Not an opening, not a problem for Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1. Though in its second week in the theaters now, Breaking Dawn held off newcomers The Muppets, Arthur Christmas, and Martin Scorcese’s 3-D film Hugo, although the latter opened on only 1,277 screens. We’re guessing that half of Breaking Dawn’s 80 percent female audience returned at least twice, covered in tears, to bring its Wednesday through Friday total to nearly $40 million. Disney’s The Muppets grabbed almost $30 million over the same stretch, and Arthur Christmas, in fourth behind Happy Feet Two, collected just shy of $10 million. Considering Paramount’s Hugo opened in far fewer screens than the rest of the field, it’s doing just fine so far.Â
Overall, Thanksgiving holiday weekend moviegoing is projecting at about $230 million, which is still down 12 percent from last year, Deadline reports. Family business ought to pick up now for The Muppets and Arthur Christmas. You can’t put a price on two hours of relatively quiet children.