With the help of
Half-Blood Prince, which, after its second weekend has accumulated $405.3 million internationally, Warner Brothers has
officially taken more than $1 billion this year in box office sales. This is the ninth consequetive year that WB has reached such a threshold.
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“With the fantastic slate of films so far, and the hard work of our international teams and partners, 2009 is turning into a spectacular year for us,” said Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President, Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures International.
This past weekend Potter achieved the highest opening for Poland ever, taking $2 million. It also set a new studio record in Argentina where it took $1.5 million.
Half-Blood Prince is the
top film of the year in the UK, in terms of sales. In total, the film has
taken $627.1 million worldwide, with $221.8 million
accumulated domestically.
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Josh Berger, managing director of Warner Bros, said the film's success had been "nothing short of astonishing".
He added that the Harry Potter series is a "uniquely British franchise".
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Warners expects the film to gross more than $650 million internationally, the biggest cume of all time for any title in the franchise.
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The movie cost $250 million to produce and about $155 million to market and distribute. Since studios keep about half of their films' ticket sales, Warner Bros. is likely to break even on the theatrical run of "Half-Blood Prince" and profit handsomely on the DVD and in other markets.
Takings are expected to hike up when
Half-Blood Prince opens across the US in IMAX screens tomorrow.