Summit Entertainment

What else is there to say about New Moon that hasn't already been gushed? That the sequel to you-know-what starring you-know-who and -who and -who grossed a record-setting, undead-enlivening, "absolutely freakish" $26.3 million in Friday midnight screenings?

Well, there's that.

Yes, New Moon usurped the midnight crown from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($22.2 million), which ousted The Dark Knight ($18.5 million) this past July. Nudge the person in the theater next to you, and pass it on.

How do we know you're reading this on a handheld at a multiplex? Because chances are you are.

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Summit Entertainment

Twilight was huge. New Moon will be huger.

Um, won't it?

Sure, go ahead, and call it now. You won't be disappointed. (Unless you were seriously expecting Teams Edward and Jacob to sink Titanic.)

Projections have New Moon, rising in theaters midnight Thursday—following the one-night-only theatrical return of Twilight—grossing anywhere in the Forks, Wash., neighborhood of $80 million to $100 million by the close of Sunday, and maybe $200 million-plus when all is said and done and swooned over.

On either the high or "low" end, the presumed opening-weekend take would put the sequel in elite company, and leave the franchise with nothing to fear—except perhaps its own hot, media-dominating self.

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Sony Pictures

The world may live to see 2013, after all.

The apocalyptic-minded 2012 started off with a $65 million box office bang, per estimates, beating projections and the weekend competition. 

Elsewhere, bigger wasn't always better—or bigger. In limited release, the potential Oscar heavyweight Precious continued to loom incredibly large ($6.1 million at only 174 theaters), while Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox  enjoyed a fantastic debut ($260,000 at four theaters). 

Taking a look inside the numbers:

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Sony Pictures

Michael Jackson's This Is It has made HIStory at the box office.

The behind-the-scenes concert documentary chronicling what would undoubtedly have been one of the biggest comebacks in musical history has rung up $200 million in worldwide ticket receipts.

The milestone solidifies This Is It's standing as the king of all concert films. With $61 million in domestic receipts and more than $140 million internationally, the critically acclaimed Jackson tribute/goodbye has handily dethroned Miley Cyrus' Best of Both Worlds 3-D movie, which accounted for $65 million in its U.S.-only release.

This Is It has done its biggest business abroad, most notably in Japan, where it earned $27.2 million. In the U.K., where the concert would have been staged, the film bagged $14.3 million; France and Germany accounted for $12.1 million in sales; Australia, $7.2 million.

Sony Pictures, which paid $60 million to win a bidding war to distribute the film, originally planned a two-week theatrical run for This Is It. But with the cash rolling in and the companion soundtrack dominating the charts, the show goes on.

Like the man said, don't stop till you get enough.

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Take a look at what's new—and hot—in our Totally New Releases gallery.

Disney

Holiday movie season and high Oscar season have kicked off. But only one is kicking mistletoe.

While Jim Carrey's A Christmas Carol led a bah-humbug weekend with an underwhelming $31 million, per estimates, the Oprah Winfrey- and Tyler Perry-backed award-show contender Precious grossed a stunning $1.8 million at only 18 theaters.

Elsewhere, Michael Jackson's This Is It did its thing (solid $14 million here, bigger $29 million overseas), George Clooney's The Men Who Stare at Goats ($13.3 million) did better than expected for a movie with goats and George Clooney in it, and Cameron Diaz's The Box ($7.9 million) just didn't really open. 

A look inside the numbers:

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Sony Pictures

This Is It? Hardly. 

Sony announced today that the Michael Jackson concert movie, originally billed as a two-week-only event, will stay in theaters through Thanksgiving weekend.

The non-surprise move comes after This Is It led the box office competition with an estimated $21.3 million Friday-Sunday, and upped its five-day worldwide haul to $101 million.

Even in success, though, the film didn't thoroughly dominate Miley Cyrus. Much less Paranormal Activity. 

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Sony Pictures

No, Michael Jackson wasn't Batman or Miley Cyrus. But more important, he wasn't the Jonas Brothers.

Jackson's This Is It scored a $7.4 million opening day, Sony Pictures estimated today.

Among concert films, the take puts This Is It right behind the eye-popping opening day of Cyrus' Best of Both Worlds show and safely ahead of the Jonas' expectations-game loser, The 3D Concert Experience. 

Comparisons between the three movies are far from perfect, not the least of which is because neither the Cyrus or Jonas Brothers film starred the world's biggest pop star in his final farewell.  

So, given those high standards, how did This Is It measure up?

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Paramount Pictures

Is too much of a good thing ever really bad?

Paramount Pictures is willing to test that theory. "We have the rights on a worldwide basis to do Paranormal 2," studio chairman Brad Grey tells the Los Angeles Times of newly released sleeper hit Paranormal Activity. "We're looking to see if that makes some sense."

The out-of-nowhere box office powerhouse cost just $15,000 to produce, and has already brought in upwards of $62.5 million.

Would a Paranormal sequel go the way of the second Blair Witch Project—absolutely nowhere? Only time will tell.

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This one might just be the next addition to our Movies From the Future! photo gallery.

Paramount Pictures

Paranormal Activity has gone where The Blair Witch Project didn't: to No. 1.

The bedroom-bound chiller won the box office battle of the R-rated horror movies over Saw VI, and, in its fifth weekend, led the the weekend competition with an estimated $22 million Friday-Sunday take.

In second place, the debuting Saw VI ($14.8 million) was the smallest Saw yet, but still relatively big—a phrase that could not be used to describe two other new releases, Astro Boy ($7 million) and Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant ($6.3 million).

Time to drill down into the rankings—and try to find Hilary Swank's missing-in-action Amelia:

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Warner Bros/ Pictures

The verdict's in: Where the Wild Things Are is not too scary for kids for Hollywood.

Director Spike Jonze's version of the Maurice Sendak children's classic beat back the bad buzz stemming from its reshoots and debatably dark vision with a first-place, $32.5 million box office debut, per estimates.

Elsewhere, the supposed-to-be-scary Paranormal Activity (third place, $20.2 million) had its biggest weekend yet, while Jamie Foxx's contribution to the Gerard Butler Movie of the Month Club, Law Abiding Citizen (second place, $21.3 million), acquitted itself OK.

Drilling down into the numbers:

• Wild Things did better than cautious projections. But whether it did enough for a film that reputedly cost between $80 and $100 million remains a question.

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Universal Pictures

Vince Vaughn was money. Paranormal Activity was phenomenal.

Vaughn's Couples Retreat banked the year's biggest opening for a romantic comedy, with a much bigger than expected $35.3 million, No. 1 Friday-Sunday debut.

Paranormal Activity, meanwhile, packed its theaters, rising all the way to fifth place with a scary-good take of $7.1 million, a mere 645 times the horror flick's micro-budget.

Here's a rundown of more results from a weekend that was great for Hollywood—but a disaster for yet another High School Musical alum:

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