‘Potter’ conjures up $159.7 million in 5 days (AP)
Source: AP Sun Jul 19, 2009, 1:48 pm EDT
LOS ANGELES – Harry Potter continues to work box-office alchemy, turning his latest movie adventure into an overnight blockbuster.
The sixth installment, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” took in $79.5 million domestically over opening weekend and $159.7 million since debuting last Wednesday, according to estimates from distributor Warner Bros. on Sunday.
The movie also took in $237 million overseas since Wednesday in 54 countries, bringing its worldwide total to $396.7 million.
With some of the best reviews of any “Harry Potter” movie, “Half-Blood Prince” was off to the fastest overall start in franchise history.
The sixth movie about the young wizard came in $20 million ahead of the last movie, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” which grossed $139.7 million domestically in its first five days two years ago.
The new film had the second-highest start ever for a movie premiering on Wednesday, trailing the $200 million five-day opening for last month’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”
“Half-Blood Prince” already has surpassed the $157.3 million “Order of the Phoenix” pulled in during its entire first week. By the end of its seventh day Tuesday, “Half-Blood Prince” will be in the $180 million range on its way to becoming the franchise’s first $300 million domestic smash since the original movie, 2001′s “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” said Dan Fellman, Warner head of distribution.
The audience was a bit older for the new movie, with more elder teens turning out to see Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and pals Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) as they deal with adult concerns such as heartache, jealousy and romantic triangles.
Fans have grown up with the franchise, from young readers whose parents had to debate whether the early movies might be too intense for their children to see.
“When the first movie came out, they fought to go. The mother was like, well, should I take them, should I not take them?” Fellman said. “Now they’re driving themselves to this and going to the midnight show.”
Head to our gallery to see tons of HQ photos from all of the Harry Potter films
Here is a video interview with the cast from last week at the NYC premiere of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
[...] ‘Potter’ conjures up $159.7 million in 5 days (AP) Source: AP Sun Jul 19, 2009, 1:48 pm EDT LOS ANGELES – Harry Potter continues to work box-office alchemy, turning his latest movie adventure into an overnight blockbuster. The sixth installment, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” took in $79.5 million domestically over opening weekend and $159.7 million since debuting last Wednesday, according to estimates from distributor Warner Bros. Go here to read the rest: Harry Potter soars at Box Office [...]