18/07/2007

The latest edition of the Harry Potter franchise spelt box office magic across the UK as the David Yates directed film broke existing records. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [+see also:
trailer
film profile] captured over £16.4m from 567 screens over its first four days of release with an imposing per screen average of £29,088, making it the best four-day opening ever in the UK.

This marked an 80% rise in takings over the previous weekend. The palpable buzz in the UK market preceding the July 21 release of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – the seventh and last book in the series – has contributed immeasurably to the film’s record-breaking opening.

All other big studio films experienced the Potter wizardry and suffered steep drop-offs. In second position, Shrek the Third collected £2.8m for a £30.6m gross. Live Free or Die Hard in third position took £1.9m for a £9.1m gross while in fourth position Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer took £248,867 for a £11.9m gross.

In the face of the Hogwarts onslaught art-house fare didn’t fare too badly with the French costume drama Molière [+see also:
trailer
film profile] starring Romain Duris opening in eighth position, taking £76,061 from 49 screens with a healthy per screen average of £1,552. And, in its fourth week, Edith Piaf biopic La Vie en Rose [+see also:
trailer
film profile], in tenth position, took a strong £72,782 and edged closer to the magic £1m mark with a gross of £960,741.

In what has now become routine, there was a Bollywood entry near the bottom of the top 10 chart. Naqab: Disguised Intentions debuted in ninth position with £75,250 from 30 screens.