'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' posts $160m five-day bow, biggest worldwide debut in history, July 17-19, 2009

Harry Potter mania shows no signs of abating as Warner's flagship franchise continued its incredible run at the box office, with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince posting the biggest worldwide opening of all-time. Since Wednesday, the sixth film in the Potter saga has amassed a jaw-dropping $396.6 million.

In North America the two-and-a-half hour fantasy pic ranked in $159.7 million over five days, including a record $22.2 million on Wednesday midnight screenings alone. Half-Blood Prince took in $79.5 million from Friday to Sunday, besting its immediate predecessor Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which grossed $77.1 million over its first weekend and $139.7 million over its Wednesday-Sunday frame. The biggest three-day weekend opening in the franchise still belongs to the fourth film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which took in $102.6 million in November 2005.

After pushing back the release date for this sixth film from November 2008 until now, Warner Bros.'s high stakes gamble paid off, as the studio's final caretaker for the remaining three films David Yates (Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince along with the final two films encompassing the seventh book) has delivered both a critical and financial hit. Critics polled by Rottentomatoes.com gave the film an impressive 84%.

Thanks to that record $22.2 million midnight haul Prince finished with a Wednesday take of $52.8 million. Numbers fell off significantly for the rest of the weekend, falling well-short of the $201 million five-day take of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. But if international totals remain as strong as they were for Order of the Phoenix, where nearly 70% of all ticket sales came from overseas, Prince should wind up out-pacing Transformers 2 globally when all is said and done. Phoenix amassed a whopping $938 million worldwide despite making "only" $292 million domestic. Among international markets, the United Kingdom posted by far the biggest debut, as Potter-mania produced a $32.4 million bow.

Despite Harry Potter dwarfing all other films this weekend, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs slipped just 36% to $17.7 million, bringing its 19-day cume to $152 million. The film is on pace to match or beat its predecessor Ice Age: The Meltdown, which took in $195.3 million domestic back in 2006.

Falling 43% to third was Paramount/DreamWorks' blockbuster Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which took in $13.8 million this weekend. In four weeks the $200 million budgeted robot actioner has grossed $363.9 million, moving past Jurassic Park's $357 million for #13 on the all-time list. At its current pace the film looks likely to break $400 million by the end of its domestic run.

The most interesting number from the weekend but perhaps the least surprising was the disastrous sophomore frame from Sacha Baron Cohen's latest mockumentary Bruno, which tumbled 73% to $8.4 million, falling from first to fourth. His latest shock comedy proves there is a fine line between pushing the boundaries of laughter and making it feel to audiences like the joke's on them. Apparently he crossed that line. Still, the low-budget Universal comedy has grossed $49.6 million in ten days, and should have no problem breaking $60 million domestic.

The numbers, July 17-19, 2009

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	$79,475,000	4,325	$18,376	$159,662,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
2	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	$17,700,000	3,817	$4,637	$152,005,000	-35.9	3	Fox
3	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	$13,750,000	3,857	$3,565	$363,867,000	-43.2	4	Paramount
4	Brüno	$8,374,000	2,759	$3,035	$49,588,000	-72.7	2	Universal
5	The Hangover	$8,315,000	2,667	$3,118	$235,882,000	-16.3	7	Warner Bros.
5	The Proposal	$8,294,000	3,043	$2,726	$128,087,000	-21.8	5	Buena Vista
7	Public Enemies	$7,593,000	3,121	$2,433	$79,484,000	-45.0	3	Universal
8	Up	$3,147,000	1,708	$1,843	$279,559,000	-33.3	8	Buena Vista
9	My Sister's Keeper	$2,825,000	1,967	$1,436	$41,504,000	-34.2	4	Warner Bros.
10	I Love You, Beth Cooper	$2,665,000	1,872	$1,424	$10,261,000	-45.8	2	Fox

'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' rakes in record $387m worldwide in debut, June 26-28, 2009

Michael Bay is laughing all the way to the bank this fourth of July weekend. After taking a certified beating from critics, who gave the film a "rotten" 21% score from Rottentomatoes.com, the glitzy action auteur proved that bigger is sometimes much better. He spent more money ($200 million budget compared to $150m for its predecessor), pushed for bigger effects, and brought the running time to a head-scratching two-and-a-half hours, all to satisfy the pent up demand by audiences for a certified box office blockbuster. The result was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which took in a staggering $201.2 million over its five-day opening and $387 million worldwide, giving the sequel the largest global opening haul in history.

After pulling in $89.2 million over the Wednesday-Thursday time frame, including a record crushing $60.2 million on Wednesday alone, the Paramount/DreamWorks release amassed an incredible $112 million over the weekend, bringing its five-day total to $201.2 million. Only last summer's The Dark Knight grossed more over its first five days, bringing in $203.8 million last July. By comparison, the original Transformers bowed with $70.5 million over the July 4th weekend in 2007, pulling in $155.4 million over its first 6 days of release (it debuted on a Tuesday).

