New Moon Smashes Midnight Box Office Record

Twilight fans turned out in force on Thursday night to help New Moon smash a box office record - the sequel earned a staggering $26.27 million (?16.42 million) overnight in the U.S. and Canada alone.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, debuted at midnight on Thursday at 3,514 cinemas across North America to accommodate die-hard devotees of the franchise, some of whom had waited in line for hours to catch the second adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's vampire novels.

The huge box office haul smashes the previous record for midnight takings, set by Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince with $22 million (?13.75 million).

Other top overnight performers are The Dark Knight with $18.5 million (?11.56 million), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith with $16.9 million (?10.56 million), and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with $16 million (?10 million).