It seems that Harry Potter has conquered more than the Triwizard Tournament. The fourth big-screen adventure of Hogwarts' prize pupil, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, took the top spot at the box office this past weekend.
According to Boxofficemojo.com, Harry grossed more than $102 million in the domestic marketplace and $85.5 million in the rest of the world. That's a healthy start for the young hero, one that Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick Time Warner
The weekend gross also represented the most successful domestic launch of the Potter films; the second-best opening belongs to Prisoner of Azkaban, which bowed with approximately $93.7 million. The movie division of Time Warner has a strong product on its hands -- a good thing, considering that holiday box-office competition usually brings out big guns from Viacom's
Though Goblet of Fire took a commanding lead right out of the gate, archived data shows that the worldwide box-office potential for Potter is in decline. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone captured worldwide theatrical sales of $976 million. Its sequel took in $877 million; the third film, $790 million. There's no telling how this latest entry will do until we see what the second weekend holds. But even though things seem smashing at the moment from a monetary view, the growth rate looks less enthralling.
Goblet of Fire will face its biggest challenge from a mouse that's ready to roar. Disney
Time Warner shareholders can marvel at the power of Potter, but they shouldn't get too enthralled just yet. The wizard-in-training can't magically guarantee that Wall Street will suddenly want to pile into the stock. Nevertheless, The Goblet of Fire is sure to drive a healthy amount of revenues into the company's coffers.
We've summoned forth more Time Warner Takes:
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Fool contributor Steven Mallas owns shares of Disney and General Electric and has never seen a Potter film. The Fool has a disclosure policy.