The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 Atop Biggest Thanksgiving Weekend In Box Office History

In what is officially the biggest Thanksgiving weekend in box office history, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2 retained its number one crown for the second consecutive week.

According to box-office tracker Hollywood.com, an estimated $ 290 million was taken during the five-day holiday period beginning on Wednesday. This new figure topples the previous Thanksgiving record of $ 273 million in 2009.

Following its $141.1 million domestic debut, Breaking Dawn – Part 2 racked up an additional $64 million from Wednesday through to Sunday, $43.1 million of that pulled in from Friday to Sunday.

The domestic total for the final installment in the vampire franchise now stands at $227 million, putting it ahead of the $220.8 million Breaking Dawn – Part 1 made in the same time frame last November.

In addition, Breaking Dawn – Part 2 pulled in $ 97.4 million internationally over the weekend, powering its overseas total to $350.8 million. The worldwide gross for the fifth Twilight film is now $ 577.7 million.

Snapping at its heels in second position was Skyfall. The latest outing for Daniel Craig’s James Bond took $ 51 million domestic over the weekend.

Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst at Hollywood.com, observed:

“We’re barreling toward a record-breaking box-office year.It’s built on the back of just a lot of really strong movies that have come out over the past few weekends. It bodes very well for the rest of the holidays.”

He added,

“Domestic revenues for 2012 are at $9.75 billion, putting Hollywood potentially on track for its first $11 billion year, which would beat the 2009 record of $10.6 billion.”

Breaking down the weekend’s statistics further, Sony’s Skyfall punched in $36 million from Friday to Sunday bringing its US box office to $221.7 million. Factoring in $ 41.3 million in overseas receipts, Skyfall’s international haul rose to $ 568.4 million taking its worldwide gross to $790.1 million.

Romping into third place with $ 34.1 million was Dreamwork’s Lincoln. Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, the civil war epic took $25 million over the weekend lifting its domestic box office to $62.2 million.

Coming in at number four, Paramount and Dreamwork’s Rise of the Guardians delivered $24 million over the weekend. Since its Wednesday debut, the festive animation has pulled in $32.6 million.

Just behind at number five, Twentieth Century Fox’s visually stunning Life of Pi took $22 million over the holiday. Another Wednesday opener, Ang Lee’s 3-D picture has taken $30.2 million domestically and $17.5 internationally.

Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph drew the number six position with $16.8 million across three days and $23 million over five days, bringing its domestic bank to $149.5 million.

Lucky number seven was Red Dawn. A remake of the same titled 1980’s US-invasion story, the Chris Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson starrer pulled in $14.6 million over the weekend driving its total to $22 million.

Fox Searchlight’s Hitchcock starring Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren managed $ 300, 000 after opening in limited release in 17 theaters.

Figures so far are estimates and final domestic numbers will be released on Monday. The box office table below courtesy of FilmFans.