"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" had a massive Friday of $26 million and will dominate the weekend box office. "500 Days of Summer" has an eye-popping opening in only 27 theaters.
Gregory Ellwood
<p>It looks like it's going to be an intriguing weekend at the box office. <br /><br />After a mammoth opening on Wednesday, <a href="../../events/2008-12-14-harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince" target="_self">"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"</a> is settling into a strong first week run. According to<a href="http://boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/" target="_blank"> Box Office Mojo</a>, the critically acclaimed sixth installment in the franchise grossed an impressive $26.8 million on Friday to reach $107 million in only three days. The fantasy flick could finish with a five-day total of $160-170 by the end of the weekend. Impressive, but nowhere near the $200 million "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" grossed in the same time period a few weeks ago. Still, <a href="../../events/2008-12-14-harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince" target="_self">"Half-Blood Prince"</a> is a massive hit worldwide and with the cash cow "The Hangover" well on its way to $250 million domestically, its all smiles over on the Warner Bros. lot.<br /><br />Far behind in the second slot was "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" with $5.4 million. The Fox family flick is slowing down with $139.7 million total, but should finish somewhere inbetween the original's "$175 million and "Ice Age: The Meltdown's" $195 million.<br /><br />Proving robot love won't die, "Revenge of the Fallen" was in third with another $4.1 million to add to it's $354 million domestic gross. $400 million is not out of the question, but Paramount Pictures is probably just as happy the Michael Bay actioner is looking at an eventual global cume past $800 million. <br /><br />With a reportedly massive 81% drop in fourth place is the controversial Sacha Baron Cohen comedy "Bruno" with only $2.8 million. After a strong $30 million opening last week, the mockumentary is fading fast and could end up only between $60-70 million domestic.<br /><br />Knocking on the door of the top ten in only 27 theaters is Fox Searchlight's <a href="../../events/2009-4-8-500-days-of-summer" target="_self">"500 Days of Summer."</a> The unconventional romantic comedy found $265,000 and a stellar $9,815 average on it's opening day. The Sundance Film Festival favorite looks like it's going to live up to its billing as the sleeper hit of the summer.<br /><br />Look for final weekend estimates tomorrow on HitFix.</p>
movies
2009-07-18T21:08:09Z
567
'Bruno' crashes and '500 Days of Summer' shines
2038-01-01T00:00:00Z
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2009-7-18-harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince-dominates-friday-s-box-office
2009-07-18T17:03:00Z
'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' dominates Friday's box office
published
Eastern Time (US & Canada)
http://tinyurl.com/nh8a9w
'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' dominates Friday's box office
2009-09-01T03:51:08Z
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