Half-Blood Prince grosses $58.4 million in first 24 hours

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On top of the news the other day that Half-Blood Prince broke the record for midnight box office sales, Variety is now reporting WB has announced how well Half-Blood Prince did in its first 24 hours:

Warner Bros.' “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” grossed a magical $58.4 million from 4,275 theaters as it opened Wednesday at the domestic B.O., including a potent $22.2 million in midnight shows.

Film was pacing well ahead of the $44 million earned by “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” on its opening Wednesday exactly two years ago. “Order of the Phoenix” posted a five-day opening gross of $139.7 million.

“Half-Blood Prince's” midnight runs were the best ever for any film, besting the $18 million earned by Warners' “The Dark Knight” last summer, as well as the $16 million grossed by Paramount's sequel “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” earlier this summer.