‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ is The Highest Opening-Day Gross based on The Guinness World Records

The Twilight Saga: New Moon is still making headlines. This time around, the film has scored a spot in the 2011 edition of The Guinness World Records book for having the highest opening day gross – ever.

" Guinness also awarded The Twilight Saga: New Moon the title of Highest Opening-Day Gross. It earned $72.7 million on its first day, beating previous record holder The Dark Knight "

The Twilight Saga: New Moon has become a part of Guinness World Records 2011 for its successes in the box office.

Reports MTV, "'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' earned a place in the book for having the Highest Opening-Day Gross, $72.7 million, beating previous record holder, 'The Dark Knight.'"

The Twilight Saga: New Moon also has number one opening day and single day gross totals.

Each year, the Guinness World Records book chronicles the biggest, smallest, longest, and shortest records associated with nearly every conceivable aspect of the world, but being placed in the text is a very coveted feat, so it's a pretty big deal that New Moon made this year's cut.

The Guinness World Records book was released on Tuesday, September 14th.

Last year, both Twilight and its director, Catherine Hardwicke, were placed in the 2010 edition for "Highest-Grossing Movie by a Female Director."

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'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' Set Visit - Day Two

After getting an up close view of the sets for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" on day one, this writer's second day on the sequel's set didn't seem much different at first.

As we made our way into the soundstage, the film's principals were once again seen on the video monitors acting out more scenes from the initial Volturi meeting. And like a proud mother watching her children, series author Stephenie Meyer was front and center taking in every moment.

Some quick book backstory for those who haven't read up on this yet -- the Volturi are ancient vampires who form the most powerful coven (organization) in the "Twilight" world. They are lead by Aro (Michael Sheen) and include Jane (Dakota Fanning), Alec (Cameron Bright) and Caius (Jamie Campbell Bower) among their sinister flock. They would like the Cullens, including our hero Edward (Robert Pattinson), to join them, but instead have become embroiled in a dramatic rift between Edward and Bella (Kristen Stewart) in the new movie. They enter the story at the end of the "New Moon" and will be key players in the third picture, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" and beyond. Oh, and did we mention they really want Bella to turn into a vampire?

The first shot we witness this morning finds Pattinson on camera in a long brown robe with tan accents on his sleeve. He races to the camera, looks up, braces in pain and then falls to the floor. The second take he has more agony in his voice as he falls and we can hear director Chris Weitz saying, "Much, much better." The third attempt finds the camera panning back to reveal Bell at his side before he lunges toward what must be one of the Volturi (Jane we later discover) and falling to the ground.

After a few minutes, they change the angle of the camera and we see Jane -- in the same scene -- inflicting pain on Edward. Yes, she's the cause and she does it with little gesturing and without speaking a word. A powerful vampire indeed.

The production has a lot to get through today, so the shot then changes to a close up on Bella who is being held by Alec stopping her from racing to Edward's side.

"Please stop," Stewart says, "Don't hurt him."

At first, during rehearsal as the camera operator sets up the shot, Stewart says the lines comically with deadpan effect causing some snickers from the crew. But when the take is ready for real, she says it with the expected dramatic resolve. The coverage also expands to find Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene) being allowed to race to Edward's side. She gesture's that he's "OK."

While Weitz talks to the actors on the set about the next shot, we take time to talk to newcomer Chrisopher Heyerdahl who plays Marcus, a member of the Volturi. The role is a huge break for the struggling British actor, but he seemed to be playing it cool. Intriguingly, he also revealed a flashback scene had been shot, including his character, Aro and Dr. Carlisle Cullen ("Nurse Jackie's" Peter Facinelli) that set up the "truce" between the two parties way back in the 18th Century. To the other writers on the visit, this seemed to be a scene they didn't expect would make the movie and were pretty psyched about it being included.

Then something rather odd happened. This journalist has been to more than 30 movie sets and had never experienced what occurred next. A man who I can only assume was the Assistant Director came out from the closed 360 Volturi hall and announced, "All guests clear the set." And that didn't mean Ms. Meyer, her companions or the Summit executives in front of the monitors, that meant us -- the press. So, without complaint we walked off the soundstage to be followed by an overly genial Wyck Godfrey, the film's producer we'd spoken with the day before, who, paraphrasing, remarked, "Sometimes things like that happen on a movie set."

Uh, sure they do. Not with press around.

This writer won't speculate on what caused our removal, but it certainly was odd. And yet while we were outside we had a chance to talk to the blunt Mr. Bower, who many will recognize from his role as the lovelorn Anthony in "Sweeney Todd." Bower, who also has the luck of appearing as Gellert Grindelwald in the two part"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," smoked a cigarette and was as jovial an interview subject as could be.

