Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
It may have come to your attention that this year has been unprecedented with blockbuster after blockbuster being unleashed on the ticket buying and tie-in merchandise starved public.
It started with X-Men Origins: Wolverine at the end of April clawing a massive $87 million in its first week at the pre-summer box office, making it the top earner in the franchise. The film wasn’t perfect but it gave little time for doubters when Star Trek was released to the masses the following week. Hugh Jackman was forgotten as Chris Pane and Zachery Quinto where the new studs in the long awaited franchise prequel updated with a contemporary cast and dazzling special effects. First week box office returns were behind X-Men Origins, taking $76.5 million in its opening weekend. Star Trek all ready enjoyed a secure fan base and was looking to attract a younger generation quite clueless to the original 1960’s series and subsequent movie franchise. Scheduling paid off as Star Trek and X-Men Origins enjoyed blockbuster domination for a few weeks until Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was released to the masses at the end of June, while kids and parents around the globe were bombarded with Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, and merchandise tie-ins. The film was an unprecedented success, earning $591 million worldwide in less than two weeks. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs was hot on its tale raking in record international box office sales for an animated feature and just tipping the status quo to beat Transformers tally of best ever five-day domestic sales.
The two films have been neck and neck ever since but are about to be blown out of the water by the biggest blockbuster of them all, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The film has scored the biggest midnight box office tally of all time with $22.2 million and this weeks domestic release promises to cause the kind of fan frenzy that only comes round once every ten years.
The sixth installment of the Harry Potter franchise has a guaranteed global fan base as fans of the original film have grown up and are now taking their kids to see the grown up students at Hogwarts. J.K. Rowling’s books captured the imagination and enthralled children and adults who treated the tombs as real life instruction books to wizardry. Five adaptations followed, starting with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001). The movies were magical as we watched Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson mature on screen. The franchise has also been a whose who of the best of British thesps with Half-Blood Prince co-starring Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Jim Broadbent, Michael Gambon, Timothy Spall, and David Thewlis all acting their socks off.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is the last in the series. With its grown up cast now in their sixth year at Hogwarts, things take a darker turn as the school is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry and Dumbledore prepare the final battle to knock down Voldemort’s defenses while romance threatens to keep the young leads distracted.
