WB Set to Cross One Billion Mark as Half-Blood Prince Opens with 3,000 Midnight Showings
HBP Film
Posted by: sue
July 14, 2009, 10:59 PM
The exceptional popularity and box office draw of the Harry Potter films is never more evident tonight than in a new article from Screen Daily which states that "Warner Bros is on the cusp of crossing the $1billion domestic milestone as it launches Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince around the globe." The piece continues to say that Half-Blood Prince "was set to open in approximately 3,000 midnight screenings across
North America on Wednesday. By the end of the weekend it will have
launched in roughly 4,300 theatres. The film is expected to
dominate the box office for several weeks and conservative estimates
have forecast a five-day weekend in the $140m region."
Even more eye opening is the following:
"To date every episode in the highly profitable series has taken more than $249.5m domestically, with Sorcerer’s Stone setting the high-water mark of $317.6m by the end of its run in February 2002.Overseas,
each film in the franchise has consistently scored more than $546m and
a soaring international run would appear to be on the cards yet again
as Warner Bros Pictures International aims to join its domestic
counterpart in the $1bn club. Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix set the overseas record of $646.2m two years ago.
The
film debuts in the UK, Japan, Australia, France, South Korea, Spain,
Italy and Brazil on Wednesday as a prelude to the company’s biggest
day-and-date conventional and IMAX release yet. By the end of the first
weekend it will have opened in more than 14,000 screens in 54 markets
including all the majors, accounting for roughly 85% of total markets."
77 Comments
320 Points
Seems to me that the people here who say they didn’t like the film are the same ones who have complained about all the others. Maybe you should all just give Deathly Hallows a miss. Leave it for real Harry Potter fans.
80 Points
Ah I seriously cannot wait to see it! I reeeeally wanted to go to one of the midnight viewings, but they all sold out in the blink of an eye! am so so jealous of all you lucky people who have seen it already!
43 Points
I enjoyed it, but I’m one of the people who wasn’t crazy about it, and I’ve loved all of the films! HBP manages to hit all the major key plot points, but to me leaves out so much detail and character development in between that it feels a little disjointed.
I know it’s hard to convey inner-turmoil on screen, but it seems as though Harry just suddenly likes Ginny. They also leave out a lot about the Half Blood Prince, which is a big deal! It was like, “Who’s that guy?” and they forget about it entirely until it’s revealed. Also, I understand Yates’s desire to bring the film to a more human level and the story has grown progressively darker, but I feel like some of the magic is lost a bit. I miss feeling like I’m being taken away to this great, mysterious and wondrous world.
Anyway, I did enjoy the film, but I think I’m just going to have to shift my perspective a bit to get used to Yates’s style.
45212 Points
I will defn. help EB reach those goals…
45212 Points
…that’s a lot of money.
13187 Points
Whoa… that’s a lot…
2976 Points
Holy smokes….not that I’m actually surprised, but still…..wow.
I loved the movie and we had 6 people at the 12:00 screening. We will be going back friday with 8 people. Long live Albus.
276 Points
I will see it again and I hope it makes money. Some don´t like David Yates and call him a third rate TV director, but I like his two HP movies so far. Yes, both of them could be half an hour or more longer. :) But again, even in 6 there are deleted scenes that were shot and who knows, maybe one day we will get “Extended Cuts” of the films. :) Even the actors say, that they´ve filmed so much more.
With 6, I honestly don´t miss that much. The funeral would have been expensive, but the removal of the Dark Mark was quite moving for me.
3271 Points
I will be doing my part too… I’m going to go see it twice! ;)
29 Points
Uh just because there are those who didn’t like the movie, doesn’t mean we’re not “real fans”
The simple fact of the matter is, if you’re going to turn a book into a movie, do it properly or don’t bother doing it at all! They added scenes that were completely unneccesary and stupid and left out vital parts of the story.
HBP is one of my favourite books so I was really looking forward to seeing it come to life and, for me, it was a total disappointment and it’s definately my least favourite movie so far.
4024 Points
WOW! I’m glad I preorder my tickets! In my local cinema, all 18 screens were showing HP on Wednesday and all of them were SOLD-OUT!!
2827 Points
All the best to those at WB. May Harry Potter continue to be unmatched and unsurpassed!
Seems to me that the people here who say they didn’t like the film are the same ones who have complained about all the others. Maybe you should all just give Deathly Hallows a miss. Leave it for real Harry Potter fans.