Half-Blood Prince predicted to make $800M to $1B

Reuters has published a new article looking at Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince's box office potential:

The five movies released so far have grossed $4.5 billion in ticket sales, and box office experts see little reason to doubt that the sixth installment will fall within the $800 million to $1 billion range, a huge amount for a single film.

"This is just a remarkable franchise that has consistently drawn blockbuster numbers each time out, and it is hard to imagine this picture not continuing that trend," said Brandon Gray, president of tracking firm Box Office Mojo.

Pent-up demand is expected to ensure a big opening in the key North American market and in countries like Britain, after which word-of-mouth will be a key factor.

The fact that the Potter story is now complete may mean some fans lose interest, but U.S. advance online ticket sales look strong, according to MovieTickets.com.

http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/full_story/2604

They are only "hoping" though (Global Recession anyone?), because of the success of last years The Dark Knight which fell on the same weekend in July.

They are trying to emulate the success, but sadly I doubt they will.

The ticket sales of the last 5 movies is quite high, though only the first Harry Potter movie got close to $1billion... If this movie was to get anywhere between $800million and $1billion, the movie would be somewhere between the 5th and 20th highest grossing movies.

Currently at number 5 is Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone with $974,733,550 with Shrek the Third being at number 20 with $798,958,162.

Judging by the Harry Potter movie series, there is no movie in the series that will beat the first. Though the 2007 movie came the closest by a gap of $36,520,812.

$974,733,550 (2001) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

$878,643,482 (2002) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

$795,634,069 (2004) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

$895,921,036 (2005) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

$938,212,738 (2007) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

If still being shown, I will go see this movie in September (when it's quiet)... But doesn't the DVD releases usually come close to Christmas? Maybe I'll wait for that? (EXTRAS!!!) :cool: