Harry Potter Dominates World Box Office with $396.7M

The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince dominated the worldwide box office its first five days, opening to an estimated $159.7 million in North American--the sixth-biggest domestic opening ever--and $237 million from 54 international markets, a new record. The worldwide take of $396.7 million after five days is also a record, surpassing the $381.7 million made by Spider-Man 3 in 2007 its first five days. The sixth installment of Warner Bros.' "Harry Potter" franchise cost about $235 million to make. Domestically it opened bigger than its predecessor Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which collected $139.7 million its first five days. "Half-Blood Prince" had the second-biggest start for a movie premiering on a Wednesday, trailing the $200 million five-day opening of last month's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The Dark Knight holds the five-day domestic record with $203.8 million. For the three-day weekend, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince earned $79.5 million in North America, averaging an impressive $18,376 from 4,325 theaters.

20th Century Fox's Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs remained in second place with an additional $17.7 million to bring its three-week total to $152 million. Internationally, the film has reached $429 million, ahead of the "Transformers" sequel with $398 million. The worldwide total stands at $581 million.

Paramount/DreamWorks' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen also kept its spot from last week, adding $13.8 million in third place for a sum of $363.9 million, easily the top earner domestically this year so far. It has climbed to the 13th spot on the all-time domestic list. The Michael Bay sequel has almost crossed the $400 million mark internationally and sits at $398 million, good for a massive worldwide take of $761.9 million.

Universal's Brüno suffered a 72.7% fall in ticket sales its second weekend and dropped from first to fourth with $8.4 million. The Sacha Baron Cohen comedy has made $49.6 million domestically after 10 days. Overseas, the film earned $10.6 million this weekend to push its foreign total to $46 million and a worldwide tally of $95.6 million.

In its seventh weekend in theaters, Warner Bros.' The Hangover continued to impress, taking in another $8.3 million for a total of $235.9 million, the highest ever for an R-rated comedy, surpassing Beverly Hills Cop's $234.8 million. Internationally, the comedy has earned $84.2 million and has reached $320.1 million worldwide.

In limited release, Fox Searchlight's (500) Days of Summer collected a strong $837,588 from just 27 theaters for an average of $31,022 per theater.