Harry Potter works major box-office magic

The boy wizard has worked his biggest box- office magic to date. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire grossed $ 101.4 million ( all figures U. S.) in its debut weekend, the best results yet for the franchise, according to studio estimates released yesterday. The latest Potter movie led a lineup that helped reverse the Hollywood box-office slump, with the top 12 films raking in $ 171 million, up 19 per cent from the same weekend last year when National Treasure was No. 1 with $ 35.1 million.

Goblet of Fire

was the fourth best three- day opening weekend ever, behind Spider- Man at $ 114.8 million in 2002 and Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith

and Shrek 2, at $ 108 million apiece.

Debuting in second place was the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, which took in $ 22.4 million. The film chronicles the early musical career of Cash, played by Joaquin Phoenix, and also stars Reese Witherspoon as Cash’s life- long love, June Carter.

Disney’s computer-animated film Chicken Little, which held the top spot last week, slipped to No. 3 with $ 14.8 million. Jennifer Aniston’s thriller Derailed ranked fourth with $ 6.5 million and the sci- fi fantasy Zathura: A Space Adventure

rounded out the top five with $ 5.1 million. The fourth instalment of the adventures of Harry and his curious classmates at the Hogwarts School is the first Potter film to earn a PG rating. Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros., which released Goblet of Fire, said the results exceeded the studio’s expectations. The third Potter film, Prisoner of Azkaban, premiered last year at $ 93.7 million.