Potter Soars to $397M Global Opening

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND The wait was over for

Hogwarts fans who rushed out to theaters around the world to see the much-anticipated Harry Potter and the Half-Blo

od Prince powering the wizard sequel to a strong number one opening and the largest worldwide

debut for any film ever. In North America, the PG-rated fantasy pic grossed an est

imated $79.5M over the Friday-to-Sunday span and a colossal $159.7M since its debut on Wednesday. P

rince beat out the opening of the last installment of the franchise, 2007's Harry Potter and the Order of the P

hoenix, which also bowed on a Wednesday in July generating $77.1M on the weekend and $139.7M across the same five-day Wednesday-to-Sunday span. That put Prince 14% ahead in grosses and 7% ahead in admissions.

Anticipation was extra high this time around since Warner Bros. delayed the release of the new pic from last November to mid-July resulting in the longest gap ever between Potter films. Plus no new book has hit the market in nearly two years. The first film in the series, 2001's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, still ranks as the top-grossing pic in the franchise with $317.6M which translates to about $413M at today's prices.

Prince's opening week performance was much more front-loaded than Phoenix's. The madness started on Tuesday night with a record $22.2M in post-midnight sales which nearly doubled the $12M figure for Phoenix from two years ago. The new installment's overall opening day tally of $52.8M on Wednesday was 32% stronger while Thursday's $22M take was 20% better. The lead slowed significantly by the weekend as Friday grossed $26.8M (up 4% from Phoenix), Saturday added $29.2M (up 3%), and Sunday is estimated to collect $23.4M (up 2%).

With the average cost of a movie ticket having risen by 7% in the last two years, the Friday-to-Sunday period for Prince's opening weekend actually saw fewer tickets sold than for Phoenix. But with the Wednesday-Thursday period being 28% better, the overall five-day debut period for the new pic was $20M higher. Phoenix's five-day start accounted for 48% of its eventual $292M domestic final. The global tally reached a stunning $938M with 69% of the gross coming from outside of North America.

Making Half-Blood Prince's debut impressive was the fact that IMAX grosses nearly vanished this time around since most of those screens are still playing the Transformers sequel until July 28. Phoenix's opening weekend included higher-priced ticket sales from 91 IMAX sites while Prince is currently in just three locations with the rest beginning their runs on July 29.

The well-reviewed Prince bowed on Wednesday in 4,275 theaters and expanded on Friday to 4,325 venues generating a sizzling $18,376 average over the Friday-to-Sunday session. It was the third widest launch in history after only The Dark Knight (4,366) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (4,362).

Globally, Half-Blood Prince was a juggernaut taking advantage of a day-and-date release around the world to generate a sensational $237M from 54 territories and 84 markets on 15,900 screens. Add in the domestic haul and the wizard film's $396.7M worldwide gross in five days stands as the film industry's biggest ever launch. Overseas accounted for 60% this weekend with the United Kingdom leading the way with a hefty $32.4M launch.

Claiming the number two spot for the third straight weekend was Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs which grossed an estimated $17.7M, down 36%, boosting the cume to a stellar $152M in 19 days. The 3D sequel has grossed exactly the same amount as its predecessor Ice Age: The Meltdown did in 2006 over the same number of days. Dawn's summer release when kids are on vacation will help the new installment inch ahead in the coming days.

Yet another high-profile summer sequel followed in third. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen dropped a reasonable 43% to an estimated $13.8M in its fourth session boosting the cume to a staggering $363.9M for Paramount. That puts the Autobots flick at number 13 on the list of all-time domestic blockbusters behind The Passion of the Christ which grossed $370.3M in 2004. Fallen, the year's biggest hit and its studio's second-highest grosser ever after Titanic, is still on course to break the $400M mark.

With Transformers and Harry Potter, Paramount and Warner Bros. both saw their year-to-date domestic grosses climb to $1.13 billion putting the studios in a tie for the current market share crown.

The raunchy mockumentary Brüno suffered the worst second weekend drop of any major summer film this year tumbling a disturbing 73% to an estimated $8.4M as audiences abandoned Sacha Baron Cohen's latest shockfest. The Universal release has laughed up $49.6M in ten days and looks to finish its domestic run very soon in the neighborhood of $65M. Overseas, the film is fading fast as well and has collected $46M including $36.3M from Universal's territories.

Fifth place was too close to call as two leggy comedy blockbusters took in an estimated $8.3M a piece. The Warner Bros. smash The Hangover slipped by just 16% for a total to date of $235.9M for while Buena Vista's The Proposal slipped by only 22% and has banked $128.1M becoming the top-grossing film of Sandra Bullock's career. The phony engagement pic surpassed the $121.2M of 1994's Speed, however that action hit sold significantly more tickets since admission prices have jumped 76% since then.

Falling 45% in its third weekend was the Johnny Depp-Christian Bale drama Public Enemies which shot up an estimated $7.6M raising the sum to $79.5M for Universal which remains the only major studio without a $100M hit this summer. Enemies is not guaranteed an invite to the century club, but it certainly has a good shot. Disney and Pixar took in an estimated $3.1M for Up, down 33%, lifting the cume to $279.6M putting the animated flick at number 38 on the all-time list ahead of the $279.2M of 2004's Meet the Fockers.

Rounding out the top ten were the tearjerker drama My Sister's Keeper with an estimated $2.8M, off 34%, and the teen comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper which fell 46% to an estimated $2.7M in its sophomore frame. Totals stand at $41.5M and $10.3M, respectively.

Opening to robust numbers in limited release was the indie comedy (500) Days of Summer which bowed to an estimated $837,588 from only 27 locations for a muscular $31,022 average per theater. The Joseph Gordon-Levitt-Zooey Deschanel starrer ranked twelfth for the weekend nationwide despite such a limited debut and expands next weekend into more than a dozen additional cities.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $152.1M which was down a steep 39% from last year when The Dark Knight broke the industry record opening in the top spot with $158.4M; but up 6% from 2007 when I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry debuted at number one with $34.2M.

