It still set the opening weekend record, but “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II” became an extreme epitome of the term “front-loaded,” grossing 55% of its weekend take on Friday.
After catching the entertainment industry by storm with $92.1 million Friday, “Potter” slowed over the remainder of the weekend to reach a total of $168.6 million. That was still enough to set the all-time opening weekend record, but it is below revised Saturday estimates that eyed $170-180 million for the three-day period.
“The Dark Knight” previously held the opening weekend record with $158.4 million en route to a final domestic tally in excess of $533 million.
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” took a substantial hit but still landed at number two on $21.3 million. The total was enough to thrust “Transformers” above the $300 million domestic mark.
Apparently affected by “Harry Potter,” “Horrible Bosses” recovered from its disappointing Friday to deliver $17.6 million for the weekend, a drop of only 38% from its debut. For a point of comparison, May release “Bridesmaids” only dropped 20% in its second weekend, while June’s “Bad Teacher” fell 54.1%.
“Zookeeper” and “Cars 2” completed the top five, earning $12.3 million and $8.3 million, respectively. New release “Winnie the Pooh” earned $8 million for sixth.
The aforementioned “Bad Teacher” was seventh on $5.2 million, topping “Larry Crowne” ($2.6 million) and “Super 8” ($1.9 million). Tenth place belonged to “Midnight in Paris” ($1.9 million).
