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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix continues to shrug off the only fair reviews it received and opened its first weekend with a $77.4 million take. Even though this is the lowest of the blockbusters this year, and the other films in the series, it came into the weekend with $90 million already in the cash register.

This isn't a surprise as it has the fan base that doesn't consider reviews of any relevance; the connection is too strong.

I wasn't sure quite how good the film would perform this weekend after opening on a Wednesday. But it held pretty well. I think this may be the first big film this year which will draw fans back to see it a second time or more on a high level. We'll have to wait until next weekend to see how long that'll last.

In other good news for the box office, the Transformers held strongly in its second time around, bringing in another $36 million, which is only a drop of 46.7 percent. That contrasts with the other big moview which have dropped by over 60 percent on their second weekend this summer.
 
Pixar continues on with its string of hits, as Ratatouille only dropped by 37.9 percent, to bring in another $18 million. When you consider Harry Potter coming into its first weekend, this is a strong performance. While it won't reach the level of some of the other Pixar films as far as sales go, it should reach the $200 million mark domestically.

The top ten for the weekend:

Other Box Office Sites:

Box Office Guru

Box Office

Box Office Prophets

Box Office Mojo

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