You may scoff, but advance ticket sales are suggesting that Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince may have the biggest opening in US box office history. It's always the quiet, lightning-scarred ones you have to look out for.
Fandango has reported that advance sales for the sixth outing of Warner Bros' version of the magical hero are outstripping those for Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen, which barely fell short of The Dark Knight's 2008 record, with sales for the movie currently making up 65% of all Fandango sales. Whether it's audience desire for something magical in these troubled times, box office frenzy brought on by the success of Transformers and Ice Age, or a mix of positive reviews and a return to the PG certification, there's every chance to that Harry Potter could surpass Batman's $203million opening weekend.
Of course, there's no guarantee that advance sales will translate into final box office success; initial glee based on Watchmen's pre-release sales failed to lead to bigger boffo bucks once the movie opened, and Fandango may be skewing facts by offering a free download of a song from the Potter soundtrack with every advance ticket sale.
What do you think? Will this end up being the summer of Harry, or will Transformers' Bayhem end up reigning supreme?
'Harry Potter' Outpacing 'Transformers' in Advance Ticket Sales on Fandango [PR Newswire]