The Twilight Saga “Breaking Dawn Part 1" broke the UK and Ireland box office record this past weekend, taking in $21.8 million.

Based on the best-selling books by Stephanie Meyers, the fourth film in  the Twilight series,  surpassed "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" opening night on Friday when it grossed $9.9 million.

In the U.S. and Canada the film opened as the top film and grossed $138.5 million for Summit Entertainment LLC.   

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 “It’s an extraordinarily strong opening, and my sense is it will generally play well for many weeks,” said Paul Sweeney, a media analyst for Bloomberg Industries said. “Hollywood has really been focusing the last several years on franchises. Once Hollywood finds a formula that’s working, they play it as aggressively as they can."

Directed by Bill Condon,  "Breaking Dawn Part 1" stars Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart.

Official "Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn" trailer: