Twilight,’ ‘Lincoln,’ ‘Skyfall’ lead record Thanksgiving Weekend Box Office sales

While there were several new films opening over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday,  holdovers like The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 and Skyfall easily led the way.

From Wednesday to Sunday, total box office revenue in the US reached $290 million, easily surpassing 2009’s $270.5 million, notes The Hollywood Reporter. From Friday to Sunday, the weekend totaled $206.7 million.

Breaking Dawn 2 held the top spot for the second weekend in a row, earning another $43.07 million over the weekend and $64.02 million over the five days, reports Box Office Mojo. After just 10 days, the film is up to $227 million domestically and $577.7 million worldwide.

The latest James Bond film, Skyfall, is already the highest-grossing Bond film of all time in the US. It added $36 million over the weekend and $51.1 million from Wednesday to Sunday. It’s up to $221.7 million and could pass $270 million by the time it leaves theaters.

Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln was the big surprise over the holiday, earning $34.1 million over the five days, notes Entertainment Weekly. Over the three-day weekend, the film made $25 million, which was actually a 19 percent increase than what it made last weekend. It’s up to $62.2 million total.

In fourth was Rise of the Guardians, the last Dreamworks Animation film to be distributed by Paramount. The film cost $145 million to make, but grossed just $32.4 million over the five days and $24.0 million over three days. Thankfully for Paramount and Dreamworks, the audience that did see it, liked it, giving it an A CinemaScore grade, so the studios have to hope that helps it in the long term.

Fox’s awards contender Life of Pi made $30.2 million over the five days and $22.0 million over the weekend. The film is directed by Ang Lee and cost $120 million to produce.

Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph added $23.01 million over the five days and $16.8 million over the weekend. It’s up to $149.5 million.

The Red Dawn remake, which was actually made back in 2009, made $22 million over the five days. Silver Linings Playbook made $5.9 million over the five days in limited release.