UPDATE 1-'New Moon' shines on record holiday box office
*Vampire romance 'New Moon' draws repeat female viewers
*Football movie 'Blind Side' appeals to multiple audiences
By Bob Tourtellotte
LOS ANGELES, Nov 29 (Reuters) - "The Twilight Saga: NewMoon" rose to the top of movie box office charts for the secondstraight week on Sunday with a three-day haul of $42.5 millionon a record-breaking holiday weekend in North America,according to studio estimates.
Over the five-day U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, the vampireromance starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and TaylorLautner took in $66 million, pushing its two-week total intheaters to $230.7 million in North America, said independentstudio Summit Entertainment, which backed the movie.
Internationally, the high-profile sequel to last year'smonster hit "Twilight," based on the best-selling novels byStephenie Meyer, has taken in $243 million for a worldwidetotal just under $475 million in two weeks.
Richard Fay, president of domestic distribution for Summit,said the movie continued to do strong repeat business frommostly teenage girls who are fans of the movies and books, andit was able to expand its audiences to include older women.
Total movie ticket sales for the five-day holiday period inNorth America reached a record $278 million, beating the oldfigure of $244 million set back in 2000 when "How the GrinchStole Christmas" and "Unbreakable" were the two top films,according to sales tracker Hollywood.com Box-Office.
Coming in at No. 2, also for the second straight week, wasSandra Bullock football film "The Blind Side" with three-day salesof $40.1 million and a two-week total of $100.5 million. Disasterfilm "2012" rounded out the top three with $18 million in threedays, boosting its three-week total to $139 million.
SEEING "BLIND"
"Blind Side," produced by Alcon Entertainment and releasedby Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros, (TWX.N), played well to allaudiences. Bullock helped draw women, sports lured men and thefeel-good tale about a woman played by Bullock who helps ahomeless boy become a football hero attracted families.
"This is a movie that plays equally to both genders," saidAndrew Kosove, co-chief executive of Alcon Entertainment. "Agreat deal of moviegoing is consensus driven (among families)and we were the consensus movie for the weekend."
Natural disaster flick "2012" also continued to score well.Internationally, its ticket sales now stand at $456 million,boosting its global haul to $595 million, said distributorColumbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp (6758.T).
Among new movies, Disney (DIS.N) comedy "Old Dogs" withJohn Travolta and Robin Williams was No. 4 in North Americawith $16.8 million on the weekend and $24 million for fivedays. Warner Bros' (TWX.N) "Ninja Assassin" with Koreansuperstar Rain was No. 6 with $13.1 million and $21 million forthe 3-day and 5-day periods, respectively.
Other noteworthy titles include Disney's "A ChristmasCarol," which claimed the No. 5 spot with $16 million, pushingits North American cumulative ticket sales to $105 million.
Twentieth Century Fox expanded the release of its animatedmovie "Fantastic Mr. Fox," widely around the United States and itclimbed to the No. 9 spot with $7 million on the weekend. Fox is aunit of News Corp (NWSA.O) (Editing by Cynthia Osterman) ((To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog"Fan Fare" online at blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/)) ((bob.tourtellotte@thomsonreuters.com; 1 213-380-2014))
Source: Reuters
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