Harry Potter sets new Wednesday Opening Record

Jul 13 – "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" has set a new industry record for a Wednesday opening with US$44.2 million (RM154 million) in the U.S. The previous best for a Harry Potter debut was the US$40.1 million set by 2005's "Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire".

According to Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, and Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros Pictures. this gross includes the film's US$12 million collection from its midnight shows, which was also an industry record.

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" also stormed the international box office, taking in an estimated $29.2 million for Wednesday, 11 July, from 29 countries. The film garnered the biggest industry opening day in both Holland and Belgium, and the second-highest opening in France, Italy and Brazil. Additionally, it had the biggest opening for the "Harry Potter" franchise in 22 countries, including France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Australia, Korea and Brazil. The international figure does not include the U.K. and Mexico, both of which opened the film on Thursday, 12 July, and Japan, which goes into sneaks on July 14 (Saturday).

However, "Order of the Phoenix" didn't come close to surpassing Spider-Man's single-day and opening-day records of US$59.8 million, posted just last May by "Spider-Man 3".

On the local front, an industry source said "Order Of The Phoenix" collected about 12 per cent higher in Malaysia than the previous Harry Potter movie on its opening day on 11 July. The actual figures could not be ascertained at the time of writing.