Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner have taken to Twitter to thank fans for the “New Moon” mania sweeping the country. The eagerly awaited Twilight sequel took top box office honors last weekend, pulling in a whopping $140 million, which could make it the top-grossing film of 2009.

Pattinson, 23, who plays sexy vampire Edward Cullen, gave a shout out to fans on Twilight’s Twitter page, writing, “Thank you for making NEW MOON #1,” It’s very exciting to be a part of something embraced by so many people.”

Stewart, 19, who plays Bella Swan, then Tweeted, “You all have proven you’re the most amazing fans in the world once again. I feel so lucky to be a part of The Twilight Saga and thank you for making us #1!”

Lautner, who plays werewolf Jacob, “Thanks for your incredible support of New Moon.”

Source from People and Time

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The second film in Summit Entertainment’s blockbuster franchise outright doubled ‘Twilight’s’ opening weekend of $69.6 million, and it did so almost entirely with a female audience: A whopping 80 percent of “New Moon” tickets went to women. Theatergoers were evenly split between those under 21-years-old and over, and they were clearly satisfied, giving “New Moon” a solid “A-” CinemaScore rating.

Despite the film’s sharp drop from its record-setting $72.7 million opening day  “New Moon’s” Saturday total was $43.2 million, and it’s estimated to take in $24.8 million on Sunday it’s abundantly clear that Bella, Edward, and Jacob have plenty to howl about: Worldwide, “New Moon” raked in $258.8 million.

Vampires and werewolves weren’t the only champions at the box office, either. Sandra Bullock continued her stellar year, with her true-life sports drama “The Blind Side” clearing an estimated $34.5 million for second place. It’s the best opening gross of Bullock’s career a record she set just five months ago when “The Proposal” took in $33.6 million all the more remarkable considering 59 percent of the audience was women, making this one of the most lopsidedly female-driven weekends in Hollywood history. “The Blind Side” also tallied a terrific “A+” CinemaScore, which should bolster the film through the rest of the year as a true word-of-mouth hit.

Given this weekend’s massive box-office tsunami, it is actually rather impressive that mega-disaster movie “2012″ only dropped 59 percent on its second weekend, taking in $26.5 million for $108.2 million total and third place.

The weekend’s real casualty was the animated sci-fi comedy “Planet 51,” which managed to open at just $12.6 million for fourth place.

At fifth, Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” continued to hold on strong, dropping 45 percent for $12.2 million and $79.8 million total.

And “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” pulled in $11 million for sixth place on just 629 screens; after only three weeks of a limited, platform release, the Oscar favorite has grossed a stunning $21.4 million.

Two other limited release debuts had varying success. Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar’s latest film “Broken Embraces” took in a solid $54,000 per theater in two venues. Meanwhile, in 27 theaters, Nicolas Cage’s critically acclaimed performance lifted “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” to a $9,519 per theater average.

Overall, this November weekend at the box office felt yet again like the height of the summer season: The top ten films raked in $245 million, an insane 59 percent jump from last year (when “Twilight” was king).

In fact, movie theaters have not seen this much business since “The Dark Knight” thundered into cineplexes in July 2008, and it bears repeating that all those dollar signs this weekend came by far from the purses, pocketbooks, and wallets of women.

source: cnn.com

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LaineyGossip has posted exclusive pictures and a video from the Eclipse opening sequence’s filming.

Xavier Samuel (Riley) can be seen walking in the rain, while being shot for what is apparantly the scene set to open the movie. A still-human Riley is being chased through Seattle by the vampire Victoria before soon being outrun, attacked, bitten, and turned.

Although the book doesn’t open with, or feature, this scene, we think it’s a good move to kick things off with some action. A little extra content never hurts and, so far, Melissa Rosenberg’s new scenes have only benefitted Twilight and what we’ve heard about in New Moon. If Stephenie Meyer is happy, then so are we.

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Director: Chris Weitz
Writers (WGA): Melissa Rosenberg (screenplay) and Stephenie Meyer (novel)
Release Date:  20 November 2009 (USA)
Genre: Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Romance | Thriller

Watch New Moon Online Free

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My colleague Kyle Smith gives it 1.5 stars and hilariously quips that it “moves like the line at the post office.” Predictably, there isn’t much competition. The No. 2 and No. 3 slots are likely to go to holdovers: Sony’s “2012” (which may drop 50 percent to under $30M) and Disney’s “A Christmas Carol,” which has good legs after a soft opening. Fourth place will likely go to the strongest piece of counter-programming, Warners’ “The Blind Side.” Sandra Bullock’s third release of the year (after “The Proposal,” her biggest opening ever, and the reviled “All About Steve”) is expected to open in the mid-teens. I give this cross between a football movie and “Precious” with a happy ending three stars , and the rating at RT is the week’s best for a wide opener, 65. Fifth place appears to be a battle between the incumbent “Precious,” expanding again to 650 locations, and Sony’s animated “Planet 51,” which is rating a feeble 21 at RT with one star  from Mr. Smith. Tracking indicates both of them are headed for the low teens.

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‘New Moon’ reviews – what are the critics saying? — Now that the hype machine is winding down for publicity for The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the focus shifts away from the actors a bit and on to the ever-important audience–both fans and readers of the book by Stephenie Meyer from which the movie was adapted and professional movie critics who will judge this movie with an eye toward where it fits with the hundreds of other movies they have watched this year.  So, how is New Moon, starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner, doing with the the professional movie critics so far?

Well, so far, not so hot.  At RottenTomatoes.com, a review collector, the overall score so far is a disappointing 29% out of 100 with 115 reviews counted.  The movie fares a bit better among Top Critics at 37%.  Here is a sampling of their comments:

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times:

“The Twilight Saga: New Moon takes the tepid achievement of Twilight, guts it, and leaves it for undead.”

Nancy Gibbs, Time Magazine:

“Twihards will appreciate director Chris Weitz’s faithfulness to the source text even as he improves on it.”

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone:

“I can’t comment on the acting because I didn’t catch Pattinson, Stewart and Lautner doing any. They basically primp and pose through the same humdrum motions they did before.”

Michael Philips, Chicago Tribune:

“Wisely New Moon brings back screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, who continues to prove she has a much better way with English than the author of the books, Stephenie Meyer.”

Manohla Dargis, New York Times:

“The big tease turns into the long goodbye in The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”

Ella Taylor, Village Voice:

“Alone of all the earnest players in this turgidly euphemistic melodrama, Sheen seems to grasp that the only way you can keep a straight face through this choked-up virginity is to carry it way into camp.”

Claudia Puig, USA Today:

“Though an improvement over the first Twilight film, this sequel (both based on Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling books) drags and sputters, even in scenes meant to be infused with passion.”

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The Bella Swan beauty graciously posed for pictures on the red carpet, then heading into the theater to check out an advance screening of her new movie – set for a November 20th release.

In related news, Miss Stewart recently revealed that she has a great interest in Australia – as her mother, Jules Mann-Stewart, was born in Sydney and raised in Maroochydore, Queensland.

Claiming to have a fondness for Aussie cooking, Kristen tells, “I actually don’t mind Vegemite…I know most Americans can’t stand the smell, taste or look of it but I like it.”

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