What looked like a possible upset early in the game ended in another win for New Moon. Although the film pulled in another $42.9 million over the holiday weekend, the Twilight sequel dropped approximately 70% from its first frame and escaped second place by a mere $2.8 million.

The vampires were given a run for their box office dollars by The Blind Side, the sports drama starring Sandra Bullock. Unlike Moon, the heartwarming film actually saw improvement in its second week. The entry also managed to hold off the Chris Weitz-helmed project on Thanksgiving Day.

1. New Moon, Summit Entertainment, $42,870,002 (avg. $10,606)
2. The Blind Side, Warner Bros., $40,111,364 (avg. $12,774)
3. 2012, Sony, $17,651,729 (avg. $5125)
4. Old Dogs, Disney, $16,894,511 (avg. $4933)
5. Disney’s A Christmas Carol, Disney, $15,758,273 (avg. $5230)
6. Ninja Assassin, Warner Bros., $13,316,158 (avg. $5320)
7. Planet 51, Sony, $10,218,641 (avg. $3367)
8. Precious, Lionsgate, $7,081,032 (avg. $10,680)
9. Fantastic Mr. Fox, 20th Century Fox, $6,965,267 (avg. $3426)
10. The Road, The Weinstein Company, $1,502,231 (avg. $13,534)

(You can review last week’s numbers here.)