Update 5/22: To see the latest Box Office Sales for Water for Elephants, click here.
Robert Pattinson brings in moviegoers by the millions for the Twilight series, but does he have Box Office draw when starring opposite a leading actress not named Kristen Stewart? Well, looks like he can do pretty darn well even without his life partner by his side in a movie.

Pattinson and co-star Reese Witherspoon‘s Water for Elephants premiered this weekend and the $40 million romantic drama, based on Sara Gruen’s novel, has already raked in an estimated $17.5 million – an amount much higher than expected for its genre.

“Adult films usually don’t sprint out of the gate. We did,” Fox executive Bert Livingston told eOnline. “I think being on bestseller list twice helped.”