Eclipse has finally passed the $300 million domestically!!
Despite losing 848 theaters — following a weekend-long increase in venues (officially) to celebrate Bella Swan's birthday — David Slade's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, starring Robert Pattinson (as the vampire Edward Cullen), Kristen Stewart (as the human Bella), and Taylor Lautner (as the werewolf Jacob Black), has finally crossed the $300m milestone after 12 weekends out.
According to studio estimates found at Box Office Mojo, Summit Entertainment's Eclipse (cost $68m) took in $205k at 339 sites, reaching a grand total of $300.099m. Thanks to higher ticket prices and a highly profitable IMAX run in July, Eclipse has become the first Twilight Saga movie to pass the $300m milestone.
On Box Office Mojo's chart (not adjusted for inflation, 3D/IMAX surcharges) showing the fastest movies to reach $300m domestically, Eclipse is at the no. 27 slot, sandwiched between Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($300.01m after 77 days in 2009) and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ($300.08m after 101 days in 2003).Yet, to date Chris Weitz's 2009 fall release The Twilight Saga: New Moon (total US/Canada gross: $296.62m) in all probability has sold more tickets domestically than Eclipse.
In order for Eclipse to beat New Moon in that regard, it'll have to gross another $2m-$3m. That's not an impossible task.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ended its run with $301.95m, while Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl took in $305.41m.
Note: The fastest movie to pass the $300m milestone domestically was Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight in 2008: 10 days. The slowest was Robert Zemeckis' Forrest Gump in 1994, when movie ticket prices were considerably lower: 193 day
