'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' Crowned Box Office's King
Movie

Though winning weekend box office and hauling an impressive bow since it opened Wednesday, the sixth 'Harry Potter' movie still trails behind 'Transformers 2' five-day opening record.

AceShowbiz - "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" continued to work on its magic at the box office. After setting a new record for all-time midnight openings and breaking a worldwide record for opening day tally, the sixth "Harry Potter" movie easily secured the top slot of North American box office over the three-day weekend by nabbing $77.8 million.

Added with the Wednesday's (July 15) earning of $58.2 million and Thursday's (July 16) sales of $22 million, the Daniel Radcliffe-starring adventure fantasy has sold $158 million worth of ticket sales on its first five days screening in North American only. The five-day tally is a modest jump from the $139.7 million its predecessor "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" collected in July 2007.

Following its record breaking midnight opening of $22.2 million, which overshadowed "The Dark Knight" $18.5 million record, "Half-Blood Prince" was actually expected to close the week with an even bigger domestic launch that was projected to pull in around $200 million. Nonetheless, it now has to settle for the second-highest start ever for a movie premiering on Wednesday, behind "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen".

Though it didn't break any box office record for its three-day weekend sales, the David Yates-directed film set a new box office record worldwide for its opening week. Grossing $394 million in five days since its release, the film that centers its story on a boy wizard seeking to stop his mortal enemy from taking over the wizardry world passed the previous five-day box office record of $381.7 million dollars set by "Spider-Man 3" in 2007.

"Half-Blood Prince" aside, two of its strongest competitions, "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen", held fast onto their last week's position. The third "Ice Age" movie stayed as the runner-up by raking in $17.6 million, while the "Transformers" sequel secured third place with $13.7 million on its pocket. So far, "Ice Age 3" has collected $151.9 million and "Transformers 2" has brought in $363.8 million from their domestic sales.

Free-falling to the fourth position after winning the box office crown last week was "Bruno". The Sacha Baron Cohen-starring mockumentary faced a 72.8|percent| decline in sales and thus reeled in only $8.31 million in its second week. Meanwhile, "The Proposal" rounded up the top five. The Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynold-starring comedy earned $8.29 million after seven weeks in theaters.

Top Ten Movies at Weekend Box Office for July 10 - 12:

  1. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" - $77.8 million
  2. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" - $17.6 million
  3. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" - $13.7 million
  4. "Bruno" - $8.31 million
  5. "The Proposal" - $8.29 million
  6. "The Hangover" - $8.2 million
  7. "Public Enemies" - $7.7 million
  8. "Up" - $3.2 million
  9. "My Sister's Keeper" - $2.8 million
  10. "I Love You, Beth Cooper" - $2.77 million

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