Harry Potter fails to top New Moon or Eclipse

 I'm moderately surprised that the finale (or beginning of a finale) that has been showing for 12 years and has a following of fans that ranges every single age group and appeals to entire families as well as men and women alike, fails to beat either New Moon or Eclipse, a series supposedly marketed at "teen girls" that has only been showing for 2 years.

The boy wizard couldn’t beat the teen vampires.
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1″ sold $24 million in tickets in its debut late Thursday night with shows that started at or soon after midnight, according to an estimate from Warner Bros.
That’s $1.8 million more than the last movie in the series, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” brought in from midnight shows when it debuted in June 2009.
It’s well short, however, of the record set in July by “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” which grossed more than $30 million during its late-night launch.
In fact, “Deathly Hallows” is the No. 3 midnight opening of recent years, also coming up behind November 2009′s “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” which kicked off its opening weekend with $26.3 million.
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1″ is on track for a huge opening weekend of more than $100 million. Now that it didn’t break any records in midnight shows, however, it’s less likely the picture will top the $158-million debut in 2008 of “The Dark Knight,” which stands as the biggest opening weekend ever, not accounting for ticket price inflation.

[Source: LATimes.]