“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” generated $158 million in sales in its first five days in U.S. and Canadian theaters, trailing “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” for the best such opening this year.
The film, released by Time Warner Inc. on July 15, had ticket revenue of $77.8 million for the three-day weekend, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said today in an e-mailed statement.
“This is amazing because the franchise is eight years in, and really still that relevant,” said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst at Hollywood.com Box-Office, in a telephone interview.
The company’s Warner Bros. film studio plans two more Potter movies based on the seventh book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” The first five grossed $1.4 billion in the U.S. and Canada starting in 2001 and $4.48 billion worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo LLC, which also tracks receipts.