Guinea Pigs Throw Pellets at ‘Potter’ – Box Office Results: July 24-26

The Disney comedy G-Force beat Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince this past weekend, grossing an estimated $32.2 million. Bad reviews from critics took no major part in Jerry Bruckheimer's first 3D film, since kids I'm guessing took up the majority of the seats. In second place was Potter, which broke records in midnight showings last week, took a sharp dive of 62% to $30 million. Its total is now $221.8 million.

In third, also opened this weekend was The Ugly Truth, starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. It grossed an estimated $27 million, less than Knocked Up's $30.7 million opening weekend, however Truth did gross more than Heigl's 27 Dresses haul of $23 million. In fourth, another new release, Orphan. Reviews were mixed on this evil-child horror flick, 45% of critics recommending it on poll site Rotten Tomatoes. It gathered $12.8 million. Rounding out the top five is Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs with $8.2 million. Fox's animated movie now has a grand total of $171.3 million.

And my Hangover watch continues! This weekend it totaled $6.5 million in seventh place, falling 21% from last weekend. Although the Bradley Cooper comedy goes up one weekend and down the next. Its sum is up to $247.1 million, becoming the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time.

Other movies that opened this weekend-

Armando Iannucci's British political comedy In The Loop grossed $201,000 in only eight theaters. With a likely expansion, it should do considerably better before its run at the box office comes to an end. Shrink, starring Kevin Spacey, raked in $17,000 in two theaters. Sundance pick The Answer Man, starring Jeff Daniels got $13,000 tackling six screens.

Here are the weekend results according to studio estimates Sunday-

1. G-Force…$32.2 million
   
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince…$30 million
   
3. The Ugly Truth…$27 million
   
4. Orphan…$12.8 million
   
5. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs…$8.2 million
   
6. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen…$8 million
   
7. The Hangover…$6.5 million
   
8. The Proposal…$6.4 million
   
9. Public Enemies…$4.2 million
   
10. Brüno…$2.7 million