After breaking midnight sales record of U.S. box office, 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' continues its record-breaking pace by earning 104 million dollars worldwide in just 24 hours.
- Jul 18, 2009
AceShowbiz - "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" has made another record. After breaking midnight sales opening record in U.S. box office, the movie has broken a record of worldwide opening day tally by collecting a total of $104 million. Within just 24 hours since its premiere on Wednesday, July 15, the film gained $58.2 million from domestic sales and $45.9 million from ticket sales overseas.
The $58.2 million domestic bow marked the best start ever for the "Harry Potter" franchise. It also made "Half-Blood Prince" ranked second for U.S. biggest Wednesday opening ever, placing the movie behind "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" which collected $62 million. In addition, the big number scored the Daniel Radcliffe-starring movie the fourth largest debut for any release day of the week behind "The Dark Knight", "Transformers" sequel and "Spider-Man 3".
"Half-Blood Prince" sent Potter-mania waves overseas as well. This latest installment of the "Harry Potter" series became the third-highest opening movie of all time in the U.K. with $7.6 million, the second highest in Italy with $4 million and the third highest in Australia with $4.4 million. Moreover, in Holland, it scored the biggest opening of all time with $1.3 million.
Following the record-breaking Wednesday debut, the David Yates-directed movie continued its impressive run at North American box office on Thursday, July 16 by grossing $21.9 million. The additional number lifted the film's worldwide haul to $125.9 million in just 48 hours. The number could grow even bigger when the international ticket sales for Thursday have also been counted.
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was released in cinemas worldwide on July 15. The film grossed $22.2 million from ticket sales on its midnight screenings, making it to be the best midnight sales opening of all time. With such amount, the flick beat out the previous record holder which was another Warner Bros.' movie "The Dark Knight".