Averaging a massive $26,453 in 4,234 theaters over the weekend (including 169 IMAX screens), the Michael Bay actioner shattered the June opening weekend record set by 2004's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with $93.7 million. It also broke the five-day record for a Wednesday opener, easily surpassing the $152.4 million haul by 2004's Spider-Man 2.

Starting on Wednesday with a record-shattering $60.6 million, the opening day haul was the second largest in history behind The Dark Knight's Friday take of $67.2 million, as well as the largest by far for a Wednesday bow. That now-annihilated record belonged to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which debuted on Wednesday with $44.2 million in 2007.

Internationally Transformers whipped up a frenzy as well, though not to the dizzying heights of its North American release. The pic took in $186 million since the beginning of the week, putting its worldwide take at $387 million. That makes Revenge of the Fallen already the second highest grossing film globally for 2009, behind only Angels & Demons with $467.7 million.

With sizable competition ahead in the form of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs coming July 4th and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince arriving 11 days later, Transformers will likely see a heavy sophomore drop. But with an opening five-days like that, the film could still coast to $350 million domestic without even trying.

Sandra Bullock's hit romantic comedy The Proposal continued to fare well in its sophomore frame, falling 45% to $18.5 million, bringing its ten-day cume to $69.1 million. Released by Buena Vista and co-starring Ryan Reynolds, the $40 million budgeted pic looks headed towards $120 million domestic.

The comedy blockbuster The Hangover continued its phenomenal run at the box office, falling another slight 36% to $17.2 million. In four weeks the film has now amassed $183.2 million, and seems like a shoe-in for $250+ million domestic.

Disney-Pixar's computer-animated comedy Up is now officially the highest grossing film of 2009, surpassing Star Trek in its fifth week of release. Falling 45% to $13 million, the film managed a decent drop despite the overwhelming presence of Transformers 2. In five weeks the film has grossed a lofty $250.3 million, and should be able to replace No. 2 on the all-time Pixar by next weekend. Already ranked as the fourth highest grossing film in studio history, the $175 million budgeted pic is poised to surpass the $255.8m of Monsters, Inc. (No. 3), and the $261.4m haul of The Incredibles (No. 2). The film is still just barely behind the pace of 2003's Finding Nemo which grossed $339.7 million domestic, but with Ice Age 3 on the near-term horizon, and Harry Potter VI not far behind that, it appears unlikely Up would unseat Nemo at the top of the list. Still, given the fantastic word of mouth this summer, look for Up to just barely cross $300 million domestic.

The numbers, June 26-28, 2009

THE TOP TEN		Weekend	Theaters	Avg.	Total Gross	%+-	Wks	Distributor
1	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	$112,000,000	4,234	$26,453	$201,246,000	--	1	Paramount
2	The Proposal	$18,466,000	3,058	$6,039	$69,050,000	-45.1	2	Buena Vista
3	The Hangover	$17,210,000	3,525	$4,882	$183,242,000	-35.7	4	Warner Bros.
4	Up	$13,046,000	3,487	$3,741	$250,218,000	-44.5	5	Buena Vista
5	My Sister's Keeper	$12,030,000	2,606	$4,616	$12,030,000	--	1	Warner Bros.
6	Year One	$5,800,000	3,024	$1,918	$32,307,000	-70.4	2	Sony
7	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3	$5,400,000	2,995	$1,803	$53,406,000	-55.1	3	Sony
8	Star Trek	$3,606,000	1,823	$1,978	$246,225,000	-34.6	8	Paramount
9	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smith.	$3,500,000	2,250	$1,556	$163,248,000	-55.2	6	Fox
10	Away We Go	$1,678,000	495	$3,390	$4,056,000	92.6	4	Focus

'Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen' annhilates competition with est. $200m opening

Thanks to its record smashing $60.6 million Wednesday opening bow, a huge $28.6 million Thursday, another mind-boggling $36.7 million Friday and an estimated $39.5 million Saturday, Michael Bay's blockbuster sequel Transformers 2 looks headed towards $200 million for a five-day weekend, becoming only the second film in history to achieve that mark, following The Dark Knight's $203 million five-day bow. If Sunday estimates come in better than expected, its concievable the two-and-a-half hour actioner could best even that mark, a record once thought untouchable.

Despite being savaged by critics, the critic-proof sequel appears likely to be the top grossing pic of 2009, unless Ice Age 3 (opening July 4th) and Harry Potter VI (opening July 15th) can knock the Shia LeBeouf pic off course.