"As in the book, the Volturi play a small, but necessary part in this film," Bower told us. "They come much more into play in the fourth film. I’m playing Caius very angry and agitated with the world, I suppose. Just glaring looks. You’ll see as much as you read in the books."

Casius, much to Bower's chagrin, also doesn't have a power which accounts for some of his frustration. To find out more of Bower's thoughts on joining the "Twilight" franchise, click here to read a more indepth interview from our visit.

Happily though, our whole crew was soon allowed back on the set where we returned to our positions to watch more shooting. At this point -- and with her crew and some of the publicists out of the way, Meyer made a point of coming over to talk to us. We couldn't interview her formally (her handlers are actually smart to limit her press breaks), but she couldn't not say hello to us. She'd also admitted she visited all or our sites except for HitFix, but hopefully that has changed in the weeks since. (Are you there Stephenie? Have you gotten your fix?). We also discovered these was one of her few visits to the filming of "New Moon" and she had not been there for all of the production. Meyer also said she was very happy with Weitz's direction and was blown away by the Volutri hall set that was being used the days we were there.

Back on camera, Stewart/Bella is once again the center of attention. With Pattinson still on the ground in "pain" as Edward, she receipts her lines, "Stop! Stop! Try it on me! Just don't hurt him!"

There is a pause and then smiling she goes, "[expletive]. I just lost myself a little bit."

The crew's laughter showed little tension on the stage considering what had happened less than an hour before. However, Stewart finally gets it to Weitz's satisfaction a few takes later and they move on to the next shot.

Showing acting isn't always a glamorous life, our next take finds Pattinson once again on the ground (where's been on and off for at least two hours) writhing in pain as Alice looks up and says, "He's O.K." take after take. Eventually, Edward's pain is accurately captured and Pattinson is allowed to walk back to his trailer with his bare chest visible for all the ladies in my party to swoon over.

With Edward gone, the crew continues filming reaction shots. This time? A close up on Jane who stares ominously where Edward is supposed to be. Notably, Fanning looks almost unrecognizable in her Volturi outfit. She's stunningly beautiful looking more and more like a ready to graduate senior in high school rather than the sophomore she really is. Notably though, at least on the days we were on set, Jane says nothing. And sadly, Fanning did not speak to us during our time there.

And as we soon discovered, any hope of talking to Pattinson was a pointless exercise. We didn't expect Stewart to say hello, but we held out hope that Edward would take a few minutes to answer questions. Ironically, there was no outlet amongst our group that would have treaded the celebrity-gossip ground he no doubt feared discussing, but, hey, it happens.

Before we left, however, we did get a chance to talk to Cameron Bright, who plays Jane's twin brother Alec. Bright, a striking looking British Columbian teenager, has made a name for himself with impressive performances in films such as "Birth," "Running Scared," X-Men: The Last Stand" and "Ultraviolet." He admits he'd never read the books, but made sure he watched the first film before arriving on set.

"A lot of people were saying like, it was half and half. All the guys were saying it was bad, and all the girls were saying it was good," Bright reveals. "I actually liked it, I didn’t mind it at all."

Having only begun shooting a few days before, Bright honestly couldn't answer a lot of our questions, but was looking forward to using Alec's special power to cut off people's senses -- an ability arguably more deadline than his sister's inclination to inflict pain. Bright admits it's a little "weird."

"I say, 'Ha! You’re blind!' all of a sudden," Bright says. "It's definitely a cool power. Especially Jane’s, right? She just kind of makes people feel pain all of a sudden? All I know is one of my friends is like, 'You’re of the strongest, and you’re one of the meanest.' I’m fine with that! Everybody likes the guy to hate!"

Bright will soon learn even the villains have fans among the "Twilight" faithful and he's in for a publicity roller coast ride he'll never forget. You can read more of our converstation with Bright here.

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New Moon Director Chris Weitz Spills Juicy Twilight Details

ON ECLIPSE AND DAVID SLADE

While Weitz works against the clock to finish New Moon (which will be released November 20, 2009), director David Slade (30 Days of Night) has already begun prepping the third film in the series, Eclipse. Slade even visited the Vancouver set of New Moon to get briefed by Weitz, who revealed that visual effects studio Tippett Studios will provide werewolf effects for both New Moon and Eclipse.

