In the end, it wasn’t Voldemort, but a band of talking guinea pigs that finally defeated Harry Potter… at least at the box office this week. The Disney CGI adventure G Force topped the weekend’s list with a strong $32.15 million that was no doubt boosted by the 1,600 theaters showing it in higher-priced 3D. Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, meanwhile, fell to No. 2 with $30 million, a steep—but not unexpected—61.5 percent decline from its record-breaking opening weekend. The previous Potter flick, 2007’s Order Of The Phoenix, took a similar 58 percent decline in its second week.
A couple of more adult-oriented movies got a counter-programming benefit by going up against the family-friendly fare that dominated the box office this weekend. The R-rated romantic comedy The Ugly Truth opened at No. 3 with a strong $27 million and the highest per-screen average in the top 10. The horror flick Orphan had a more average bow at No. 4 with $12.77 million.
Having three new films debut this weekend shook up the rest of the top 10 a bit. Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs lost both its 3D screens and a sizable chunk of its family audience, dropping from No. 2 to No. 5 with $8.2 million. Transformers took a similar tumble, from No. 3 to No. 6 with $8 million—though it did also move onto the list of top 10 all-time domestic highest-grossing films, thanks to its current $379.09 in receipts. The Hangover also overtook Wedding Crashers as the highest-grossing R-rated comedy ever; it currently sits at No. 7 with $6.47 million in its eighth week. The Proposal also continues to fare well in its sixth frame, landing at No. 8 with $6.42 million. Public Enemies continues its undistinguished slide out of the top 10, dropping to No. 9 with $4.17 million, while Bruno took another major hit—a 67 percent decline, the highest in the top 10—falling to No. 10 with $2.72 million.
More detailed numbers can be found at boxofficemojo.com.