It might not have hit the $150-$160 million opening some were predicting, but The Twilight Saga – Breaking Dawn Part 2 was certainly no slouch at the US box office, taking $141 million, which is the eighth biggest first three-day take ever. It was slightly behind New Moon, which still holds the franchise record with $142 million, but slightly ahead of Breaking Dawn Part 1.

Globally the movie made $340 million over the weekend, which ain’t a bad total at all. It’s the franchise’s best opening internationally.

While there were no other brand new openers in the US top 10, Lincoln made its first appearance after its strong opening on just 11 screens last week. After expanding onto 1700 screen, it took $21 million to place third on the chart. It’s a very healthy take considering the subject matter and period setting – and the fact it doesn’t promise vast amounts of action.

Take a look below for the US box office Top 10 for the weekend of November 16th-18th.

Throughout last week, the predictions of how well Skyfall would do on its US opening kept growing. It went from a possible $50 million debut, until the day before its opening many were thinking $60 million, perhaps even $70 million. By Friday the predictions had reached $80 million, but in the end even that was too conservative, as by Sunday it had hit $90 million.

That’s way ahead of the previous biggest Bond opening, which was Quantum Of Solace’s $67 million, and more than double Casino Royal’s $40 million first three days take. It’s an impressive debut, especially as for many years, 007 has been softer in the US than elsewhere. But then, perhaps Americans had gotten wind of how crazy the rest of the world has been for the movie, as it’s predicted that by the end of today, the film will have taken more outside the US than any previous Bond movie, and it’s done that in less than three weeks.

Skyfall was the only new entry in the US top 10, but a little further down, Spielberg’s Lincoln placed 15th with $900,000 on its opening, but it was only playing on 11 screens. That means it took an impressive $81,818 per cinema. The real test through will come next weekend, when it expands massively across the country.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend on November 9th-11th.

Wreck-It Ralph certainly got a good start this weekend, with the highest opening ever for a non-Pixar Disney animated movie. The film took $49.1 million, just ahead of Tangled’s $48.8 million debut. It’s a great start, helped by the fact it appealed to both boys and girls, and with little to challenge it in the family demographic over the next few weeks, it should have strong legs.

Robert Zemeckis’ return to live action, Flight, was no slouch either, with the Denzel Washington starring film taking a far better than expected $25.1 million in its first three days. On a per-theater average, that’s actually better than Wreck-It Ralph, as going against the conventional wisdom that for a big opening you need 3000+ screens, Flight opened on just 1800. It’s particularly good as well for an R rated movie with mixed reviews.

The final new entry on the chart was RZA’s directorial debut, The Man With The Iron Fists, which placed fourth with $8.2 million. Although about what was expected, it’s not a great start, although it’s always been thought the stylised kung-fu action would play better outside the US.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of November 2nd-4th:

It was certainly a slow weekend at the US box office, with no new movie coming that really excited audiences. It allowed Argo, which has been showing strong legs, to top the box office on its third week of release. Ben Affleck’s film dropped only 24% from last weekend to add another $12 million, for a total of $60 million so far.

The highest new entry was Cloud Atlas, which placed third with $9.4 million. It a disappointing but not surprising for a movie which may look too unusual and complex for the average moviegoer. Nor has it been helped by glowing reviews.

Despite it being Halloween in a few days, Silent Hill: Revelation took only $8 million, far less than the $20 million the first Silent Hill movie took on its debut. The only other new entry in the top 10 was Fun Size, which tanked with just $4 million to place 10th. Even that was better than the Gerard Butler surfing flick Chasing Mavericks, which made just $2.2 million on its opening.

While the studios had little cheer at the US box office, MGM & Sony will be far happier about the debut of Skyfall in 25 international markets. The film took a stonking $77 million, including what’s believed to be the second biggest three-day opening ever in the UK, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. It’s opened ahead on Quantum Of Solace in nearly all markets its debuted in, suggesting it will become the highest grossing Bond to date, eventually overtaking Casino Royale’s $430 million.

While each of the previous Paranormal Activity movies has opened stronger than the last, Paranormal Activity 4 broke that streak with a soft $30 million debut. It will still be an incredibly profitable film, as it only cost $5 million to make, but it’s certainly a dip from part 3′s $52.6 million.

However Paranount can console itself with the fact that elsewhere in the world the movie has opened stronger than the last film. That said, with dodgy reviews and apparently soft word of mouth, it may not hold up stunningly well in the rup up to Halloween.

Although it’s a rather made up record, Warner is trumpeting that Argo has had the best hold of any live action movie ever released outside the November and December holiday window, dropping just 15% from its debut. It added another $16.3 million, suggesting amazing word of mouth.

Other than PA4, the only other new movie to hit the top 10 was the Tyler Perry starrer Alex Cross, which opened to a disappointing $11.75 million. Despite a marketing campaign that tried to sell the film outside Perry’s core African American audience, trying to lure in James Patterson fans, 74% of the those buying tickets were black. It’s not a great start and is likely to nix plans that were already in motion for a sequel.

Here’s the US top 10 for October 19th-21st.

Taken 2 has topped the US box office for a second week running, taking another $22.5 million to take it total to $86 million after 10 days. While the holdover stayed top, Ben Affleck’s Argo was a strong second, outpacing many people’s expectations by taking $20 million to place second on the charts. It also got a very good reaction from audiences, suggesting it should have a good run at cinemas.

Sinister placed third with a good but not amazing $18 million. As it only cost $3 million to make, it’ll be very profitable, even if it’s now unlikely to reach true horror heights.

Here Comes The Boom did less well, marking a low point for Kevin James as a leading man with $12 million to place fifth. Although not a disaster, it’s less than Sony had hoped. Seven Psychopaths did even less well, taking just $4.2 million to place ninth. Although it was showing on fewer screens than many other releases, its per screen average still wasn’t great.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of October 12th-14th.