Explosive $201M Debut for Transformers

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND Robots ruled the box office as the highly-anticipated action sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen generated the second biggest opening in history with a gargantuan $201.2M in its first five days, according to studio estimates, sending the overall marketplace to its highest gross of the year. The eye-popping figure included $112M over the traditional Friday-to-Sunday period plus an additional $89.2M since its Wednesday launch. Playing ultrawide in 4,234 theaters including 169 IMAX screens, the Paramount release averaged a stunning $26,453 over the Friday-to-Sunday period and a gigantic $47,531 over five days.

The only other film to ever gross more in its first five days was last summer's The Dark Knight which hauled in a slightly better $203.8M

from 4,366 venues. The first Transformers bowed to $155.4M in 6.5 days and needed 12.5 days to break the double-century mark on its way to a $319.2M finish.

The Michael Bay-directed pic set a number of other box office milestones. It set new records for a June opener, beating the $93.7M of 2004's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and for a live-action film from Paramount exceeding the $100.1M of last summer's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In fact, Shia Labeof hopes to become the first star with $300M+ blockbusters over three straight summers with Transformers, Crystal Skull, and Fallen. The new Optimus Prime adventure also set a new five-day debut record for a Wednesday opener easily beating the $152.4M ofSpider-Man 2 from 2004.

The onslaught began at 12:01am on Wednesday with an explosive $60.6M opening day haul which included over $16M in business from late Tuesday's post-midnight shows. It was the second largest opening day for any film after the $67.2M for Dark Knight which bowed on a Friday. Grosses dropped 53% to $28.6M on Thursday, rose 29% to $36.8M on Friday, and climbed again by 10% to $40.6M on Saturday. Paramount is being aggressive with its Sunday estimate of $34.6M projecting just a 15% dip from Saturday. Final grosses will be reported on Monday afternoon. The Friday-to-Sunday tally is the seventh best of all-time and the largest for a film not debuting on a Friday.

The new Transformers brought back the main cast members of the first installment including Labeouf and Megan Fox who have become even bigger draws with teens and young adults over the past two years. Fearing being crushed, competing studios left the whole month of June open when it came to big action tentpoles allowing Fallen to be the only action event film out there. A massive marketing campaign by the studio and its tie-in partners drove awareness for the product placement-friendly flick sky high. Critics were brutal and tossed every insult they could at the behemoth, but ticket buyers were more interested in two and a half hours of mindless popcorn escapism.

Overseas audiences were crazy for robot action too as the second Transformers flick has pulled in a stunning $181.6M since its launch a week ago making for a jaw-dropping $382.8M worldwide cume which already makes it the second biggest global blockbuster for the whole year trailing just Angels & Demons which has collected $467.7M in seven weeks. A whopping 72% of that take has come from outside of North America. Fallen is playing more evenly with domestic accounting for 53%.

A sizable drop is expected for Transformers next weekend, but with no effects-driven tentpoles scheduled to open until the July 15th launch of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the domestic haul could very well shoot past $350M in the weeks ahead.

Be sure to check BoxOfficeGuru.com all week for daily updates on Transformers.

Sandra Bullock followed in second place with what could become the top-grossing film of her career, The Proposal. The romantic comedy hit dropped a reasonable 45% in its second weekend to an estimated $18.5M giving Buena Vista a solid $69.1M in only ten days. Co-starring Ryan Reynolds, the phony engagement flick should be able to finish in the vicinity of $125M surpassing the $121.2M of 1994's Speed to be the highest earner for the actress. Admission prices have risen a steep 75% in the last 15 years so Proposal will not sell as many tickets though.

With robot fights hitting the multiplexes, the leggy comedy sensation The Hangover suffered its largest decline yet. Dropping 36%, still a good hold, the R-rated laugher grossed an estimated $17.2M lifting the cume to $183.2M. Hangover is set to smash through the $200M mark over next weekend's Independence Day holiday frame.

Carl and Russell overtook Kirk and Spock for the year's box office crown as the animated smash Up sailed past the quarter-billion mark. The tenth toon from Disney and Pixar dropped 45% to an estimated $13M in its fifth weekend to boost the amazing cume to $250.2M making it 2009's top-grossing title. Optimus Prime will steal away that prize later this week, but Up still has hopes of surpassing the $300M milestone and now sits at number 47 on the list of all-time domestic blockbusters behind Night at the Museum's $250.9M. The flying house flick is running only slightly behind the pace of 2003's Finding Nemo which banked $14M in its fifth round for a cume of $254M.

The frame's only other new wide opener landed in fifth place. The family drama My Sister's Keeper starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin bowed to an estimated $12M from 2,606 locations for a moderate average of $4,616 per theater. The PG-13 film based on the best-selling book about a girl fighting leukemia earned good reviews and played to a more female audience and those in the market for a good cry.

Sony placed its pair of not-so-stellar performers in the sixth and seventh slots. The Jack Black-Michael Cera comedy Year One collapsed 70% in its second weekend to an estimated $5.8M for a ten-day total of $32.3M. The Denzel Washington-John Travolta hostage pic The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 grossed an estimated $5.4M, down a troubling 55%, to a cume of $53.4M after 17 days. The studio cannot be pleased with these declines.

Paramount's Star Trek slipped 35% to an estimated $3.6M and boosted its amazing total to $246.2M. Despite the arrival of studio stablemate Transformers, the Enterprise held up impressively. Close behind was Fox's Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian which fell 55% to an estimated $3.5M giving the sequel $163.2M to date.