New Moon Breaks Records, Makes $72.7Mil In Day

LOS ANGELES – Vampires and werewolves have vanquished a dark knight.
“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” took in $72.7 million in its first day to break the single-day domestic box-office record.

The previous record was held by “The Dark Knight,” which had a $67.2 million opening day last year on hundreds of more screens.

The Friday haul for the “Twilight” sequel – aimed at the tween and teen girl audience – includes a record $26.3 million from midnight screenings alone.

If “New Moon” maintains its pace, it might have a shot at the all-time best opening weekend record of $158.4 million, also held by “The Dark Knight.”

Only a dozen other flicks have sold $100 million worth of tickets in a single weekend.

The “New Moon” predecessor, “Twilight,” released exactly a year ago, ended up earning $193 million in North America after an opening weekend of $70million.

Fans lined up to see the sequel days in advance.

“New Moon” continues the story of teen romance between a girl and a vampire (Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson), with the sequel adding a love triangle with a teen werewolf (Taylor Lautner).

The “Twilight” film franchise is based on a series of four novels of the same name by Stephenie Meyer that have sold 85 million copies worldwide. A third film is due out in June.