娱乐英语新闻:"Breaking Dawn" excels in North America box office over Thanksgiving Day

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The latest film about vampires and werewolves has successfully maintained the box office dominance it gained last weekend, thwarting a three-pronged attack launched by a trio of family movies as North American fanboys swarmed into theaters for Thanksgiving, one of the biggest occasions for Hollywood to sell tickets.

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn," the fourth installment in the popular vampire franchise, is projected to sell 62.3 million U. S. dollars worth of tickets in the United States and Canada over the five-day holiday weekend starting Wednesday, and finish in the first place during the box office derby, distributor Summit Entertainment said on Sunday.

The film is on track to gross 221.3 million dollars since it debuted in 4,066 theaters 10 days ago, according to the studio.

Poster of "Breaking Dawn".

Three PG-rated films which target family audiences have fought hard for the most-popular film title, but all have failed.

"The Muppets," a Disney musical and comedy starring Jim Henson' s popular felt puppets, raked in 42 million dollars in ticket sales, taking the second place. "Arthur Christmas," a British/ American 3-D computer-animated fantasy comedy, was fourth, grossing 17 million dollars. The third debut of the weekend, "Hugo, " opened in fifth with a projected 15.4 million dollars in sales.

"The Muppets," as the first Muppets theatrical release in 12 years and the first Disney-produced Muppets film since 1996's " Muppet Treasure Island," was rated the best film in the "Muppets" series. It has garnered universal acclaim from critics and moviegoers alike. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 98 percent of 121 critics surveyed have given the film a positive review. Audiences who had seen it gave it an average grade of "A," market research firm CinemaScore reported.

The movie, directed by British director James Bobin and starring Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Chris Cooper, cost 45 million dollars to make.

"Arthur Christmas," the first collaboration between Sony Pictures Animation and the British animation house Aardman Animations, received overwhelmingly positive reception from critics after it debuted in 3,376 locations. The film garnered a 92-percent "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 90 reviews.

"Hugo," Martin Scorsese's first film shot in 3-D, is adapted from Brian Selznick's best-selling novel "The Invention of Hugo Cabret." The Paramount release is well-received by critics, with 94 of the tallied 97 reviews being positive, a score of 97 percent and a certification of "fresh," according to Rotten Tomatoes. The film has a budget of 150 million dollars.

"Happy Feet Two" took in 18.4 million dollars in ticket receipts, finishing in the third place. The Warner Bros. 3-D computer-animated family film is on track for a 43.8 million total for two weeks.

Rounding out the top 10 most popular films in North America this weekend are "Jack And Jill" (14.1 million dollars), " Immortals" (15.3 million dollars), "Puss In Boots" (10.4 million dollars), "Tower Heist" (10.2 million dollars) and "The Descendants" (9.2 million dollars).