HP Box Office Derby: Our Final "Stand" Begins NOW!

[lcbaseball22]

Originally Posted by leah49

At my theater, every screen was to show Harry Potter. They would take a group at a time to a different theater, so that the early birds get the better seats rather than filling up one room and then moving to the next. I just happened to be at a spot where I was the second group to enter into the theater.

Wow, and I thougt my theatre was a bit unusual having 6 of the 20 screens playing at midnight, guess not

BTW, 6th was an added showing...the other 5 had sold out.

[MrSleepyHead]

Originally Posted by lcbaseball22

The magic of HP is still alive!

I am pleasantly surprised at the reception this film has already got. I was unsure how the HP community would respond to the film after the final book was released, but I think no more books has made everyone more eager for the films. I think HBP will be a favorite among non-fans because of its more "normal" concentration on "sex, drugs, and rock and roll." Unlike the previous Harry Potter films, I think anyone could watch this film, understand what is happening (for the most part), and have a good laugh. I do not doubt that this film will be a huge hit at the box office.

Originally Posted by leah49

At my theater, every screen was to show Harry Potter. They would take a group at a time to a different theater, so that the early birds get the better seats rather than filling up one room and then moving to the next. I just happened to be at a spot where I was the second group to enter into the theater.

The theatre I went to also did this. I think the manager said there were fourteen screens that would show HBP (a maximum seating of 2,600). I was at the theatre all day watching a marathon of all five films (culminating with HBP), and before they showed GoF (probably around 6:00 p.m.) the manager said over 1,400 tickets had been sold for the midnight release. I was speechless!

[Hysteria]

I saw the movie 11am on the day of release and my cinema was maybe 2/3 full but all were obviously die-hard fans. I think HBP has great re-watch value so I'm predicting a lot of money being made on 2nd viewings.

[ColdGreyEyes]

Wow, it beat out Dark Knight.. I'm impressed, although not very surprised. I think these last three movies will own all the others, as far as ticket sales go. I'm going to see it tomorrow with some friends, I just hope we can get tickets. After seeing this thread, I'm worried. xD

[leah49]

Originally Posted by lcbaseball22

Wow, and I thougt my theatre was a bit unusual having 6 of the 20 screens playing at midnight, guess not

BTW, 6th was an added showing...the other 5 had sold out.

I live near a small city that compasses many small towns so the popular hangouts get very crowded.

[lisalucy]

Well, where I live we have this really nice theater. Originally they were going to have 3 midnight showings one at 12:01, another at 12:02 and another at 12:03. But there were over 1100 people there and some of them had even gotten there at 8 in the morning the day before. There were so many people! A lot of them were dressed up and their was a snack trolley just like on the hogwarts express. So they ended up showing in 6 theaters and just showed it at the same time.
I think we can all relate to at least one of the characters in one way or another, so seeing them over-come their problems can give us all a little more hope.
I think Harry Potter is totally still a hit. With dedication of some people to wait outside in 100 degree weather in a tent for almost 2 days, I think it's safe to say that people are still interested.I think the wait definitely built up a lot of anticipation and excitement. That can be taken as a good thing or a bad thing because all the tension of waiting so long could make people expect more of the movie, but it's always worth the wait with Harry Potter!

[KDOG]

I know theres been talk that Harry Potter is kind of fading off but it really does speak volumes that this movie has gotten off to such a great start considering there was a lot less ads for the movies and a lot less hype until just a couple weeks and days before the premiere. Popularity of HP is still very much intact.

[FemmeCerebus]

I saw the movie today with 13 yr old girl & 9 yr old boy.

9 yr old boy said his favorite part was Dumbledore with the flames on the island, and generally he only thought it was OK because there wasn't any action. "What about the Quidditch?" I asked and he said the stuff with Ron was funny. I asked what he thought of Transformers II and he said "it was really good" and was "all action". He thought it was a bit long. I also found myself shifting a bit but I couldn't bear to take a bathroom break until after the Snape "you assume too much" part on the tower prior to going to the cave.

Personally, I think it's the best film yet (maybe this is always my opening weekend reaction!) like finally we have good director, good screenwriter, and good cinematographer all together.

And I cried.

My concern it was going to be "too blue" was misplaced. They really used varying colors of natural scenery well. They really organized it well too. I am very impressed.

I went at 1:50 pm (early afternoon) and theater was packed. Lots of enthusiasm at beginning of film from crowd, very quiet exit though, I think because of the DD death, which was done PERFECTLY !!!!

Very happy camper, can't wait to buy on DVD.

[leah49]

So much for the boycott so many were talking about...

[SnakeSinister]

I hope the film does very well and I am sure it will but many are saying it will be hard for it to top Transformers 2. I guess Revenge of the Fallen has taken the top spot for 2009 like the dark knight did last year. HBP will have repeat viewings though.

[Voldemorts8thHorcrux]

Originally Posted by KDOG

I know theres been talk that Harry Potter is kind of fading off but it really does speak volumes that this movie has gotten off to such a great start considering there was a lot less ads for the movies and a lot less hype until just a couple weeks and days before the premiere. Popularity of HP is still very much intact.

