Strong Tuesday Hold for ‘Harry Potter’

Warner's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I held up nicely for a second straight day on Tuesday. The seventh installment of the fantasy franchise led the way with $10.26 million. That was up 17 percent over Monday, which was stronger than the 12 percent increase 2005's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire experienced on its first Tuesday. After being especially front-loaded over the weekend, it is a very good sign that Deathly Hallows: Part I is stabilizing during the midweek. Deathly Hallows: Part I has grossed $144.07 million in five days and will zoom past the $200 million mark sometime over the weekend. The film is currently running 20 percent ahead of the pace of Goblet of Fire and 13 percent behind the pace of last year's The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

Megamind held steady in second place with $2.09 million. The 3D computer animated film from Paramount and DreamWorks was up 38 percent over Monday and up 55 percent over last Tuesday. Even with the film facing new direct competition with today's unleashing of Disney's Tangled, Megamind is still in very good shape to experience a healthy hold over the holiday weekend. The 19-day gross for Megamind stands at $112.91 million.

Unstoppable continued to claim third place with a daily take of $1.55 million. Fox's action-thriller starring Denzel Washington continues to hold up well as it was up 37 percent from Monday and down 16 percent from last Tuesday. Unstoppable has grossed $44.55 million through twelve days and is clearly benefiting from both strong word of mouth and the current lack of films skewing heavily towards male moviegoers.

Warner's Due Date was also up 37 percent over Monday. The R-rated comedy remained in fourth place with $1.25 million, which was down a slim 7 percent from last Tuesday. Due Date has grossed $74.60 million through 19 days, placing it 49 percent ahead of the pace of 2008's Role Models and 28 percent behind 2007's American Gangster.