The new Potter film Half-Blood Prince grossed an estimated $79.5 million this past weekend! The movie opened on Wednesday, July 15^th, raking in $58.2 million ($22.2 million in midnight showings alone, a new record), second-best Wednesday opening behind Transformers Revenge of the Fallen ($62 million), and has since made $159.7 million domestic and $205.5 million worldwide. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince did indeed beat Order of the Phoenix's $77.1 million (which opened midweek July 2007), but David Yate's fantasy flick couldn't top Chamber of Secrets ($88.4 million), Sorcerer's Stone ($90.2 million), Prisoner of Azkaban ($93.7 million) or Goblet of Fire ($102.7 million). Surprising since I heard it was the best Potter film to date.

In second place was Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs with $17.7 million. (This just says that you either went to see Potter this weekend at the movies or didn't see anything at all.) The animated tale's lifetime gross is now up to $514.4 million worldwide. Behind that was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, taking in an estimated $13.8 million. Its total so far is up to $746.9 million; still $254.9 million away from topping The Dark Knight's billion+, which it probably won't.

Last weekend's #1 spot belonged to Sacha Baron Cohen's highly controversial Brüno. However this weekend it fell 73% to fourth place with $8.4 million. Ouch. And my Hangover watch continues! The Hangover actually jumped one spot to fifth place with $8.3 million. Todd Phillip's blockbuster now has a worldwide total of $310.6 million.

Other movies that opened this weekend-

500 Days of Summer, Fox Searchlight's indie romantic comedy, dared to compete with Harry Potter this weekend, knowing that it didn't stand a chance against it. The movie came in twelfth holding an estimated $838,000 in only 27 movie theaters across the nation. But with an expansion, Summer could gross a way higher amount in its box office run.

Here are the weekend results according to studio estimates Sunday-

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince…$79.5 million
   
2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs…$17.7 million
   
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen…$13.8 million
   
4. Brüno…$8.4 million
   
5. The Hangover…$8.3 million
   
6. The Proposal…$8.3 million
   
7. Public Enemies…$7.6 million
   
8. Up…$3.1 million
   
9. My Sister's Keeper…$2.8 million
   
10. I Love You, Beth Cooper…$2.7 million