'New Moon' Sets Midnight Record, May Be Highest 2009 Earner

The vampire saga starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart absorbs an average of 7,476 dollars per theater in the domestic box office overnight and may be the highest earning movie this year.

"The Twilight Saga's New Moon" paves its way smoothly with the midnight earning at the box office. The number submitted by Summit Entertainment shows that the sequel to "Twilight" has taken approximately $26.3 million from 3,514 theaters on the eve of Friday, November 20.

It is a box office record for midnight screening this year because "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" topped it off with $22.2 million this summer. Even "The Dark Knight" which eventually took a high weekend gross from the box office only had $18.5 million from the midnight sale.

It is now up to the weekend earning whether "New Moon" will topple "Dark Knight" as the highest-earning movie this year. However, "New Moon" is screened in relatively fewer theaters compared to "Dark Knight" that was played widely in 4,366 theaters.

Nevertheless, it looks like "New Moon" will overtake its predecessor's earning. "Twilight" that was screened at 2,507 theaters took in $191.1 million from at the domestic box office during the first run. It was re-released on Thursday, November 19 night and added $1.3 million to the total.

Hollywood box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian said that the midnight start of "New Moon" portends "an opening weekend that could be one of the biggest of the year."