Potter's scare tactic a hit

2005-11-22 12:15

Los Angeles - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire may be the scariest of the films about the teen wizard but it also had the most successful opening of the series.

Distributors Warner Bros Pictures said Potter was the top film in all 19 countries where it opened at the weekend, including the United States, where it ended a box-office slump, and in Britain, where it smashed all records.

With the movie opening in Japan, Italy and Spain next weekend and France and Australia in the first week of December, the distributors are hoping it could become the smash hit of the year.

Though Goblet of Fire has been widely described as the scariest of the four movies so far, sparking a debate in the US about whether it was suitable for young children, kids in Potter's trademarks glasses and wands packed movie theatres for the opening.

The film of JK Rowling's book conjured up $102.3m (about R676m) in US and Canadian theatres, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Box office revenues boosted

Goblet of Fire, directed by Briton Mike Newell, drew the fourth-biggest opening gross earnings in North America, trailing Spider-Man ($114.8m), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith ($108.4m) and Shrek 2 ($108m).

Potter's magic helped bring box office revenues up over the weekend after being down most of the year, according to Exhibitor Relations.

Warner Bros Pictures International UK said the movie took almost £15m on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, making it the biggest three-day weekend in British cinema history.

The film took in £4m on Friday, £5.6m on Saturday and £5.2m on Sunday, each of them records for a single day in Britain.

Parental guidance needed

In Goblet of Fire the bespectacled hero, played again by Daniel Radcliffe, is tormented by his old nemesis, Lord Voldemort, and enters a dangerous competition between wizardry schools.

In the United States it was given a PG-13 rating, which cautions parents that some images of dragons and of Voldemort and his cohorts may be unsuitable for those under 13.

The three previous Potter films were given a milder PG, for parental guidance suggested, rating.

The film had a better opening than its predecessors in North America and Britain.

The first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, earned $93.5m in US and Canadian cinemas and £9.6m in Britain.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets earned $88.3m in its 2002 North American opening and £10.3m. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban made $93.6m in North America and $9.5m in Britain last year.

North American cinemas are hoping that Harry Potter and the soon to be released first film in the Chronicles of Narnia series, based on the books by CS Lewis, will turn around a miserable year.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire will be released on December 1 in South Africa.

- AFP