The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 arrived on $141.3m for the second biggest launch in the Twilight franchise just behind New Moon’s $142.8m set exactly three years ago.

The result propelled Lionsgate past the $1bn domestic box office mark for the first time in the company’s history.

Meanwhile, Sony reported it had reached $4bn at the global box office this year, a new company record due in no small part to Sony-MGM-Eon’s Skyfall.

The James Bond thriller ranked number two in its second weekend and has already reached $161.3m to stay on course to become the first 007 release to break the $200m barrier in North America.

Skfyall ranks as the biggest entry in the Bond franchise and stands at $669.2m.

Awards contenders were in the thick of it at the weekend. DreamWorks’ awards contender Lincoln surged 12 places to number three in its second weekend through Buena Vista after expanding from 11 to 1,775 theatres and grossing $21m for an early $22.4m.

Wreck-It Ralph crossed $100m through Buena Vista to stand at $121.5m after three, while Paramount’s Flight in fifth place has reached a creditable $61.3m and Warner Bros’ Argo in sixth place stands at $92m and should reach $100m before the weekend.

Yash Raj Films illustrated the power of the diaspora market as the romance Jab Tak Hai Jaan starring Shah Rukh Khan arrived in tenth place on $1.2m.

Outside the top ten, Oscar contender Silver Linings Playbook pulled off an excellent $458,000 debut from 16 sites through The Weinstein Company for a $28,625 per-site average, while Focus Features’ Anna Karenina also arrived in style on $315,000 from 16 for $19,688.

Next weekend brings three wide releases: Fox unleashes Ang Li’s Life Of Pi adaptation, while Paramount debuts DreamWorks Animations’ Rise Of The Guardians and FilmDistrict opens its Red Dawn remake with John Hutcherson and Chris Hemsworth.

Estimated Top 10 North America Nov 16-18 2012
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (Summit-Lionsgate) Summit/Lionsgate Int’l $141.3m –

2 (1) Skyfall (Sony) SPRI/MGM $41.5m $161.3m

3 (15) Lincoln (DreamWorks-Buena Vista) WDSMPI $21m $22.4m

4 (2) Wreck-It Ralph (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $18.3m $121.5m

5 (3) Flight (Paramount) PPI-Sierra/Affinity $8.6m $61.3m

6 (4) Argo (Warner Bros) WBPI $4.1m $92m

7 (5) Taken 2 (Fox/EuropaCorp) Fox Int’l / EuropaCorp $2.1m $134.6m

8 (8) Pitch Perfect (Universal) UPI $1.3m $62m

9 (6) Here Comes The Boom (Sony) SPRI $1.2m $41m

10 (-) Jab Tak Hai Jaan (Yash Raj Films) $1.2m

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