"David Slade came in while we were still shooting the end of New Moon and I showed him everything that I could to give him a sense of what direction we were going," Weitz explained. "He's going to take it in whatever way he wants to because he's his own guy and will have his own style and particular take on things, but just as I was inheriting certain things from Catherine Hardwicke, he's going to inherit certain things from me and make the choice as to whether he wants to keep them or alter them."

" We've had discussions," he continued. "Tippett is going to do the wolves for Eclipse so that there's a continuity in terms of the look of the werewolves, and obviously the cast is going to remain the same; so Dakota is Jane, and all the Volturi are the same people that we're familiar with."

THE BIG QUESTION: WOULD WEITZ COME BACK FOR BREAKING DAWN?

Despite the fact that only a handful of stills and a teaser trailer have debuted for New Moon, fans are already speculating on whether or not Weitz would return to direct the fourth film, Breaking Dawn. Will he consider taking the reins again?

"I think it's really charming that, not having seen New Moon, people would be enthusiastic about me wanting to do Breaking Dawn," Weitz said, partly humble, and perhaps partly remembering the tumultuous experience he had when his last would-be franchise, Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass, didn't make it to subsequent sequels. "I think the proof is in the pudding, and they should see New Moon before they decide if they want me to do anything else to do with their series. But I would hope to earn that kind of rumor."

While he passed on directing the third Twilight film out of sheer pragmatism, the possibility of Weitz directing Breaking Dawn remains open. "I haven't really spoken with Summit about that; all I knew was that I was going to be too tired to do Eclipse, and that it was better that somebody else take it over as well so that they could put their own imprint on it. Also, the way the films are being shot [in rapid succession] would have precluded it anyway."

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THE BIGGER QUESTION: IS BREAKING DAWN EVEN FILMABLE?

It's unsurprising that Breaking Dawn -- the fourth and final book in Meyer's Twilight series -- is still without a director. Although producers insist it's still in the works, Breaking Dawn is unconfirmed by the studio, and it's not difficult to guess why: with more than a few mature and controversial storylines and a potentially large dependency on expensive computer graphics, Breaking Dawn might be the most difficult Twilight installment to film and market. But Weitz is optimistic.

"It's a tough one," he admitted, mulling the thought of directing Breaking Dawn. "It's a hard one, because the series gets more and more ambitious as it goes along." Some might wonder if it could be pulled off altogether. Weitz paused for thought. "Yes, it's doable; anything is doable."

So, would he go on the record with his official interest in Breaking Dawn? "I'd certainly consider it," he confirmed.
Then again, Weitz knows that fan sentiment could easily turn against him and newer director Slade could become a popular front runner, quipping, "by the time [Eclipse] comes out they'll probably want him to direct Breaking Dawn, not me."

CHRIS WEITZ'S FAVORITE SCENE TO FILM

Like a Twilight mecca of sorts, fans visited Vancouver in droves during production to glimpse external sets like Jacob Black's house, sometimes encountering cast members still in costume. Paparazzi even followed New Moon's stars after hours and on weekends, feeding the frenzy. But North American fans stalking sidewalks and hotels in Vancouver were nothing compared to what awaited Weitz and his cast in Italy, where fans from all over Europe decamped in a fashion that Weitz compares to Beatlemania; surprisingly, he names the scenes shot in Montepulciano -- under the watchful eyes of hundreds of Twilight fans, observing (and blogging) Bella's climactic dash to stop Edward from exposing himself at high noon -- as his favorites to film.

"There were a lot of fun scenes to film, frankly," Weitz recalls. "I really did enjoy the scenes in the Volturi headquarters [filmed on Vancouver soundstages], although it was a tremendous logistical headache. In a way, it's the scenes that you dread the most, because they are so time consuming and you have to get them just right, which is like the stuff in the Volturi headquarters, or the stuff that was shot in Montepulciano."

"I suppose that has to be my favorite scene, because it is the high point of the movie, when Bella goes to try to stop Edward from killing himself. We had a thousand extras in this medieval town square in a hill town in Tuscany, in the most beautiful country on earth, and it was such an extraordinary opportunity to get to work there. It was also kind of surreal, because every Twilight fan who could make it from all over continental Europe and further, had gone by hook or by crook to Montepulciano and booked a hotel room -- sometimes at the very hotel which the cast and crew were staying."

"So there was this kind of weird Beatlemania sort of thing going on in this very small, beautiful, hill town. For five days it was this kind of bizarre festival atmosphere, and it really wasn't bothersome at all; it was incredibly gratifying. All these people would applaud after every single take, whether or not we had screwed it up - they had no idea because they weren't close enough to hear. But if you looked down any alley down which the camera wasn't pointing, you'd see hundreds of these young girls who had come to just touch a piece of what they really loved."

