With the Harry Potter release tonight at midnight, it’s got the world abuzz with anticipation. Harry Potter is set to be the most successful movie franchise ever, and we’ve still got 2 more movies after this one! But one new concern is whether Harry Potter will continue to succeed now that there’s a new hot teen drama on the scene, one that feels a bit more grown up.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is when the young wizards and witches start taking notice of each other, romantically. You have crushes and dating and a fair bit of “snogging”! However, this is strongly encroaching on the niche Twilight has set up for itself – the sexy side of teen interests. The books have already started the battle, but Harry Potter is still winning with 60% of all 9-11 year olds in the US having read the books. But as they grow up and hit 13-15 and older, the romance and angst in Twilight take hold. Check out this article in the Wall Street Journal for more facts and figures on the matter.
While Twilight crashed on the scene with its $70 million opening weekend, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is poised to be the biggest movie EVER, hopefully beating out Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and maybe even The Dark Knight. It has the potential to break all the records: PG rating makes it fun for the whole family, IMAX and IMAX 3D screenings, and the foundation of one of the best selling book and movie franchises in history. If Harry Potter doesn’t come out on top, I honestly don’t know what will. My 5 day box office estimate: $205 million, beating out Transformers $200.1 million. I’d guess higher, but it’s going to suffer from the lack of IMAX theaters it has until it takes over all the ones Transformers occupies until the week after next.
Photoshopped image from The Geek Files. Movie posters come from The WB and Summit Entertainment.
So readers, which is your teen epic of choice? Do you think Harry Potter can top Transformers?
