E1 Entertainment shatters records with New Moon in Canada and the UK
23 November 2009
Number One weekend film makes box office history with
record breaking opening day
LONDON and TORONTO – November 23, 2009 – E1 Entertainment ("E1" ), the leading international independent entertainment content owner and distributor, is pleased to announce the record breaking opening weekend of its UK and Canadian release The Twilight Saga: New Moon (“New Moon”), the widely anticipated sequel to the 2008 box office hit Twilight.
In the UK New Moon achieved the second highest opening day box office receipts of all time, with weekend ticket sales estimated at £11,750,000. It also recorded the fourth highest gross for a film in its first three days in UK theaters. In addition, New Moon now holds the all time UK box office opening weekend record for a US produced film. The film continues to play on 1100 screens at 499 locations across the UK and Ireland.
In Canada, where New Moon opened on 685 screens at 372 locations – a record number of screens for a Canadian theatrical release – three-day ticket sales were estimated at C$11,200,000, marking the second largest opening weekend for a theatrical release in Canadian history.
On Friday, New Moon became the highest grossing North American theatrical debut of all time. Last week also saw the film break the Canadian and UK records for advance ticket sales and midnight screenings.
“The series continues to delight
audiences, breaking multiple records. With such incredible box
office numbers the devotion of The Twilight
Saga’s fan base is very much evident,”
said
Patrice Theroux, President Filmed Entertainment at E1
Entertainment. “It is rare for a
film to touch so many filmgoers across all ages; this is a true
cultural phenomenon. E1 is proud to be the UK and Canadian
partner of producer Summit Entertainment in the release of this
incredibly successful series of films.”
Based on Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling novels, The Twilight Saga: New Moon stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, and features director Chris Weitz working with Melissa Rosenberg’s screenplay. The film is distributed by E1 Entertainment in Canada and the UK, from licensor and producer Summit Entertainment. E1 Entertainment owns all rights to the film in the UK and Canada.
The third installment in the series, Eclipse,will be released in theaters in Canada and the UK next summer. E1 Entertainment owns all rights to Eclipse in both territories.
About E1 Entertainment
E1 Entertainment (AIM: ETO) is a leading independent entertainment content owner that acquires film, television and music rights and exploits these rights in all media in more than 190 countries. The company currently operates in Canada, the U.S., the UK, Holland and Belgium through its four primary businesses units: E1 Television, E1 Films, E1 Music and E1 Distribution. These businesses collectively represent E1's extensive expertise in film distribution, television and music production/distribution, Kids content, Licensing and Distribution. E1's content library includes more than 3,700 feature films, 2,700 hours of original television programming and 15,000 music tracks.
For more information, please contact:
Theresa Roberts
Head of
Publicity, E1 Entertainment UK
011-0207-907-3523 /
TRoberts@e1ent.com
Holly Cybulski
Director, Publicity & Communications, E1 Entertainment Canada
416-979-1933 / hcybulski@e1ent.com
Charlene Coy
Theatrical Publicist, E1 Entertainment Canada
416-646-4980 / ccoy@e1ent.com
Thomas Sargent
Edelman for E1 Entertainment Canada
416-979-1120 / Thomas.sargent@edelman.com