"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" pulled in a whopping $140.7 million at the box office this weekend, setting a record for the biggest autumn opening weekend in history and the third biggest three-day debut ever.

Eighty percent of "New Moon" tickets went to women, which propelled the sequel to double 'Twilight's' opening weekend of $69.6 million. Audiences were evenly split in the under 21-years-old category, and awarded the film an "A-" CinemaScore.

However, critical reactions are less favorable for "New Moon" on Rotten Tomatoes' "Tomatometer," where it received a poor 31 percent score.

"New Moon" started its climb to the top with a record-setting $72.7 million opening day, followed by a Saturday total of $43.2 million, and an estimated take of $24.8 million Sunday, according to Hollywood.com. The film also set a new midnight opening record.

Worldwide, "New Moon" raked in $258.8 million.

Mirroring the summer box office season, this November weekend's top 10 films grossed $245 million, an incredible 59 percent spike from last year when "Twilight" enchanted theatergoers; movie theaters have not enjoyed this much success since the July 2008 premiere of "The Dark Knight."