First look: 'G-Force' triumphs at box office, 'Potter' drops 61%

The tables got turned on "Harry Potter" this weekend, as "G-Force" took a bigger chunk of the family audience than expected and came in a surprising No. 1 at the box office.

Disney's lighthearted, effects-heavy action flick starring guinea pigs sold $32.2 million in tickets in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates. Aided by about 1,600 theaters that played it in digital 3-D, which brings a ticket-price surcharge, the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced picture is off to a healthy start at the box office. If audience interest remains strong for a few weeks, it could end up grossing more than $100 million.

The only potential worry for Disney is that the film's Saturday gross, $11.7 million, was virtually even with what it earned on Friday. Typically, family movies earn substantially more on Saturday, thanks to matinee shows. That indicates potentially weak word of mouth.

A similar problem appears to be afflicting "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," which fell 61% on its second weekend and landed at No. 2 with $30 million. The decline is the biggest for any film in the series since the third, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," in 2004. After a huge opening day, audiences seems to be losing interest in "Half-Blood Prince" faster than previous "Potter" films.

Warner Bros. may get a boost next weekend, however, when it will be able to show the new "Harry Potter" movie in more than 100 Imax theaters currently playing "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."

"Half-Blood Prince," which cost $250 million to produce and about $155 million to market and distribute worldwide, has now grossed $221.8 million in the U.S. Weekend returns from foreign countries weren't immediately available but will likely push the film to more than $500 million worldwide after the picture's big international launch last week.

Sony Pictures had a solid start for its romantic comedy "The Ugly Truth." Despite overwhelmingly negative reviews, the $38-million movie starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler earned a studio-estimated $27 million.

Horror film "Orphan," which Warner Bros. is distributing for Dark Castle, opened to a so-so $12.8 million.

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: "G-Force." Credit: Disney Enterprises

Comments

[adri]

HP will pwn

[Emily]

Potter probably dropped this week because viewers are waiting for the IMAX release of the movie, which will not occur until July 29, Wednesday. Our family of four would have watched HP already if the IMAX were available.

[12 Weeks Pregnant]

The Harry Potter movie was totally overhyped, people were bombarded with Potter for weeks, I guess it was a bit too much of a good thing.

[gleamingcircuit]

The last post is absolutely right. Harry will be back next weekend as champ, as many of us are waiting for the IMAX 3D version w/added scene. Also, I'm guessing more than a third of the people who went opening weekend will be back for the IMAX showing. When all is said and done, this movie will be Summer's King of the Box Office. Kinda of unfair in a way, maybe they should be forced to count the box office of each version independently, as the two movie going experinces are definitely different. BoxOffice Patronum, indeed. I was at the Peter Jackson/James Cameron panel at Comic-Con on Friday, and from what they said, we can expext many more IMAX and 3D projects in the future, including 3D re-releases of films such as Titanic and Lord of the Rings. I, for one, think the advances in tech for the movie going experience are great.