|
'Harry Potter' dominates box office
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-21 19:52
The bespectacled boy wizard has worked his biggest box-office magic to date.
" Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" grossed $101.4 million in its debut
weekend, the best results yet for the franchise, according to studio estimates
released Sunday.
The latest Potter movie led a lineup that helped reverse the Hollywood
box-office slump, with the top 12 films raking in $171 million, up 19 percent
from the same weekend last year when "National Treasure" was No. 1 with $35.1
million.
"Goblet of Fire" was the fourth-best, three-day opening weekend ever, behind
"Spider-Man" at $114.8 million in 2002 and "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of
the Sith" and "Shrek 2," at $108 million apiece.
The fourth installment of the adventures of Harry and his curious classmates
at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the first Potter film to
earn a PG-13 rating for its fantasy violence and special effects. But that did
not deter audiences.
"The Potter franchise is just irresistible to
moviegoers," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor
Relations. "The combination of the Potter books and the love audiences have for
the movies conspired a big opening weekend."
|
