Weekend of November 27 – 29, 2009: 'New Moon' & 'Blind Side' deliver superb results at b.o.

Chris Weitz’s “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” prevailed at the North American box office for the second consecutive weekend with a solid $42.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The sequel to “Twilight” scored a superb average of $10,515 per theater at 4,042 locations, lifting its domestic total to an incredible $230.6 million after a little more than one week in release.

Following closely in second place was Sandra Bullock’s surprise drama “The Blind Side,” which bagged another $40.1 million for a cumulative gross of $100.2 million. The film scored an average of $12,779 per theater at 3,140 locations.

This week’s new releases didn’t perform that well. Disney’s comedy “Old Dogs” with Robin Williams and John Travolta finished at No. 4 with $16.8 million, lifting its early total to $24 million.

Warner’s action flick “Ninja Assassin” opened in sixth place this weekend, generating $13.1 million for a domestic total of $21 million. Both films opened in theaters Wednesday.

Also entering the top 10 was Wes Anderson’s new release “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” which earned $7 million for an early total haul of $10.1 million. George Clooney voices the lead character in the stop-motion adventure about a clever Fox’s plans to invade three farms.

Meanwhile, Roland Emmerich’s apocalyptic spectacle “2012” picked up another $18 million at No. 3, bringing its cumulative gross to $138.7 million after a solid three-week run.

At No. 5, Disney’s 3D motion-capture version of “A Christmas Carol” took home $16 million, reaching a total of $105.3 million. Sony’s animated film “Planet 51” slipped to seventh place, lifting its total to $28.4 million after weekend earnings of $10.2 million.

Lee Daniels’ surprise drama “Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” dropped to No. 8 this weekend, scoring $7 million from ticket sales at only 663 locations. The film’s total currently stands at 32.4 million.

At No. 10, “The Men Who Stare at Goats” pulled in $1.5 million for a cume of $30.5 million. Also opening in limited release this weekend was John Hillcoat’s “The Road,” which finished eleventh with a weekend gross of $1.5 million.

Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)