The teen-age vampire romance “Twilight” ran away with the weekend movie box office receipts for the weekend ending November 23, tallying an estimated $70.6 million in ticket sales, according to USA Today and Nielsen EDI. The James Bond thriller “Quantum of Solace,” last week’s number one, came in second generating $27.4 million.
“Twilght” is based on the popular series of books of the same name by Stephanie Meyer, and the instant success of the film prompted its studio, Summit Entertainment, to quickly announce plans for a sequel. Though the film had been the focus of much hype before its debut, it still managed to exceed expectations, especially since the movie’s budget of about $37 million was modest by most standards.
Even with its second-place showing, “Quantum of Solace” has already exceeded the $100 million mark domestically, the fast Bond film to do so. But while the top two films shared some good news, the third place movie, the animated family film “Bolt,” pulled in a disappointing $27 million, well under its projected gross for its opening weekend of nearly $40 million.
In fourth place was another animated family film, the former number one “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” which generated an estimated $16 million, and the comedy “Role Models” rounded out the top five with an estimated gross of $7.2 million.
Of the remaining movies in the top ten, none of them generated more than $3 million, though some like the Holocaust drama “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” were in limited release.
Box Office Grosses
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| Rank | Title | Weekend | Total Gross |
| 1 | Twilight (2008) | $70.6M | $70.6M |
| 2 | Quantum of Solace (2008) | $27.4M | $109M |
| 3 | Bolt (2008) | $27M | $27M |
| 4 | Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) | $16M | $137M |
| 5 | Role Models (2008) | $7.2M | $48M |
| 6 | Changeling (2008) | $2.6M | $31.6M |
| 7 | High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008) | $2M | $86.8M |
| 8 | Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) | $1.7M | $29.4M |
| 9 | The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008) | $1.67M | $2.65M |
| 10 | The Secret Life of Bees (2008) | $1.27 | $35.6M |
Source: USA Today/Nielsen EDI