LOS ANGELES - The vampire romance "Twilight" drained the box office in its opening weekend, taking in $70.6 million.

Catherine Hardwicke's film also enjoyed the biggest opening ever for a female director, blowing away the 이전 standard of $41.1 million set 의해 Mimi Leder 's " Deep Impact " in 1998.

Drawing from its huge 팬 base of teenage girls, who fell for Stephenie Meyer's novel of forbidden 사랑 between brooding vampire Edward Cullen and bookish high schooler Bella 백조 , "Twilight" made a whopping $20,636 per theater, according to Sunday morning estimates.

And the fangirls will get another taste soon enough: Summit Entertainment, which released "Twilight," announced during the weekend that it's going ahead with production of "New Moon," based on the 초 book in Meyer's internationally best-selling series. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will return as its star-crossed lovers, but whether Hardwicke will be at the helm again is still being determined.

The laid-back Hardwicke, who went bodyboarding at sunset Saturday to take her mind off this high-pressure weekend, said Sunday morning that she was heading to a meeting later in the 일 to discuss her possible involvement in "New Moon."

"I want to be sure that it's going to be done right. I don't want to rush into it," she said. "It's not like ` Friday the 13th ' 또는 ` 할로윈 ,' 당신 can't just do it super fast and knock another one out. I want to understand their plans and all that."

Hardwicke, whose 이전 films include "Thirteen" and " Lords of Dogtown ," also said she was thrilled about the prospect that the success of "Twilight" will inspire other women and young girls to pursue a career in filmmaking.

"I hope not just women but all minorities get enthused and encouraged 의해 it. I look at the ( Directors Guild of America ) calendar, at the pictures of everyone that had different 영화 each month, and it's usually 22-29 different directors, and almost every 월 there's one female and maybe one minority," she said. "We've been having a lot of events, talking to a lot of fans, and so many kids of course are madly in 사랑 with Robert but tons of kids of every kind (and) girls are coming up to me and saying `I want to direct now, I'm 글쓰기 a screenplay now, you're my inspiration.' I think it's great that people are getting excited."

The big opening for "Twilight" also helps put Summit Entertainment on the map, said Richie Say, the company's president of domestic distribution. Summit has only been around since April 2007 and "Twilight," its sixth release, cost just $37 million to make.

"It certainly says what we've been saying all along, that we can do 더 많이 with less," he said. When Warner Bros . pushed " Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince " from this weekend to a July 2009 debut, and Summit jumped to 옮기기 "Twilight" from Dec. 12 into that spot on the schedule, "that decision was made in a day. I don't know that the major studios have that ability."

The tremendous take for "Twilight" far exceeded expectations, which had been set around $50 million.

"Teen girls rule the earth," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media 의해 Numbers. "If 당신 look back at the ` Hannah Montana' movie , how well that did, and now this movie, the teen girl audience will never be ignored again 또는 underestimated. It was always teen boys who were the coveted ones, but someone finally caught on to the idea that girls 사랑 movies, too, and if 당신 create something that they're into, that they're passionate about, they will come out in big numbers and drive the box office."

The other major debut of the weekend, Walt 디즈니 's 3-D animated "Bolt," made $27 million to take third place. Featuring the voices of John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, "Bolt" follows the cross-country journey of a dog who plays a superhero on television, but sadly realizes he has no magical powers once he gets separated from his "person."

Chuck Viane, Disney's head of distribution, said "Twilight" took a bite out of everyone's box office this weekend. If the vampire saga hadn't been around, Viane said, 디즈니 would have expected an opening of at least $30 million.

"Obviously we believe in the Thanksgiving holiday in a big, big way," he said. "We've always viewed this as one of those 10-day marathons between opening 일 and the end of the Thanksgiving weekend."

Last weekend's No. 1 movie, " Quantum of Solace ," came in 초 with $27.4 million. The latest James Bond extravaganza has now grossed $109.5 million, and it crossed the $100 million mark faster than any other film in the franchise, said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony . It's also made $309 million internationally.