Harry Potter Bewitches Box Office for $160M

(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) - Funny People laughed its way to the top of the box office this weekend with $23.4 million, USA Today reports. But that’s less than analysts predicted, and not enough to beef up this summer’s mediocre ticket sales. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came second with $17.7 million, while G-Force ($17 million), The Ugly Truth ($13 million), and family newcomer Aliens in the Attic ($7.8 million) rounded out the top five. More»

(NEWSER) - Bruno catwalked its way to the top of the box office this weekend, taking in $30.4 million, the Los Angeles Times reports. That’s a better debut than Sacha Baron Cohen’s earlier button-pusher Borat saw, though Bruno faced a steep drop-off in ticket sales after Friday. Holdovers Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($28.5 million), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($24.2 million), and Public Enemies ($14.1 million) rounded out the top four. More»

(NEWSER) - Hollywood is in the middle of an illuminating summer. The season started strong, with Star Trek, The Hangover, and Up, before things seriously cooled off, reports the Los Angeles Times. Some big releases await, but here are some of the lessons learned so far:

• Playability has eclipsed marketability: Films with good word of mouth, like The Hangover, have done well, while Terminator and Wolverine fell flat in their second weekends.

(NEWSER) - Summer may not always yield the best movies, but it never fails to deliver the year’s best trailers. Wired celebrates this sacred art by picking out the trailers that managed to throw the most hype onto the screen in 3 minutes or less. We’ve helpfully compiled them in our gallery to the left. More»