Sunday November 20 7:11 PM ET
Harry Potter's new Goblet overfloweth. www.yahoo.com
Conjuring up a franchise-best $101.4 million from Friday through Sunday, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ended Hollywood's long-running slump and recorded the fourth-best opening of all time, according to the ticket counters at Exhibitor Relations.
This time out, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) cope with danger, hormones and the torturous TriWizard tournament, as well as yet another professor of the dark arts, Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson and the pushy tabloid hack Rita Skeeter (Miranda Richardson).
Despite a PG-13 rating for scary content, which includes the usual assortment of scary creatures along with a character's death and the first cinematic appearance of Lord Voldemort (spookily essayed by a noseless barely recognizable Ralph Fiennes), the fourth installment in the Potter saga accounted for nearly 60 percent of the weekend ticket sales. The film opened in 3,858 sites, where it averaged a magical $26,290 per screen.
"As the audience has gotten older in time, faithful readers of the Potter books will remain faithful to the movies," Warner Bros. distribution chief Dan Fellman told the Associated Press, adding that the opening exceeded the studio's expectations.
Goblet grossed $39.3 million Friday, $35.4 million Saturday and an estimated $26.6 million Sunday. Its three-day total exceeded the previous Potters: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban opened with $93.6 million in 2004; Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets grossed $88.3 million in 2002; and the first adaptation in J.K. Rowling's series of Hogwarts tales, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone scored $90.2 million in 2001.
When the smoke settles and final tallies are released Monday, the new film will rank behind only Spider-Man (which spun up $114.8 million in May 2002), Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith ($108.4 million last May) and Shrek 2 ($108 million in summer 2004).
Worldwide, Goblet gobbled up $181.4 million in 19 foreign countries, with England, not surprisingly, contributing the highest portion of the overseas money--$24.6 million.
The Potter-powered box office pushed the take of the top 12 films to $171 million, almost 20 percent higher than this weekend last year, when National Treasure was the top attraction.
Although Harry and pals dominated, they got a key assist from the Man in Black. Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash biopic, debuted in second with $22.4 million.
Fox distribution executive Bruce Snyder said he was happy Walk the Line was "able to perform so well" in the face of Goblet's wizard opening. The PG-13 rated release, starring possible Oscar contenders Joaquin Phoenix as the music icon and Reese Witherspoon as his beloved June Carter, opened at 2,961 sites, averaging $7,565.
Showing legs in third place was Chicken Little with $14.7 million. Now in its third week,Chicken has tallied $99.1 million and should pass the $100 million mark in time for Thanksgiving dinner.
Three films in their second week of release also dropped sharply: Derailed was down 47 percent (fourth place, $6.5 million); Zathura, 62 percent (fifth, $5.1 million); and Get Rich or Die Tryin', 64 percent (seventh, $4.3 million).
However, Pride & Prejudice proved it had staying power, dipping just 26 percent. Now in 221 theaters, the Jane Austen adaptation was in 10th place, averagin $9,555 average. Its two-week gross is $5.9 million. And Bee Season, expanding to 138 sites in its second week, gained 91 percent, earning $230,000 to bring its total to $390,803.
The only new limited release was Breakfast on Pluto. Starring Cillian Murphy as an transvestite traipsing through the club scene at the height of the English-Irish discord, the Neil Jordan-helmed comedy opened in just three sites, where it averaged a provocative $11,625 for $34,874.
Here's a rundown of the top 10 films, based on preliminary studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, $101.4 million
2. Walk the Line, $22.4 million
3. Chicken Little, $14.7 million
4. Derailed, $6.5 million
5. Zathura, $5.1 million
6. Jarhead, $4.8 million
7. Get Rich or Die Tryin', $4.3 million
8. Saw II, $3.9 million
9. The Legend of Zorro, $2.3 million
10. Pride & Prejudice, $2.1 million
Ganesh Kartikeya
