The reviews have gone to the jugular, but The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn -- Part 1 could break all opening-day attendance records, including its own, over the weekend, with some pundits predicting it could earn more than $150 million -- all that loot without the benefit of 3D surcharges. (Officially, the studio, Summit Entertainment is predicting a gross of between $110 million and $125 million.) The current record for an opening day is held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2, which debuted with $169.2 million last July. But 3D surcharges accounted for a substantial portion of that amount. Breaking Dawn is likely to "put more butts in the seats," as exhibitors say. Most forecasters observe that no other release stands a chance of a decent take against it -- that includes the only other entry to open wide, Happy Feet Two , which does have 3D surcharges going for it. In its appraisal of the weekend box-office prospects, the Los Angeles Times observed that " Breaking Dawn is expected to steal much of the female audience from Happy Feet Two, as mothers and teens will likely head to the Twilight flick this weekend instead of the animated picture."

18/11/2011