"The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" has set a new record for a movie debuting on Wednesday after pulling in $68.5 million in its first day.
The third instalment in the vampire romance franchise outperformed the Wednesday high of $62 million set last year by "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."
"Eclipse," however, fell short of the all-time best opening day compared with the $72.7 million record held by its predecessor, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon.""
Last November's "New Moon" opened on a Friday, which is usually busier at theatres than weekdays.
The latest romance motion picture, which initially showed in 4,416 theatres, expanded to 4,468 cinemas Friday for the Fourth of July weekend, one of the biggest box-office periods of the year.
With its already impressive performance record and a long holiday weekend ahead, distributor Summit Entertainment has confidence that "Eclipse" can surpass the $200 million haul for "Revenge of the Fallen" in its first five days.
"It certainly is a target for us," said Summit head of distribution Richie Fay.
"I'd be real hesitant to say that we will break that. We would love to and are striving to. We have the location and screen count that could get us there. But if the weather isn't in our favour, if people are out barbecuing and looking at fireworks Sunday night, we may not get there."
In one day, "Eclipse" took in a fraction more than its cost of $68 million.