All-new Harry Potter opens with almost £20m
Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince lived up to its magical hype, conjuring up a staggering £19.8 million in its first five days at UK and Ireland box offices.
The sixth film in the Potter fantasy series hasn’t disappointed audiences, or its distributor Warner Bros, making a massive £11.9 million during its opening weekend in the UK alone.
The film’s box office success gives it the 4th highest opening of all time and makes it the 5th highest grossing film of the year so far.
It somewhat overshadowed its nearest rival Bruno – last week’s number one – which opened with £5 million.
| Weekend Box Office Figures 17th-19th July 2009 | |||
| Rank | Film | Cert | Takings (£million) |
| 1 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | 12A | 19.8 |
| 2 | Ice Age 3 | U | 2.8 |
| 3 | Bruno | 18 | 2.3 |
| 4 | The Hangover | 15 | 0.9 |
| 5 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | 12A | 0.7 |
| 6 | Public Enemies | 15 | 0.5 |
| 7 | My Sisters Keeper | 12A | 0.4 |
| 8 | Moon | 15 | 0.2 |
| 9 | Year One | 12A | 0.1 |
| 10 | Night at the Museum 2 | PG | 0.1 |
| Source: Nielsen EDI | |||
The new Potter film sees Harry, played by Daniel Radcliffe, return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his 6th year, and sets the scene ready for 2010/2011’s two part finale.
Warner Bros claims the film made more than $100 million on its first day on worldwide release.
Box Office data is available each week within the Box Office section of MediaTel.co.uk’s Cinema Database, provided by Nielsen EDI / DCM. To view, please click Cinema on the drop-down menu.