Potter Pulls in Record $22.2M

(NEWSER) - The digital guinea pigs of G-Force took a bite out of Harry Potter this weekend, with an unexpected $32.2 million take, the Los Angeles Times reports. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince fell harder than most other films in the franchise, landing second with $30 million. Critically-loathed rom-com The Ugly Truth took $27 million, while the low-budget horror flick Orphan scared up $12.8 million for fourth. More»

(NEWSER) - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince conjured up a weekend box-office win with $79.5 million, bringing its 5-day total to $159.7 million, Bloomberg reports. The Hogwarts sequel trailed only Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen for the year's best bow. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($17.7 million), Transformers ($13.8 million), Bruno ($8.4 million) and The Hangover filled out the top five. More»

Blockbusters that will make the summer even hotter

(NEWSER) - In Hollywood, May flowers don’t bring Pilgrims; they bring summer blockbusters. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the season’s most promising flicks:

• May 21: Christian Bale stars in Terminator Salvation, a prequel that tries to hew closer to the first two hit films instead of taking cues from the third, a real clunker.

Superhero trounces boy wizard at the box office

(NEWSER) - Just a week after the final Harry Potter movie smashed all kinds of records, Captain America unceremoniously unseated the boy wizard, reports the LA Times. The 3D comic book extravaganza raked in $65.8 million, while Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 took a dive to $48.1 million—which the Times notes is down 72% over last week's opening weekend juggernaut. Friends With Benefits was third, with $18.5 million, while Transformers grabbed $12 million and Horrible Bosses took in $11.7 million. More»

Deathly Hallows Part 2 collects $475.6M globally in massive opening weekend

(NEWSER) - Harry Potter went out with a true bang: The final installment in the wizarding saga, the Deathly Hallows Part 2, notched almost half a billion dollars internationally, with an opening weekend take of $475.6 million. That shattered the previous record, Harry Potter and the Half -Blood Prince, which the Hollywood Reporter notes pulled in a not-so-paltry $394 million. On the domestic front, Deathly Hallows Part 2 pushed The Dark Knight out of the way by more than $10 million, with $168.6 million . More»