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 (NYSE:TWX) is surely crowing about. The film had a domestic per-theater gross of $26,500. The previous iteration, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which was released in the summer of 2004, saw a domestic per-theater average of $24,300. Both films played in roughly the same number of locales, indicating that demand remains strong for the bespectacled cultural icon.
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 (NYSE:VIA) Paramount, News Corp.'s (NYSE:NWS) 20th Century Fox, and General Electric's (NYSE:GE) Universal. (Anyone hear of a little remake coming out called King Kong?)
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 (NYSE:DIS) is preparing to release its fantasy film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and itching to show Time Warner who's boss in the realm of Tolkien-like fairy tales. As a shareholder, I hope the company succeeds in mesmerizing audiences who are hoping for another event on the order of Lord of the Rings. Since Chicken Little is clicking (or, should that be clucking?) with moviegoers right now, perhaps the time is right for Disney to retain a bit of momentum with its movie slate (which hurt the conglomerate's latest earnings period).
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:
Discuss your Divination and Potions homework on Time Warner's discussion board.
Fool contributor Steven Mallas owns shares of Disney and General Electric and has never seen a Potter film. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
