Final Tally: Eclipse Opening Weekend Just Off New Moon, Spider-Man 2 Pace

If breaking records is all you care about when it comes to box office, then Eclipse isn't the movie for you. Despite owning three -- opening on more screens than any other film in history and breaking the records for midnight screenings and Wednesday gross -- the third Twilight film didn't have enough gas in its tank to surpass Spider-Man 2 over Fourth of July weekend. What a failure! Of course, there is the matter of the millions and millions of dollars that Eclipse has earned thus far, which makes that pedantic record seem kinda moot.

Since opening on that record-breaking Wednesday, Eclipse has grossed $175.2 million, good for the eighth-best six-day start in box office history. The David Slade film fell only $5 million short of breaking the Fourth of July weekend mark that Spider-Man 2 set back in 2004 and did better than any Harry Potter film has ever done in its first six days.

And then there's the matter of how Eclipse fits into the Twilight oeuvre. It fell just $3 million short of what New Moon grossed in its first six days back in November, meaning full steam ahead toward $290 million or more domestically. Toss in an already impressive $100 million worldwide and Eclipse is well on its way to becoming another mammoth smash. Congratulations, Twi-hards! You may now forget about Twilight again until next year...

[Numbers via Box Office Mojo]