Another Potter flick another dollar. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince muggled out the competition this weekend by taking in a massive $158 million over five days, as it opened on a Wednesday instead of a Friday. It made $77.8 million from Friday-Sunday. The film has received stellar reviews across the board, as well as on The Movie Mash, although that didn’t go over well with some (cough) “Potter Purists.” So it seems as though Warner Bros. got their 2009 money-maker after the box-office debacles that were Watchmen and Terminator Salvation. While this is undoubtedly a complete and utter victory for WB and Potter fans, with such anticipation, it still was unable to beat Transformers 2 and The Dark Knight in the five-day race, by a significant margin.

As mentioned in last week’s B.O.B. report, the box-office record for the first five days of a film’s release is $203.1 million, set last summer by my favorite film of all-time, The Dark Knight. Michael Bay’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which opened last month, seriously threatened that record by raking in close second $201 million in its first five days. Now this is where the analysis gets interesting. The sixth Harry Potter film, HP & THPB who’s release had been delayed six months, was only able to muster $158 over five days…In July. Hmmmmmm. Now there’s no knocking that feat, as it’s very impressive, or is it?

Batman Begins only made $205 million in total, during its domestic run. It’s sequel, The Dark Knight, ultimately shattered every box-office record imaginable and ended with $533 million, second all-time only to Titanic. Of course Begins had three years to build a solid fan base after being released on DVD. And obviously the Heath Ledger factor was a huge box-office draw, especially the buzz surrounding his legendary performance. But how did The Dark Knight make in three days, what HP 6 made in five? Doesn’t Harry Potter have the biggest fan-base ever? Is the Batman fan-base bigger than Harry Potter’s, or were the “Potter Purists” boycotting repeat viewings because of adaptation accuracy squabbles? Does Transformers have a bigger fan-base than Harry Potter’s, or were the “Potter Purists” telling their other “Potter Purist” friends not to go back a second time? IDK because I’m not a “Potter Purist.” I haven’t read the books, but I thought the movie was great and I really don’t give a shit. Regardless, I seriously don’t know what is preventing these films from shattering box-office records every time. So I’m asking, what is it?

I’m sure that this mild speculation, as well as the image above, is undoubtedly causing an uproar in traffic, so it felt like a required proposal. HAHAHAHAHA! Why So Serious? Anyway, as the Hogwarts brigade were waving their wands at the concession stands, the other competition at the box-office inevitably suffered. Ice Age 3 continues to perform well by taking in an impressive $17.5 million in its third weekend, coming in second and bringing its domestic total to just over $150 million. Transformers 2 also continues to impress in its fourth week by taking in $13.6 million, coming in third, and bringing it’s domestic total to a whopping $363 million. And as speculated in last week’s B.O.B. report, “Bruno ist Auschwitz.” With the combination of Harry Potter and (ironically and hypocritically) homo-phobes, Bruno plummeted in its second week with a pathetic $8.3 million. (All of these numbers are Friday-Sunday three-days). Ah well, I guess genius shouldn’t be measured in dollars and cents. Oh and I know that gay Potter reference will surely ruffle some feathers.

This week is going to get crowded as Potter nerds, families, couples on dates and horror fans will all be battling it out. I predict that Harry Potter 6 will be on top once again, dropping a healthy 50ish percent and taking in $75 million in its second week. Jerry Bruckheimer’s 3D animation guinea pig flick,(no pun intended) G-Force, will come in second with a solid $42 million. The Gerard Butler/Katherine Heigel rom-com The Ugly Truth will come in third with $28 million. The first legit horror film since Drag Me To Hell, Orphan, will unfortunately come in fourth with $18 million. And Ice Age 3 will round out the Top Five with $11 million in its fourth weekend. Challenge?

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this weekend. (All numbers are Friday-Sunday three-days).

CHAMP: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince $77.8 million
2) Ice Age 3 $17.5 million
3) Transformers 2 $13.6 million
4) Bruno $8.3 million
5) The Proposal $8.2 million

What Do You Think? Discuss.