Friday, November 19, 2010

Harry Potter Casting Big Box Office Spell This Week!


          This week, Wizard magic invades the global box office with the highly anticipated launch of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, the first half of the big finale in the $5.4 billion-grossing mega-blockbuster series. The PG-13 entry brings back the same formula as it adapts the first part of the final book of the series with director David Yates at the helm. He commands the last four of the eight-film franchise including the next Hallows which will arrive in 3D next July to conclude the saga.


          The last three installments have each displayed slight improvements in their total grosses due mostly to rising ticket prices. 2005's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a Friday opener in November just like Hallows and the first two chapters, ended its domestic run with $290M. The next two shifted to Wednesday bows in mid-July with 2007's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix rising to $292M while 2009's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince climbed to $302M. The audience seems finite but massive, and newcomers are not likely to join the party this late in the game.

         The last two pics make for bad comparisons because of the mid-week bows and summer release dates. That would make Goblet the best one to compare the new film's potential to. Its Friday-to-Sunday opening weekend stood at a towering $102.3M which was the fourth highest debut in history at the time. It included 66 IMAX venues back then while Hallows invades almost quadruple that amount with 239 large-format sites which are already selling out shows coast to coast so more will be added into the treasure chest this time. The overall theater count of 4,125 is 300 more than Goblet's, but lower than Phoenix and Prince's which hovered around the 4,300 mark.

          Warner Bros. has been spending lavishly for weeks advertising Deathly Hallows everywhere as if it were launching a new franchise. Advance ticket sales have been moving along at a record pace and this installment has generated more excitement because of how it symbolizes the end of an entertaining era for millions of wizard fans. As usual, repeat business may occur within the opening weekend. Reviews have been quite good, then again critics are routinely giving thumbs up each time. Competition will be less than for the last two installments which were in the thick of summer tentpole season, but on par with what Goblet dealt with five Novembers ago.



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