The third installment in the vampire romance made $30 million from the midnight screenings alone, the most ever for a midnight debut.
With the holiday weekend ahead, the movie is positioned to beat last year's 4th of July weekend haul of $200 million by Monday.
"/*Eclipse*/" surpassed the previous Wednesday record of $62 million set last year by "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." But it fell short of the all-time best opening day, a record held by its predecessor, last November's "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," which took in $72.7 million.
In a single day, "Eclipse" took in a fraction more than the $68 million the movie cost to produce.
The franchise concludes with a two-part adaptation of "Breaking Dawn," the final novel in Stephenie Meyer's best-selling series. Part one of "Breaking Dawn" is due in theaters Nov. 18, 2011.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
