'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' shines brightly and briefly

By Sarah Sluis

This week's wide releases, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and The Last Airbender, were full of the box-office vagaries that result from pre-weekend opening and four-day holiday weekends.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse burned through its audience quickly. Attracted by the fun of going to midnight and opening day screenings, audiences turned out to the tune of $68 million on Wednesday. The number quickly fell to $24 million the next day. On Friday, the movie's take rose to $28 million, before dipping down again to $23 million on Saturday. It dropped 40% on Sunday, the Fourth of July, to $16 million, and fell another 18% on Monday to $13.5 million. All told, the vampire romance has grossed $175 million in six days. The Twilight Saga: New Moon actually earned a similar amount, $178 million, in the first six days of its release (Friday through Wednesday). The movie's precipitous fall through the long weekend shows the intense anticipation among its fanbase, but also the tentpole's limited appeal. Whether Eclipse will exceed New Moon's $296 million cumulative gross remains to be seen.

The Last Airbender had dismal reviews and minimal audience turnout for midnight screenings on the eve of

its Thursday release, but it played consistently throughout the weekend to end up with $70 million over five days, an impressive total for a movie with such negative responses. Its placement in the "family movie" category proved to be a boon. Both Airbender and Toy Story 3, both movies boasted revenues 34% higher on Monday than Sunday, which may have been "family movie time."

Another anomaly of the weekend was the 70% rise (104% over the four-day weekend) in Letters to Juliet, which has been out for eight weeks. The PG-rated flick, along with a cast that spans generations, filled a gap in family fare. After opening to just $13 million, the movie has grossed $50 million, including $830,000 over the holiday weekend.

Fox Searchlight's Cyrus broke into the top ten three weeks into its release, bringing in $1 million over the long weekend. Going from 17 to 77 theatres, revenue rose 156%, while per-screen averages remained above $10,000.

Among returning releases, Toy Story 3 played strongest, earning $42.2 million, enough to cross the movie over the $300 million mark in a Buzz Lightyear-paced three weeks. Including just Friday to Sunday grosses, however, the movie dropped 49%, consistent with most other movies in the top ten.

This Friday, another animated movie enters the mix. Illumination Entertainment will debut their first release, Despicable Me. To please the horror/sci-fi crowds, Predators will offer up some summer movie scares.