New Moon Reviews, Box Office Update

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are awaiting your review...and your revenue.

New Moon reviews not as hot as Robert Pattinson.

Thursday night at midnight was the New Moon moment millions of Twi-hards have been waiting for with 2,150 screens sold out by Thursday morning -- nearly a day before the film's official release. But based on expert critics' reviews, if you're waiting for this weekend to check out New Moon, you may find yourself suddenly not so sure what to expect.

Thanks to New Moon's earlier release this week in countries like France, Italy and Australia, it had already banked close to $10 million even before Thursday's U.S. release. But American critics were quick to pipe up first thing Friday morning, with most of them telling American not to set their expectations too high before buying their popcorn and finding their seats. Legendary film critics Roger Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times says that even the mortals seem dead in this pic: "... the characters in this movie should be arrested for loitering with intent to moan. Never have teenagers been in greater need of a jump-start," Ebert wrote. "Granted some of them are more than 100 years old, but still: their charisma is by Madame Tussaud."

Scary...Meanwhile USA Today gave New Moon a limp 2.5 out of four stars, and much of the criticism comes from the fact that Robert Pattinson does indeed appear less in New Moon than he did in Twilight. On the rare occasion he is onscreen, says Ty Burr at the Boston Globe, "... Pattinson's Edward is all emo posturing under a trembling bouffant - the actor suddenly seems to be embarrassed to be here ... Lautner's performance, by contrast, has the warmth of an actual human."

Others call the film "gloomy" and say that Ashley Greene lights it up but that her heartbreak scene is not as powerful as many of us are anticipating. Some feel that Robert Pattinson could be a little more angst-ridden...but reviews for Kristen Stewart's intensely credible nightmare scenes sound like a dream come true for Stewart.

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Producers expect the film to draw in $85 million this weekend (plus, we reported earlier this week that this was the largest advance ticket sale of all time). New Moon opened in a reported 3,500 theaters at midnight on November 20, and by Friday evening it will have opened in 4,024 locations.

Quiz: Take the New Moon Triva Quiz and prove your Twilight credentials.