The vampire romance Twilight not only topped the Nov. 21 box office, it also pulled in a better-than-expected $70.6 million, the Associated Press reported.
Catherine Hardwicke's film also enjoyed the biggest opening ever for a female director, blowing away the previous standard of $41.1 million set by Mimi Leder's SF movie Deep Impact in 1998.
Drawing from its huge fan base of teenage girls, who fell for Stephenie Meyer's novels, Twilight made a whopping $20,636 per theater, according to estimates.
Summit Entertainment, which released Twilight, announced during the weekend that it's going ahead with production of New Moon, based on the second book in Meyer's internationally best-selling series. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will return as its star-crossed lovers, but whether Hardwicke will be at the helm again is still being determined.
Hardwicke told the AP on Nov. 23 that she was heading to a meeting later in the day to discuss her possible involvement in New Moon.
Twilight cost just $37 million to make. The tremendous take far exceeded expectations, which had been set around $50 million.
The other major debut of the weekend, Walt Disney's 3-D animated Bolt, made $27 million to take third place.
Last weekend's number-one movie, Quantum of Solace, came in second place, with $27.4 million. The latest James Bond adventure has now grossed $109.5 million, and it crossed the $100 million mark faster than any other film in the franchise. It's also made $309 million internationally.
