Success of family movies should send a message

The vampires took the lead in pulling in moviegoers over the long Thanksgiving weekend, but far more money was made by studios catering to families, according to box office receipts.

The latest "Twilight" saga sold enough tickets to raise $42 million this weekend ($221 million for the last two weeks) to lead, but families filled seats for the next four slots, The Muppets with $29.5 million, Happy Feet Two with $13.4 million, Arthur Christmas with $12.7 million and Hugo, with $11.4 million. Puss in Boots was eighth with $7.5 million after being out five weeks for a total of $135 million.

It's not surprising that G or PG movies do well over the holidays, when families are together long enough to want to get out of the house, but simple mathematics provide an answer -- you can't buy tickets for one kid without buying them for the others and at least one parent.

Over the years, movies geared toward families have always done well. The Harry Potter films have grossed $7.7 billion world wide, Pirates of the Caribbean $3.72 billion so far, with Disney, Pixar and other animated films adding billions and billions as well.

Eventually, perhaps, the business barons of Hollywood will get the message that catering to families instead of producing sleaze is where the big bucks are.