Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince didn’t quite top Transformers 2‘s opening numbers – but it was close. It took in $79.5 million over the opening weekend and $159.7 million since debuting last Wednesday, which is the second-highest behind Transformers‘ $200 million.
I really wanted the wizards to beat the robots, darn it, just cause Harry Potter gives blockbusters a much better name. Oh well. At least the critically acclaimed Half-Blood Prince should be the highest grossing Harry Potter movie ever. By Tuesday, Dan Fellman, Warner head of distribution, told the Associated Press he thinks it will be in the $180 million range, well 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. So there’s that.
All I know is I want the next two installments RIGHT NOW. It’ll be tortuous waiting until November 2010 for Deathly Hallows, Part I. I guess I’ll just re-read the last book. Maybe that will satisfy my Potter obsession for now. Maybe.
Here is the top five at the box office this weekend:
1. NEW! Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner Bros.) – $79.4 mil; 4,325 theaters; 18,376 PT; $159.6 mil cume (opened Wednesday)
2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox) – $17.7 mil; 3,817 theaters; $4,637 PT; $152 mil cume
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount) – $13.7 mil; 3,857 theaters; $3,565 PT; $363.8 mil cume
4. Bruno (Universal) – $8.3 mil; 2,759 theaters; $3,035 PT; $49.5 mil cume
5. The Hangover (Warner Bros.) – $8.3 mil; 2,667 theaters; $3,118 PT; $235.8 mil cume
Ah, so the Bruno curiosity has definitely worn off, but I’m sure Sacha Baron Cohen could care less. He got his point across, so he can now move on.
As for this coming weekend, it could be Ugly – as in the The Ugly Truth, the rom-com starring Katherine Heigl and Gerald Butler. Its competition this weekend is G-Force, an actioner with a bunch of talking guinea pigs, and Orphan, a horror flick with a bad-seed-from-the-orphanage scenario.
Yeah, I have a feeling Half-Blood Prince should be another shoo-in for the top spot this weekend.