Harry Potter produces box-office magic again

Boy wizard Harry Potter has worked his biggest box-office spell to date with a massive US box office opening.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban charmed audiences to the tune of €75m in its US debut weekend, the best results yet.

It was the third-best three-day opening weekend ever, behind Spider-Man in 2002 and Shrek 2 last month.

“I guess audiences are still crazy about Harry,” said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros, the studio behind the franchise based on JK Rowling’s fantasy series.

Harry Potter bumped off Shrek 2, which had been the US’s number one film the previous two weekends.

No other big films opened against Harry Potter as other studios stayed out of the way of a franchise whose first two instalments grossed nearly €480m in the US alone.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is now is filming in London and is scheduled for release in November 2005.