Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” the second film in the hit vampire series, recorded the third- biggest opening weekend in box office history with $140.7 million in ticket sales for Summit Entertainment LLC.

“New Moon” set a second record for a single-day performance with $72.7 million in receipts on Nov. 20, the day it debuted, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said in an e- mailed statement. Last year’s “Twilight” movie made $69.6 million in its opening weekend, according to Box Office Mojo, a California-based researcher.

The “Twilight” series, based on Stephenie Meyer’s four best-selling novels, tells the story of a teenage girl named Bella who falls in love with a vampire. The first “Twilight” film made $384 million in global ticket sales. Closely held Summit has the rights to all four books in Meyer’s series, and has already completed the third film, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.”

In “New Moon,” Bella Swan finds herself in the company of werewolves after her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen, leaves town. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson reprise their roles as Bella and Edward. Taylor Lautner co-stars as Jacob Black, a werewolf who develops feelings for Bella.

To contact the reporters on this story: Inyoung Hwang in New York at ihwang7@bloomberg.net; Tom Randall in New York at trandall6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 22, 2009 11:57 EST