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DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE BOOK AND THE FILM

Those paying close attention to Stephenie Meyer's source novels might remember the "three-way date" that Bella goes on with friends Mike Newton and Jacob Black. While the scene was shot for New Moon, the filmmakers had to be creative with details in order to avoid potential lawsuits. Hence, the film will show Bella going to see a movie-within-a-movie entitled, simply, Face Punch. Unfortunately for fans, Face Punch will not be filmed at all.

Weitz explains how he came up with the title and concept for Face Punch: "The funny thing is, I had to come up with the name of a movie-within-a-movie, and the first one, which I think was named Cross-Hairs in the book, couldn't be cleared because it had already been used. You'd be shocked at the number of stupid action movie names that have been turned into movies. So I eventually submitted a list of ten to Summit's lawyers and they had to see which ones they could go and clear, and Face Punch was one of two out of ten that could actually be cleared. And I chose that over Kill Hunt, so now somebody can actually go make Kill Hunt, but Face Punch is ours. [Laughs] It was always a joke between me and my brother [filmmaker Paul Weitz] that there should be a movie called Face Punch, which was just about people punching each other in the face. But it's the kind of movie-within-a-movie, it's the least romantic thing that Bella can think of to go to, because her friend asks her, essentially, on a date and she wants nothing romantic to happen at all."

Weitz continued, landing upon a brilliant idea for the next wave of Twilight fan videos. "Sadly, there is no Face Punch, although maybe it should be something that the fans are left to make. You'll hear the sounds of Face Punch, which will be a lot of people being shot and hacking each other to bits. There are a few other movies that are referred to, imaginary movies, within this movie, and the way that it satirizes other genre films in a very brief and lighthearted way. And this is example of the stupidest kind of action movie imaginable."

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OK, BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT ROTTEN TOMATOES LINE?

Alas, we confirmed that Meyer's mention of Rotten Tomatoes had to be omitted for legal reasons.

"I'm afraid we didn't [include the Rotten Tomatoes line], and the reason would not be because of Rotten Tomatoes, but because Summit Entertainment [is] very careful about not quoting any existing property. And probably, if we had actually bothered to go and ask, then you guys would have said, 'Yeah that'd be really cool,' but then some lawyer would have said, 'It doesn't matter, somebody else could complain about it,' and all that sort of stuff."

"It might be because of the Tomatometer response to The Golden Compass, as well," he joked, "which lowered my overall Tomatometer quite severely."

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THE "PROPOSAL" SCENE

Speaking of changes, let's address the big fan question: The Proposal Scene. While Melissa Rosenberg's script for Twilight deviated slightly from Meyer's source novel, most agree that it remained generally faithful in story and (perhaps to a fault) in dialogue. So will New Moon's conclusion stay faithful to Meyer's "proposal scene," in which Edward makes a very specific ultimatum in response to a life-changing request from Bella?

"It hasn't been cut out, I can tell you that much," Weitz carefully shared. He paused to compose his answer, making sure not to reveal too much. "It's not going to hit them in exactly the way that they think it's going to, but I will say that -- how can I put it? --it's going to be quite special. I kind of saved all of my gusto for that moment. I don't think it will disappoint.

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Peter Facinelli talks New Moon, Eclipse, Nurse Jackie, and Eclipse

Though recovering from a bit of a cold, this self-proclaimed Twilight fan and film enthusiast was earnest and open about his work.

After a couple of weeks of constant Twittering, and the widely known win in a bet with Rob DeFranco, Facinelli is still working out the details on how to handle the prize. He is still "just trying to figure out what to do for the day [June 30th] because I want to try and do some kind of charity event. I thought it might be a fun way to actually make it into something meaningful."

While the day might already include the very charitable donation of Facinelli's own actor's chair to one lucky Twilight fan/Twitter follower, Rob DeFranco's Hollywood Boulevard jig might not be all Twilight fans will see on June 30th, it seems.

I asked Facinelli if he was surprised at how much the bet took off after his initial few Twitters. Said he, "Yeah, I mean, Rob came over to my house and he saw the back of my chair and was like 'Can I have that?' And I said, 'No,' but he knows I like a good bet, so he said, 'I'll bet you for it.' We kind of came up with this bet. It's not like we sat around and planned some crazy thing, and then all of a sudden we threw it on the internet, and it kind of exploded. I know a lot of people had fun with it, and I was happy that people were. It was a very entertaining week."

