PALIN MITENK BLOG

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, fell short of the $72.7 million “New Moon” took in last November when it opened the Friday before Thanksgiving. “Eclipse” tops the prior Wednesday-opening record of $62 million set a year ago by “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”

Eclipse, distributed by Summit Entertainment, is playing at a record 4,416 theaters in North America. The movie also saw some $30 million in ticket sales for midnight and early morning showings, also a new high.

The third leg of Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” book series sold $68.5 million of movie tickets in its North American debut Wednesday, the second-biggest opening ever.