High expectations for boy wizard miracle just didn’t materialize

By Jeffrey Jolson

Radcliffe and Watson

HOLLYWOOD,CA (Hollywood Today) 7/19/09 – Harry Potter waved his magic wand to conjure up $160 million in opening box office. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and company earned themselves a little place in movie history, once again.
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” zapped its rivals at the box office -which were practically none as other studios were as scared as Mr. Potter as his nemesis Draco. Still, the fantasy didn’t heat as high as “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” which earned $201 million during its first five days last month or “Spider-Man 3″ at $183 million.
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” five-day tally was $139.7 million two years ago. That movie ended up making $938 million worldwide, making it the seventh-biggest movie of all time before accounting for inflation.
Two films are left in the franchise, whose first five films have generated $4.5 billion worldwide since 2001. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” also with Yates at the helm, will be rolled out in two parts in 2010 and 2011.
For the traditional three-day weekend, Friday through Sunday, the new “Harry Potter” film earned $79.5 million, not far ahead of the $77.1 million haul for “Order of the Phoenix.” Comparisons with the other movies in the franchise are difficult because those opened on Friday while the latter two opened on Wednesday.
The Harry Potter franchise has shown remarkable durability over the course of the decade. Prince is the sixth film in less than eight years yet the property remains as relevant as ever. Movie ticket prices have risen dramatically over the years (29% since the first flick) but each film has consistently been able to sell at least 40 million tickets. Domestic admissions for the series include 56 million for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, 45 million for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 40 million for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 45 million for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and 42 million for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Globally, the series has grossed a jaw-dropping $4.5 billion with each pic averaging a stunning $896M with 68.5% coming from outside of North America.
Last weekend, Universal’s raunchy mockumentary Brüno crashed into first place. However, its mammoth 39% Friday-to-Saturday tumble suggests that true fans have already seen the film and that word-of-mouth spreading to the curious is pretty bad. Last summer, Sex and the City (another R-rated comedy with a built-in base of fans) also saw a sensational Friday start only to collapse by 34% on Saturday. It dropped 63% on the second weekend, though its overall $152.6M total was well ahead of expectations. This weekend, Brüno should take a big step back and could decline by 60% to around $12M. That would give the Austrian fashionista $53M in ten days.