I saw way more previews for Twilight and Dark Knight and Harry Potter still beat them

Originally Posted by leah49

So much for the boycott so many were talking about...

what boycott?

[lcbaseball22]

Originally Posted by KDOG

I know theres been talk that Harry Potter is kind of fading off but it really does speak volumes that this movie has gotten off to such a great start considering there was a lot less ads for the movies and a lot less hype until just a couple weeks and days before the premiere. Popularity of HP is still very much intact.

Yes, it does...but I'm not sure I'd agree with your assessment that there was a lack of hype and promotion until just recently. I'll quote a few posts of mine from the other boxoffice thread:

Originally Posted by lcbaseball22

I'm not sure about the buzz on the streets but online it's ridic. For instance, every poll (Moviefone, Movietickets.com, Cinematical, etc) reveals HBP as the most anticipated film of 2009. Example- http://www.snitchseeker.com/harry-po...ne-poll-64043/ In addition to the response to the trailers has been incredible. Even those not previously interested in Potter are intrigued to see this film, it's crazy and awesome!

And "very little marketing"?! Have you mised the SEVEN trailers, 2 featurettes, 11 TV spots, etc? Not to mention all the posters.

And this one perhaps explains the potentially false perception:

Originally Posted by lcbaseball22

Well, it's not just you.

If I wasn't online everyday, I might not know either. Like I've only seen ONE TV spot, but I think that's just cause I'm not watching the right channels at the right times Like they seem to be mostly shown on "kiddie" channels like Cartoon Network and Disney But I also think it's a sign of the change of times and realizing how crucial the younger generations are to their success, even Presidental candidates campaign online nowdays. Online is where the buzz and promotion is at and in tune with their larget film demographics (teens/20's).


And only 5 of the trailers were shown in theatres...the other 3 were just online. And yeah, I goofed...8 trailers not 7

Here is the list of films the trailers debuted with...but they were all shown with quite a few others later on as well, such as Star Trek

[CandyCane23049]

I saw twice last night and I'm going to see it again tomorrow.

[CandyCane23049]

Seeing again tomorrow. I'm going almost everyday if I can.

[leah49]

Originally Posted by Voldemorts8thHorcrux

what boycott?

When they announced the delay in moving the movie from November to July many fans stated they would either not see the movie in theaters or wait a few weeks so WB would make less money. I see that turned out well.

[Wimsey]

Glad to see the comments: however, I think that there are other threads for discussing what we thought/felt about the film. We should stick to the issues of box office performance & comparisons here!

I did see the film at a noon showing (hooky!*); the theater was about half full, which probably is great for a weekday. The extent to which midnight showings opened up spaces for matinees is impossible to gauge: I never went during an opening afternoon before, and one theater is less a datum than it is an anecdote.


BOM and other outlets will post Wed. actuals late tomorrow afternoon. I'll post two tables. One will just be opening days of the 6 HP films. The second will be the start of the Order vs. Prince day-by-day footrace.

Originally Posted by SnakeSinister

HBP will have repeat viewings though.

Again, the HP films do not behave like the handful of films known to have high repeat viewings. This does not mean that HBP will not buck the trend: but, in general, films for which high repeat viewing has been documented (Rings, Narnia) have much longer half-lives than HP films do.

Prince probably will sell half of its tickets in 5 days: after all, each HP film does so in about a day less than the prior film. That is not the behavior of a high repeat viewing film.

* - hooky: to skip work or school....

[Voldemorts8thHorcrux]

Originally Posted by leah49

When they announced the delay in moving the movie from November to July many fans stated they would either not see the movie in theaters or wait a few weeks so WB would make less money. I see that turned out well.

yeah really. We ended up helping break another record, let's hope new moon doesn't beat dh

[FemmeCerebus]

Originally Posted by Wimsey

I did see the film at a noon showing (hooky!)

What does "hooky" mean?

Originally Posted by Wimsey

BOM and other outlets will post Wed. actuals late tomorrow afternoon. I'll post two tables. One will just be opening days of the 6 HP films. The second will be the start of the Order vs. Prince day-by-day footrace.

Sounds fantastic!

Originally Posted by CNN

According to a press release obtained by CNN, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opened with a midnight showing on more than 2,700 sold out screens. That is an amazing number of screens showing a midnight feature film, and even more impressive is just how many of the theaters showing Harry Potter 6 were able to sell out all their seats. The excitement level is just going to create even more buzz as the weekend draws near, and is really setting up the latest Harry Potter film to be an immense success

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...s_records.html

[ThaiHPFan]

Originally Posted by Voldemorts8thHorcrux

yeah really. We ended up helping break another record, let's hope new moon doesn't beat dh

I'd say that's close to impossible. I think the media and tons of people are making Twilight a bigger deal than it really is. The first film didn't even reach 200 million dollars in the US. And (in my country at least), lots of male audiences came out of the theatre angry because the trailer managed to fool them that it was a vampire action/horror film with a romantic subplot.

[katana]

My showing was not sold out. I had the 6pm showing. But when I walked out of the theater, they had a sign up that said the 9pm was sold out.