“Harry Potter & Half-Blood Prince” falls to No. 2 at box office, opening in IMAX this week
“G-Force”
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
The 3-D talking guinea pigs caper “G-Force” managed to out-duel the magical sixth Harry Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” at the box office over the weekend.
According to the Associated Press, “G-Force,” a Disney film from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, opened with $32.2 million over the weekend.
“Half-Blood Prince” was a close second with $30 million. But that represented a surprisingly large 61 percent drop-off from its massive opening last weekend of $79.5 million, according to the AP.
The sixth installment in the Harry Potter series actually opened on Wednesday, July 15, with huge turnout at midnight screenings. It made $159.7 million, a franchise best, in its first five days, according to EW.com.
“Half-Blood Prince” has now made $222 million total, which is $14 million ahead of where the fifth film, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” was after 12 days in theaters in 2007, according to the AP. Passing the $200 million mark in less than two weeks is no small feat, even for the world’s most famous boy wizard.
The AP also notes that “Half-Blood Prince” is opening on 166 IMAX screens this week. The last “Harry Potter” movie showed in IMAX from the time it opened in theaters.
“So we’re coming in with this one (in IMAX) a little bit late, but it’s going to be a great addition and it’ll keep our momentum going,” Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.’ head of distribution, told the AP.
What the AP story doesn’t note is why “Half-Blood Prince” is just now making it to IMAX screens. Slashfilm.com reported earlier this summer that the IMAX release of “Half-Blood Prince” had to be pushed back two weeks because Paramount had inked a deal to give “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” an exclusive four-week run at IMAX.
“When Warner Bros moved the release of Half Blood Prince back to July 15th, they didn’t take into account Transformer’s IMAX exclusivity. So now Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince won’t be shown on IMAX screens until July 29th 2009, two weeks after its theatrical 35mm release. Will people wait to pay a premium price to see the few 3D sequences in the IMAX version?” Peter Sciretta pondered in the Slashfilm story.
He asks a good question, and I’m willing to bet that some Harry Potter fans rushed out last week to see the long-awaited film (remember, it was originally set for release in fall 2008) in 35 mm with plans to see it in IMAX a second time. That could account for a portion of the big drop-off for “Half-Blood Prince”; some diehards may be waiting for the IMAX release before taking their crucial second and third trips to see the film.
While Oklahoma City still doesn’t have an IMAX theater – which is an outrage that forces OKC cinephiles to go to Tulsa or Dallas to see large-scale versions of big movies – notching huge numbers in IMAX helped “The Dark Knight” and “Transformers 2″ reach their mega-blockbuster status. It will be interesting to see how Harry Potter’s IMAX predicament affects the box office totals for “Half-Blood Prince.”
I saw the sixth Harry Potter film during its opening weekend and was impressed and thoroughly entertained. The films have continued to improve throughout the series, especially under David Yates’ direction, though none of them can even touch the magic of J.K. Rowling’s amazing books.
“Half-Blood Prince” certainly didn’t deserve to come in second to a guinea pig spy flick that the Mouse House refused to screen in advance for critics in order to make a fast, dirty profit off of as many families as possible. I haven’t seen “G-Force,” so I can’t judge it too harshly, but it is depressing to see Disney once again mine the old, stale talking-animal tactic for quick cash.
The success of “G-Force” does illustrate a need for more family-friendly fare in theaters. The top two films this week are both rated PG. But they appeal to totally different segments of the PG audience.
With its more than 2 1/2-hour runtime – along with scary images, some violence and dramatic death scene – “Half-Blood Prince” is for tweens, teens and adult fans of the books. It isn’t for the preschool or early elementary set.
That’s precisely the pint-sized audience that “G-Force,” with its cute computer-generated guinea pig heroes, 90-minute runtime and mild action/rude humor PG rating, is targeting.
In the absence of something more creative, the film clearly hit the mark with parents desperate to give their kids something to do in the waning days of summer vacation.
-BAM
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Comments
Seems to me that Warner Bros is failing the Harry Potter francise in managing release and showing schedules. They put off the Half-Blood Prince for a year, lost momentum instead of keeping it in line with the final book release in July 2008. Now, to fail contracting with IMAX sounds like stupid planning on their part.
Yes, the last Harry Potter books are for the more mature audience, but don’t disappoint us just to fit your scheduling needs. We will hang in to the end, WAITING, but don’t make us wait too long.
Harry potter and the Half blood prince both hit the box office..and i also enjoyed it.