New Moon “Opens To $140 Million”

Final numbers aren’t in yet, but Nikki Finke over at Deadline Hollywood Daily is hearing that Twilight sequel New Moon will have a $140 million domestic weekend. That puts it right behind The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 3 on the all-time list for biggest opening weekends. Techland alerts us to Time Magazine’s interviews with the cast (including British heartthrob Robert Pattinson) and director Chris Weitz. So did the tabloid “romance” between Pattinson and co-star Kristen Stewart help drive those huge box-office numbers, á la Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie with Mr. & Mrs. Smith? Weitz responds:

Real or not, Rob and Kristen are reported breathlessly as a couple – does that help the franchise?

Weitz: I don’t know whether it helps it or not. I just know that it will be around as long as they keep making these movies. People always want the stars of movies to fall in love with one another. There’s no calculated effort to make it seem that way on the part of Summit marketing. You really want it to be about the characters themselves. It neither helps nor hurts. It just gives fans waiting in between movies something to talk about…