The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn – Part 2: Box Office Tracking Like A Boss
With 21 days still to go before The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 juggernaut lands in theaters, the adjectives are already flying.
Deadline’s Nikki Finke reports that expected box office for the fifth film in the franchise is “tracking like [a] monster hit” and could become the “biggest of them all.”
According to the site, Part 2’s advance tickets sales are “running 16% ahead” of Part 1’s previous numbers. Finke notes:
“Not only is Breaking Dawn – Part 2 tracking better than any other film already or about to open in the domestic box office before mid-November, but it’s even better than James Bond — 72 awareness for Skyfall vs 88 for Breaking Dawn – Part 2.”
Those readings suggest the final installment could not only smash Breaking Dawn – Part 1’s $ 138.1 million opening weekend but also New Moon’s. The second film in the series — New Moon — has grossed the highest box office so far, banking over $ 709 million worldwide.
On October 1, first day advance ticket sales for Breaking Dawn — Part 2 delivered an 87% hike above comparative first day numbers for Part 1’s pre-sales. Specifically, Part 1 advance sales racked up $ 626K whereas Part 2’s tallied $ 1.17 million. Those figures were boosted by bookings for the November 15 marathon screenings of all five saga installments.
Yesterday Finke said:
“Within only a few days of advance tickets going on sale October 1st, Breaking Dawn Part 2 already represented half of Fandango’s sales for the week. Now Fandango tells me it’s 36% of today’s overall ticket sales even though it doesn’t open for 3 weeks yet — outselling this weekend’s Argo, Cloud Atlas, and Silent Hill: Revelation combined.”
Deadline insist “awareness” of Breaking Dawn — Part 2 is the “highest” it’s ever been for the whole franchise, which will come as no surprise to anyone observing the saturation reporting of Kristen Stewart’s tryst with Snow White and The Huntsman director Rupert Sanders.
Add in the ongoing speculation about Robert Pattinson and Stewart’s timely reconciliation, and it’s not hard to see why the buzz for the “epic finale” is so strong. Pictures of the couple at a Prince concert last night may finally silence the cynics.
Finke writes:
“Were those Summit execs born under a lucky star or what? The pair reunited just in time for all the worldwide promotion like personal appearances and press tours. And the studio denies their reunion is a publicity stunt. ‘They’re kids. They break up. They get back together. They’re good’ one exec assures me.”
With available tickets for camping in Tent City at the November 12 world premiere at L.A’s Nokia Theater already extended to cope with demand and an intensive promotional tour now underway, it’s more than likely the hype will match the reality come the movie’s debut on November 16.
A scenario which could see Summit-Lionsgate’s $ 2.5 billion franchise sprinting to a record breaking finish. Whether Breaking Dawn — Part 2 will top Marvel’s The Avengers or The Dark Knight Rises’opening weekends remains to be seen. But as of now, there’s everything to play for.
