Harry Potter fans who have been left without any new installment—book or film—of the series for two years made up for the wait by storming theaters to see the eight-month-delayed Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince, propelling the film to the largest worldwide debut ever. In the U.S., that translates to a stellar No. 1 opening with $79.5 million, more than $2 million more than the last installment of the film series, 2007’s Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix. The wild anticipation leading up to the film is evidenced by the record-breaking $22.2 million in midnight sales the film took in when it opened last Tuesday night, followed by another $52.8 million on Wednesday, its official opening day. All combined, Half Blood Prince has tallied $159.7 million in its first five days.
Not surprisingly, no other new films opened against the Potter juggernaut. A pair of sequels held down the Nos. 2 and 3 spots for the second consecutive week—Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs with $17.7 million and Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen with $13.75 million—while last week’s big debut, Bruno, plummeted 72.7 percent to No. 4 with $8.37 million. The Hangover (No. 5 with $8.32 million) and The Proposal (No. 6 with $8.29 million) maintained their ongoing middle-of-the-pack status, while Public Enemies continued its steady decline, dropping to No. 7 in its third week with $7.59 million. Up held steady at No. 8 in its eighth week with $3.15 million, ahead of My Sister’s Keeper, which landed at No. 9 for the second week in a row with $2.83 million. I Love You Beth Cooper just barely hung on to the top 10 in its second week, rounding things out with $2.67 million.
More detailed numbers can be found at boxofficemojo.com.