Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn passes $500m mark

The latest Twilight film has now made more than $500 million at the worldwide box office, its distributor Summit Entertainment has said.

According to BBC News, by Tuesday, its takings had exceeded $508m - $223m of which was made in North American cinemas.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 is the fourth instalment in the vampire series. A fifth movie follows in 2012.

It is the top film in both the UK and US box office charts after its second weekend of release.

"We couldn't be more pleased with the success of this film," said Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger, co-chairmen of Summit Entertainment.

The previous three instalments in the Twilight series have collectively made more than $1.8 billion at the worldwide box office.

Since opening on 18 November, the film - which stars Kristen Stewart and British star Robert Pattinson - has made in excess of £23m.

Although Twilight's achievements over 12 days were attained by the final Harry Potter movie in six.

When it opened in July, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 promptly set a new record for the fastest film to cross the $500m mark.