By Daniel Frankel
The Wrap

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" rose to No. 1 at the international box office this weekend with $118.1 million, outpacing Roland Emmerich s disaster epic "2012," which held strong with $100.5 million in its second week of release.

"New Moon" failed to keep pace overseas with its hair-raising $140.7 million domestic take, but only played in 25 foreign markets for openers.

The teen vampires-and-werewolves sequel played well in the U.K. ($18.7 million), France ($17 million), Spain ($13.7 million) and Italy ($13 million). It also set opening records in Australia and New Zealand, with $13.3 million and $1.9 million, respectively.

Photos: 'New Moon' stills

In its first three days, the second installment of the successful "Twilight" franchise pulled in $140.7 million at home and $258.8 million worldwide, Sunday's studio estimates reported. That puts it behind only "Spider-Man 3" and "Dark Knight" in blockbuster opening weekends, making it the third biggest opening of all time, according to the Associated Press.

The strong showing both at home and abroad boosted the film's opening weekend gross worldwide to $258.8 million. "Twilight" grossed $384 million worldwide during its entire run in 2008.

2012" saw a 40 percent drop over its No. 1 offshore open of $165.2 million, but has hauled in $341.1 million overseas in its first two weeks.

Disney's "A Christmas Carol," keeps ticking along abroad, finishing third for the weekend with $18.5 million. Robert Zemeckis' 3D version of the Charles Dickens classic has made a cumulative $60 million overseas so far.

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