'Harry Potter' headed toward $160-million five-day opening
After an eye-popping, record-breaking $22.2-million midnight debut, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is starting to look like, well, a "Harry Potter" movie.
The sixth film in Warner Bros.' series based on the bestselling books sold $26.8 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada on Friday, according to the studio, bringing its domestic total since opening Wednesday to $107 million.
Its Friday gross was just 4% more than the last movie in the series, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which is a bit less than the increase in ticket prices since that film opened two years ago. Assuming it follows the same path as "Phoenix," "Half-Blood Prince" will likely gross about $80 million for the weekend and $160 million over its first five days.
"Order of the Phoenix" earned $139.7 million in its first five days in July 2007.
The last movie also grossed $193 million during the same time period overseas. After earning $48.9 million on its first day internationally, "Half-Blood Prince" could earn a little more than that.
-- Ben Fritz
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Photo: Daniel Radcliffe in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Credit: Warner Bros.
