Tampabay.com
JULY 15, 2009

Harry Potter conjures the biggest post-midnight haul ever: $22.2 million

Having to wait eight months longer than expected to see Harry Potter's next movie certainly got the teen wizard's fans pumped for the first showings, Wednesday morning at 12:01 a.m.

Harry Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince raked in $22.2 million from the late-late (or is that early-early) screenings, blowing away the $18.5 million record set last year by The Dark Knight, according to BoxOfficeGuru.com.

Making the booty haul even more impressive: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince didn't have many IMAX showings with higher ticket prices that would boost the total. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is booked into most IMAX theaters until later this month when Harry will takeover. That was one hitch in Warner Bros.' decision to move the Potter debut to now, rather than last November when it was originally planned.

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For new movie reviews and movie news, this blog's for you. Steve Persall, movie critic for the St. Petersburg Times, weighs in on blockbuster movies, small-budget movies, the best movies, the worst movies ever and everything in between. Steve was conceived behind a drive-in movie theater his father operated and raised in projection booths and concession stands. He doesn't care how you did it up north.

E-mail Steve Persall:
persall@sptimes.com.

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