The final installment of the Twilight movie franchise, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, distributed by Lionsgate (NYSE:LGF), held the top spot at the box office this week, earning $64.2 million over the five-day holiday weekend, according to Box Office Mojo.
Second on the list was the latest James Bond film, Skyfall. The franchise’s 23rd episode earned $36 million this weekend to bring its total to $221.7 million — that cements Skyfall‘s spot as the top-earning film for 007.
Also doing well this weekend was the Spielberg bio-pic, Lincoln. The film — a history of President Abraham Lincoln’s attempt to pass the 13th Amendment during the Civil War — actually earned more this weekend than in its debut a week earlier. With $34.1 during the five-day weekend, it’s now on pace to break $100 million during its run.
In wide release, Dreamworks Animation’s (NASDAQ:DWA) Rise of the Guardians failed to meet expectations. Rise brought in only $32.6 million during the long weekend, underperforming previous Thanksgiving kids’ movies and prior Dreamworks releases.
Also appearing this weekend were the Ang Lee picture, Life of Pi, which did well ($30.15 million five-day), and the limited releases of Hitchcock and Rust and Bone, which did not ($301,000 and $30,200, respectively).
This weekend set a new record with the top 12 theater earners bringing in $206.7 million — $30 million better than the previous record set in 2009.
