Christmas came early for E1 Entertainment, which over the weekend clocked in $11.2 million in ticket sales on the strength of New Moon.

The three-day figures put the sequel in second place for the largest opening weekend ever in Canada — trailing only Warner Brothers’ The Dark Knight — making good on high expectations for the film.

Vancouver-shot New Moon more than doubled the opening weekend for the franchise opener Twilight, which generated $5.6 million last November.

In the U.K., where E1 also has the rights, New Moon rang in £11.7 million on 1,100 screens, making it the highest-grossing opening weekend for a U.S.-produced film.

‘With such incredible box office numbers the devotion of The Twilight Saga‘s fan base is very much evident,’ said Patrice Théroux, president of filmed entertainment at the Toronto distributor, in a release.

New Moon nabbed the third best opening weekend of all time in the U.S. for Summit Entertainment, bowing to US$140 million, according to Variety. (Dark Knight and Spider-Man 3 are first and second, respectively.)

The third installment in the series, Eclipse, will bow next summer. The films are based on Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling novels about a teenager’s love affair with a vampire, and star Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.