Harry works magic at box office

HARRY POTTER and the Order of the Phoenix worked like magic in its US box office debut, taking $44.8 million (€32.49m) for the biggest Wednesday ever, according to studio estimates.

Order of the Phoenix, based on the best-selling novel by British author JK Rowling, also proved an international sensation with an estimated $29.2m (€21.17m) in ticket sales for a worldwide, one-day haul of $74m (€53.6m).

The numbers include midnight screenings in the United States and Canada that brought in $12m (€8.7m).

The previous record for a Wednesday in the US was 2004’s Spider-Man 2 with $40.4m (€29.3m) according to box office tracker Media By Numbers.

The first four Potter movies, starting with 2001’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone, have collectively generated $3.5 billion (€2.5bn) in worldwide ticket sales for Warner Bros.

Experts say Phoenix may take in about €1bn, making it the biggest movie of the year.

Phoenix is the edgiest yet of the Potter series. Not only does the bespectacled apprentice wizard have to deal with sundry attempts on his life, an ill-fated crush on a fellow student and the death of someone close, here he finds out that it’s where he’s heading that’s the scariest place of all — adulthood. True to form, the film has plenty of ghostly effects and plot twists to spook fans, but it is a fragile Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) himself who is most haunted as he wrestles with his identity and questions whether he can continue to resist the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).

The latest movie introduces a fourth director, David Yates, who has aimed for a “tonal shift” in which a vulnerable Harry realises the line between good and evil is not so straightforward after all.

His budding romance with Cho Chang is a distraction before the pair “fall apart”. Harry’s fifth year at Hogwarts starts under a cloud. Expelled for performing magic outside school, he is summoned by the Ministry of Magic.

Back at school, he learns that the ministry has appointed the cruel, toad-like Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) to teach the students how to defend themselves against the dark arts.

No one believes Harry or headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) that, after a 14-year absence, Lord Voldemort is back. After Dolores Umbridge takes over the school, Harry and friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) form Dumbledore’s Army to fight back.