Summit reported Thursday afternoon that at midnight showings on 466 screens in Australia, the movie took in AUS$1.7 million ($1.6 million). It sailed past the previous Australian midnight record set by “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” which took in AUS$1.26 million ($1.2 million) in 2005.

In France, where “Moon” completed its first day, it was No. 1 with 488,000 admissions, translating to $4.26 million, from 751 theaters. By comparison, “Twilight” scored 140,960 admissions, $1.158 million, on its first day in that country.

In Italy, partial returns put the movie’s gross at €$1.83 million ($2.7 million) from 625 screens. The movie is shaping up as the third-highest Wednesday opener in Italy, behind only “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”

Meanwhile in Spain, “Moon” drew €1.475 million ($2.2 million) on 652 screens. In Spain, it also ranked as the third-best Wednesday opening ever — behind “Order of the Phoenix” and “Half-Blood Prince.”

Stephenie Meyer did a Q and A for The Twilight Saga’s official website TheTwilightSaga.com!

Be sure to go there to check out all the questions.

Hi Stephenie – What is your favourite scene in New Moon the movie? – Laure

I can’t really choose just one. I love so many things. Bella’s and Edward’s first conversation in the parking lot…the painting…Jessica’s monologue…the scenes in Jacob’s garage…the first time you see the werewolves!!…Jacob in Bella’s room (thanks, Chris!)…the underwater moment…what you see while Thom Yorke’s amazing song is playing…everything in Italy…and I could go on. It’s all so good.

Why in the world is Edward’s volvo now black in the New Moon? – Kim Benson

This wasn’t my call. Picky as I am about cars, if I’d been rounding up the vehicles for Twilight, they all would have been the exact makes and models I’d written about (especially that ’53 Chevy!). I don’t know what all is involved with choosing the cars—I know they have to be able to get their hands on several identical vehicles—but I can say that I like this Volvo—the XC90—better than the first one—the C30. In regards to the color, it’s actually a dark silver, not black. And I enjoy the black rims quite a bit.

Dear Stephenie, Each director brings something different to the movie they are working on. Do you feel that by using different directors for each movie will take away from the continuity of the story? – Shannon

As I said before, I like having new styles for each story. I think it reflects, to an extent, all the millions of different versions that exist in the world—a different one for every reader. As for continuity, I think we’re fine there. The actors bring the same characters into the new vision, and the backdrop of the location is consistent.

Interview with the Cullens: Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed and Elizabeth Reaser [Read it all HERE!]

Q: How was it to make New Moon with a new director and a new story that has a whole different emphasis?

Ashley: This go-around, I think we were all a little bit more prepared, which was nice. In the first film, we were all going, “What’s going on? What’s happening?” And, we had the support of the fans behind us. In the first one, we were going, “Oh, God, we hope they don’t hate us,” and they completely embraced us. So, going into the second one, I think it was a much more fun, relaxed experience, at least for me.

Interview with the Volturi: Michael Sheen, Dakota Fanning, Cameron Bright and Jamie Campbell Bower [Read it all HERE!]

Q: Dakota, as such a fan of this series, what were the highlights of playing Jane?

Dakota: I think the highlight of playing Jane was getting to wear that costume and having the red contact lenses. I was really excited about that, and getting to play an evil character.

Interview with the Wolf Pack: Chaske Spencer, Alex Meraz, Bronson Pelletier and Kiowa Gordon [Read it all HERE!]

Q: How did you all make your abs look so great? Was there a wolf boot camp for this?

Chaske: No, they made us work out. It was an hour of training. They got us a trainer. It was a guy who helped out on 300. They threw us into the training for maybe an hour and 10 minutes, and it was a lot of circuit training and muscle confusion. We also ate a lot. We ate six meals a day, three protein shakes a day.

Filmmakers Chris Weitz, Melissa Rosenberg and Wyck Godfrey [Read it all HERE!]

Q: There are a lot of hunky guy moments in this movie that the girls are going to go crazy for. Even Laurent gets to show up bare-chested. Can you guys talk about constructing those moments and then delivering them?

Melissa: I wish I could take credit for the moments of Jacob pulling off his shirt and Edward pulling off his shirt. They are in the book and it seemed unwise to leave them out.

Chris: That would be a cut that you would regret. I like to say that it’s all essentially economics. You see, the Quileutes don’t have a very high average income and they can’t afford the t-shirts they would need, given the amount of times they turn into wolves on short notice and their clothes burst. They’d really have to go to Wal-Mart, every 10 minutes. They just go around in shorts, for that reason.