bring in a billion dollars. Seriously. Jokes aside.