Box office Eclipse set a new record for the biggest midnight opening in the United States and Canada in
box office history, grossing $30.1 million in over 4,000 theaters.
Eclipse also had the highest midnight gross of
The Twilight Saga film series until it was topped in November 2011 by its successor,
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 ($30.3 million). The movie also surpassed
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in total grosses for a midnight screening in IMAX.
Eclipse garnered more than $1 million at 192 theaters, while
Revenge of the Fallen earned $959,000, until it was beaten five months later by
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 with $1.4 million. The film grossed $68.5 million on its opening day in the United States and Canada, becoming the biggest single-day Wednesday opening over
Revenge of the Fallen $62 million, and the third biggest single-day opening ever at the time. Furthermore, the film earned $9 million at various IMAX locations during its first week. After six days of release in the United States and Canada, the film ended
Independence Day with a total of $176.4 million, including $64.8 million during its first weekend. In its second weekend, the film fell 51%, a better standing than its predecessors, grossing an estimated $31.7 million. The film opened overseas with $16.2 million, beating records set by the film's predecessor in Russia with an estimated $3.9 million (since surpassed by
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides which earned $5 million), in Italy with an estimated $3.1 million, in the Philippines, grossing $1.2 million, and in Belgium, where it grossed an estimated $1.1 million. It is the third-best opening day ever in Italy; in the Philippines,
Eclipse topped
Spider-Man 3 for best opening day ever, and was the highest opening day ever in Belgium. In three days,
Eclipse topped the box office with $121.3 million and during its first weekend it earned $71.3 million. Overseas in its second weekend, the film grossed $70.6 million from 9,440 screens in 63 markets, a 1% drop from its first weekend. The film opened in the United Kingdom at number one, grossing $20.7 million from 523 locations (including previews), the market's biggest opening of 2010 (until
Toy Story 3 surpassed it) and about $1.7 million more than
The Twilight Saga: New Moon grossed in its opening weekend in November 2009. The film also debuted at number one in France, grossing $13.3 million, which marks the third-largest opening in the country for a 2010 film (behind
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 ($20.7 million) and
Alice in Wonderland's ($15.4 million). The film opened at number one in South Korea with $4.9 million. The film ended its box-office run in the US and Canada on October 21, 2010, having grossed $300.5 million, surpassing its predecessor
The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which grossed $296.6 million a few months before, to become the highest-grossing film of the
franchise and the highest-grossing romantic fantasy, werewolf and vampire film of all time at the
American and Canadian box office. It is the fourth movie of 2010 to reach $300 million and ranks
46th on the all-time chart in the US and Canada. Compared to its predecessor overseas, it has grossed $393 million against
New Moon's $413.2 million. Therefore, internationally,
Eclipse remains the second-highest-grossing film in the franchise with $693.6 million against
New Moon $710 million.
Eclipse highest-grossing markets except the US and Canada are the
UK,
Ireland and
Malta ($45.7 million),
Germany ($33.1 million),
France and the
Maghreb region ($33 million),
Italy ($20 million),
Brazil ($30.5 million) and
Australia ($28.6 million).
Critical response Review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 46% based on 256 reviews and a rating average of 5.4/10. The site's general consensus is that, "Stuffed with characters and overly reliant on uninspired dialogue,
Eclipse won't win
The Twilight Saga many new converts, despite an improved blend of romance and action fantasy."
Metacritic, another review aggregator, rated it a weighted average of 58/100 based on 38 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
The Hollywood Reporter said the film "nails it". Peter Debruge of
Variety said that the film "finally feels more like the blockbuster this top-earning franchise deserves". Rick Bentley of
McClatchy Newspapers said the film was the best in
The Twilight Saga so far, suggesting that, "The person who should be worried is
Bill Condon, the director tapped for the two-part finale,
Breaking Dawn. He's got a real challenge to make movies as good as
Eclipse."
The New York Times praised David Slade's ability to make an entertaining film, calling it funny and better than its predecessors, but wrote that the acting has not improved much. Giving the film 4.5 out of 5 stars, Betsey Sharkey from the
Los Angeles Times praised David Slade's method of blending his previous works to form a funny movie. She stated, "
Eclipse eclipse[s] its predecessors." The film was also listed in 49th place by
Moviefone on its list of the 50 best movies of 2010. Roger Moore of the
Orlando Sentinel, who gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, said, "The dullness of the performances really stands out when somebody like
Bryce Dallas Howard, or
Anna Kendrick turn up and liven up their scenes." While calling the film "too chatty and too long", he did compliment David Slade's directing and noted that the movie will please the fans. Michael Phillips of the
Chicago Tribune gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, stating that David Slade's pacing is "everything like molasses running uphill". He also criticized the characters, the actors portraying them, the big close-ups of hand-held devices, and called Howard Shore's score "gunk". Wesley Morris from the
Boston Globe said, "If the first two movies were "get a room," part three is "get a therapist". He said the second and third film "repeat that discovery [in
Twilight] without truly deepening it...the movies are interesting without ever being good." Geoff Berkshire of
Metromix said that while "
Eclipse restores some of the energy
New Moon zapped out of the franchise and has enough quality performances to keep it involving", the film "isn't quite the adrenaline-charged game-changer for love story haters that its marketing might lead you to believe. The majority of the 'action' remains protracted and not especially scintillating should-we-or-shouldn't-we conversations between the central triangle." Roger Ebert of the
Chicago Sun Times gave the film a more positive review than for the first two films in the saga, but still felt the movie was a constant, unclever conversation between the three main characters. He criticized the "gazes" both Edward and Jacob give Bella throughout the film and said audiences unfamiliar with the saga would understand the opening or closing scenes. He gave the film 2 stars out of 4. Steve Persall of the
St. Peterburg Times rated the film C− and called it "just monstrously bad". He said, "
Eclipse leaves the sputtering story arc in idle, with only an uneasy truce between the vampire and werewolf clans amounting to anything new".
The Guardian columnist Peter Bradshaw gave the film a one-star rating in a review that lampooned Bella's continued abstinence, among other plot elements. Bradshaw, dubbing the series "The epic of the unbroken duck", wrote that "Bella Swan is starting to make Doris Day look like the nympho from hell", and concluded that "it could be time to sharpen the wooden stake."
Accolades ==Sequel==