Harry's Spell Weakens On Weekend

Bringing some box-office analysts up short, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on Sunday earned about $2 million less than what Warner Bros. had estimated, winding up with $77.8 million for the three-day weekend and $158 million from Wednesday, when it opened. The film actually ended up on Sunday selling fewer tickets than Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix did on its first Sunday two years ago. Indeed, with the latest Harry Potter sequel the only new movie opening wide, the overall box office took a terrific hit, with weekend business down 38 percent from the comparable weekend a year ago,

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):

1. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Warner Bros., $77,835,727, 1 Wk. ($158,022,354 (From Wednesday); 2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, 20th Century Fox, $17,561,406, 3 Wks. ($151,865,987); 3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Paramount/DreamWorks, $13,691,487, 4 Wks. ($363,808,123); 4. Brüno, Universal, $8,318,385, 2 Wks. ($49,533,475); 5. The Proposal, Disney, $8,289,707, 5 Wks. ($128,083,273); 6. The Hangover, Warner Bros., $8,177,272, 7 Wks. ($235,744,423); 7. Public Enemies, Universal, $7,748,325, 3 Wks. ($79,639,205); 8. Up, Disney, $3,172,014, 8 Wks. ($279,583,282); 9. My Sister's Keeper, Warner Bros., $2,828,367, 4 Wks. ($41,507,695); 10. I Love You Beth Cooper, 20th Century Fox, $2,766,863, 2 Wks. ($10,363,239). .