Also fun this week was the third episode of Facinelli's newest show Nurse Jackie on Showtime - whose pilot broke Showtime's own records and led to an immediate announcement of a second season. Said Facinelli about this news, he's "pretty excited. I love working with Edie Falco. She's an amazing actress, and a really sweet person. I mean, whenever you get to do more of what you love to do, it's always great. When we did Twilight, I think our main goal was to hopefully be able to do more and we are."

Indeed, they are. Having just wrapped The Twilight Saga: New Moon with director Chris Weitz, Facinelli is to be back on the Twilight set once again - this time with David Slade for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. I asked Facinelli whether he was surprised at all that his work in Twilight has potentially led to a four-part film series.

"Well," he said, "when we first shot it, you know, I think no one really knew that it was going to be this big. I think we were just hoping to satisfy the fans of the books, and we knew there was this underground following. Again, no one really knew it was going to snowball into this huge thing... kind of like my Twitter bet... No one knew it was going to snowball into that huge thing either."

Facinelli also enjoyed his work on Nurse Jackie with director Steve Buscemi. "I've been a fan of Steve Buscemi's for the longest time, so to be able to be directed by him was a real treat. I almost worked on a movie with him ... and I was up for the lead role, and I ended up not being able to do it. And to work with him years later was pretty cool .. It was called Animal Factory." He didn't end up on the picture, he says, because "[Buscemi] went younger with the role. It was between me and Edward Furlong, and he went with Eddie ... So, I was kind of bummed, but later on I got to work with him on Nurse Jackie, and we were excited to work together."

Steve Buscemi and Edie Falco aren't the only long-timer HBO/Showtime series alums, and this fact might be one that intimidates some, but Facinelli has a different perspective. "I've worked with a lot of great actors, so I don't get intimidated by [them.] I get excited to work with great actors."

When asked if there were any particular actors that he'd like to work with, Facinelli admitted "that's a long list." "I always wished I worked with Paul," Facinelli said, "Paul Newman, but I never got the chance. Robert Redford would be my second. You know, I love Al Pacino and [Robert] DeNiro... they're great. I think my favorite would be ... if I had to pick ... Sean Penn. I'd love to work with Sean Penn. Either way. As a director (with him directing me) or acting alongside him. I'm a huge fan of his and the work he's done."

Nurse Jackie, since being pitted for a second season reprisal, will begin filming this fall. Also filming this fall is The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, but Peter Facinelli is confident that both can be done harmoniously. According to him, "They're starting in October some time, and I think we're starting Eclipse in August, so if everything stays according to plan it'll be close, but we'll be able to squeeze both. The good news is that I'm not in every scene in Eclipse and I'm not in every scene in Nurse Jackie, so I'm sure I'll be able to do both."

Speaking of Eclipse, I asked Facinelli if there was anything about director David Slade that he looked forward to working with him for. Said he, "I've heard he's very intense, and I heard he's a great actor's director, so I'm excited to work with him."

The changed directorial hands, too, seems to be exciting to Facinelli. "Whenever I've done television (Six Feet Under, or Damages, or Nurse Jackie) we worked with different directors each episode," Facinelli said, "so, it makes it interesting because they come in and it's the same material, but you get a different perspective on it. And that's how it's been on this one too. Chris Weitz has brought his vision; Catherine Hardwicke had hers. And, now, we get to see what David Slade's going to bring ... It's exciting."

Though only contracted for Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, Facinelli also intends to reprise his role as Dr. Carlisle Cullen in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, if it comes to fruition. Says he, "I'm a big fan of the series. I wish there were more!"

In our discussions here, I told him, we've bounced around the idea of a post-Breaking Dawn television series, and the witty Facinelli is on board for that as well, he says, "as long as it's called the Carlisle Chronicles." If only, huh?

Other projects in the works for Facinelli include, potentially, Thicker, which Facinelli tells us is based on a "short movie" of the same name. "I'm hoping they can get the money and shoot that because it's a fun little short ... Leslie Zemeckis (who is Robert Zemeckis' wife) co-stars and is producing it. And Christopher Lloyd."

Also in the works is one of Facinelli's own near and dear projects called Loosies. About the film, Facinelli says, "it's about a pick-pocket in New York, who lives this carefree lifestyle, kind of like the Steve McQueen type, and he ends up getting this girl pregnant, and his whole life gets thrown upside-down. He has to grow up and take some responsibility for his life, basically." The script, he says, was his own penmanship, and he "was supposed to try and squeeze [it] in this summer, but the window got too small between going back to work on Eclipse, so I'm going to have to push that 'til next year."

While another project may also be in the works for Facinelli, he says that if not, he will plan to attend Comic Con this year. Says he, "it sounds like fun. I didn't go last year..."