Harry Potter Casts Spell On Box Office; Rakes In $104 Million In One Day!
Jul. 17 2009, Published 2:34 p.m. ET
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince made more that $100 million on its first day on worldwide release, Warner Brothers has announced.
The sixth film in the fantasy series opened in 20 countries on Wednesday, raking in an astonishing $104 million in ticket sales.
Half-Blood took $58.2 million in America and Canada – a tally that included a record $22.2 million from mid-night screenings.
The only other summer blockbuster to do better on a Wednesday debut in America was Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, which opened last month with a $62 million haul.
"These outstanding numbers are another testament to the universal appeal of JK Rowling’s stories,” said Veronika Kwan-Rubinek Warner Brothers President of international distribution.
"We owe this record breaking opening to the remarkable fans who have stood by us and who stood in line to be among the first to see Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince,” added Warnrer’s Studio Chief Alan Horn.
Warner Brothers plans to split the final novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into two movies – part one will arrive in cinemas in Nov 2010 and part two in May 2011.
The franchise has brought in an amazing $3 billion in revenues around the world to date since Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone was released in 2001.