Friday Box Office: THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 2 Misses Franchise Opening Record with $71.2 Million on First Day

Estimates are in for the opening day of Breaking Dawn Part 2 and, as expected, it’s a monster. Summit Entertainment is reporting that, from 4,070 locations, the final chapter in The Twilight Saga took in a reported $71.2 million. As big as that is (and it is the sixth highest first day of all time), it is not a record for the franchise. It is slightly under the starts of both 2009’s New Moon ($72.7 million) and last year’s Breaking Dawn Part 1 ($71.6 million). To make things more complicated, the Friday estimate for Breaking Dawn Part 2 includes the film’s Thursday 10 pm previews, which adds a little asterisk to the stats. Yesterday, we told you that Part 2 took in $30.4 million from its 10 pm and midnight shows combined; and because no one knows exactly how much those Thursday screenings produced, it remains difficult to rank the last Twilight against its predecessors – none of which debuted before midnight. Putting Thursday aside, no should be confused about how big the last Twilight will be. Though weekend projections have been scaled back – from over $150 million yesterday to less-than Breaking Dawn Part 1’s $138.1 million today – either way, Twilight 5 will wind up with one of the highest openings of 2012. Add in the $38.8 million the film has already earned overseas and Breaking Dawn Part 2 will close the Twilight Saga out in style. We’ll have full box office coverage on Sunday, including details on Lincoln.