Harry Potter Is Neutering America

Twilight sequel leaves Potter pre-sale mark in dust

(NEWSER) - It doesn't open until tomorrow, but the latest Twilight movie already is breaking records. Fandango, AMC, and MovieTickets.com all say that fans are scooping up advance tickets to The Twilight Saga: New Moon in unprecedented numbers. Thousands of shows are sold out around the country, leaving pre-sale records held by Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings in the dust, reports Entertainment Weekly . More»

(NEWSER) - Author Stephenie Meyer had never even been to Forks, Wash., when she chose it, with a little help from Google, as the setting for her wildly popular Twilight books. But that hasn’t stopped fans of the series and the movies it has spawned from flocking to the town, population 3,120, in droves and spawning a cottage industry of tours and Twilight -theme motel rooms that have boosted tourism threefold, the New York Times reports. More»

(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»

'Muppets' hit No. 2 with $42M

(NEWSER) - Breaking Dawn was busily sucking the life out of the box office for a second weekend, taking in another $62.3 million between Wednesday and today. That performance brings its total to $221.3 million, reports the LA Times. But Twilight wasn't the only draw at the box office, with The Muppets pulling in a hefty $42 million over the holiday weekend. Arthur Christmas took third place with $17 million; Hugo grabbed fourth with $15.4 million. More»