Taking advantage of wide expectation and lingering loyalty to the original film of "The Twilight Saga," the sequel "New Moon" has kept the No. 1 billing at the North America box office with a haul of US$42.5 million over three days beginning on Black Friday, latest projection suggested Sunday.

Entering into the second-week screening in Canada and the United States, the vampire romance is expected to fetch US$231 million in combined ticket sales, the North America box office authorities estimated. In the meantime, ever increasing number of merrymaking moviegoers in the region has "obliterated" the previous record by buying US$278 million worth of tickets, or an increase of US$34 million over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday last year, representing an 8.7 percent increase in studio revenue this year.

A Summit Entertainment production that based on a series of four novels by author Stephenie Meyer, "New Moon" is directed by Chris Weitz instead of Catherine Hardwicke in the first installment. However, the movie is exceptionally faithful to the 2008 beginnings. The success of the teen romance is originated from the big-effort promotion by the Summit Entertainment that saw major actors and actresses making a pitch in 15 major cities across North America.

The second place of the chart also remained unchanged, with "The Blind Side" featuring Sandra Bullock garnering three-day sales of US$40.1 million. A drama sports film about an American football player that was made by privately owned Alcon Entertainment and distributed by Warner's Bros., the flick is estimated to make a haul of US$57.5 million over five days during the Thanksgiving holiday. Its two-week sales total will surpass US$100 million, according to estimates.

Rounding out the top five are:

No.3: "2012," Sony/Columbia, US$18 million this weekend, US$138.8 million in three weeks;

No.4: "Old Dogs," Disney, opening with US$16.8 million this weekend;

No.5: "Disney's A Christmas Tale," Disney, US$16 million this weekend, US$105.4 million over four weeks.