“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” reached the $100 million mark after its third day of domestic release, and is on track to easily claim the best five-day opening in the history of the “Potter” franchise.
With receipts of $26.8 million Friday, the film is now just $32.7 million away from topping the opening frame total for “Order of the Phoenix,” which earned $139.7 million in its first five days. Its three day total of $107 million places it ninth on the all-time box office list (fellow summer 2009 hit “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is fourth on the list with $127.9 million).
If “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” crosses the $144.4 million threshold this weekend, it will be Warner Brothers’ all-time second best five-day-opener, behind last year’s “The Dark Knight” ($203.8 million).
“Bruno,” meanwhile, is on track for a huge decline after last weekend’s box office victory. The film earned just $2.9 million Friday night for a fourth place finish; looking at a weekend take of less than $10 million, the drop-off will be in the ballpark of 70%. With less word-of-mouth hype than Sacha Baron Cohen’s previous film “Borat” and a more front-heavy opening (those who were interested rushed to see the movie in its opening night), “Bruno” does not have the legs necessary to rival the “Borat” box office take.
“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” was second Friday with $5.4 million, while “Transformers” finished third with $4.2 million; its cumulative take is now $354.3 million.
On the limited front, well-reviewed comedy “500 Days of Summer” earned just under $10,000 from each of its 27 screens to finish the night with $265,000.
