Sydney  - New Moon, the second film in the Twilight vampire series, has eclipsed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by taking a record 16 million Australian dollars (14.7 million US dollars) on its opening weekend in Australia.

"This is way beyond our expectations and confirms that the Twilight franchise has well and truly arrived," Robert Slaviero, chief executive of Hoyts Distribution, said Monday.

The vampire love story, starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, opened November 19.

The third instalment in the franchise, Eclipse, will be released in July. The films are based on the best-selling novels by Stephanie Mayer. (dpa)