Last week’s No. 1 film, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,’’ came in a close second with an estimated $30 million. That’s a whopping 61 percent drop from its huge opening last weekend of $79.5 million.
Coming in third was another of the week’s wide releases, the battle-of-the-sexes romantic comedy “The Ugly Truth,’’ which had a $27 million opening.
The sixth installment in the Harry Potter franchise has now made $222 million worldwide, which is $14 million ahead of where part five, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,’’ was after 12 days in theaters in 2007. And this week, “Half-Blood Prince’’ will start showing on 166 IMAX screens, which the last “Harry Potter’’ movie did from the start.
“G-Force’’ triumphed in a crowded summer marketplace with its combination of 3-D effects and the Disney and Bruckheimer brands, said Mark Zoradi, president of Disney’s motion-picture group.
The one-two of PG-rated movies reinforces the fact that summer is family movie time, said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.
“This summer is all about packaging and escapism,’’ Dergarabedian said of the strong showing for “G-Force.’’
With $27 million, “The Ugly Truth’’ performed at the high end of Sony Pictures’ expectations, said head of distribution Rory Bruer.
“The chemistry between Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler is a blast. It’s really a lot of fun, everything we’d hoped it would be,’’ Bruer said. “From sneak previews to word-of-mouth screenings we had on the movie, we knew people liked the movie.’’
Also opening nationwide was another Warner Bros. release, the horror movie “Orphan,’’ about a couple who adopts a little girl who’s not nearly as sweet as she seems. It came in fourth place with $12.8 million.
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