A trio of new family films couldn’t put a stake in Breaking Dawn‘s box-office dominance. The first half of the final Twilight movie scared up $42 million over the three-day weekend and $62.3 million over the five-day holiday weekend, good enough to put the movie on top for a second straight weekend.
The Muppets handily took the No. 2 spot with $29.5 million and $42 million since Wednesday, well above most analysts’ expectations. The movie earned recommendations from 98% of the nation’s critics, making it one of the best-reviewed films of the year, according to Rottentomatoes.com. About 92% of moviegoers gave it a thumbs-up, the site says, a good sign for its holiday prospects.
Happy Feet Two took third place with $13.4 million over the weekend and $18.4 million over the holiday, lifting its two-week haul to $43.8 million, a disappointment considering that’s less than half the original made in its first two weeks.
The cartoon Arthur Christmas and Martin Scorsese’s children’s book adaptation Hugo duked it out for the remaining spots in the top 5.
Arthur, which earned a thumbs-up from 92% of reviewers, took No. 4 with $12.7 million and $17 million since Wednesday.
Hugo claimed the fifth spot with $11.4 million, lifting its five-day total to $15.4 million, an impressive haul considering the film opened on just 1,277 screens, about a third the theater count of most big-studio releases. Critics loved it, with 97% of critics recommending the film, Rottentomatoes says.