Harry Potter Beats Transformers

My morning has just been made!

It’s another Monday morning, which has been crappier the past few months since the company decided to set a Work-In-Progress meeting every Monday at 8.30am!

I was driving to work, blur and hating the traffic as any other Monday morning when I hear on the radio news that Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix beat Transformers in box office sales in the first few days of the premier!

Bloomberg, just 4 hours ago reported that:

“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' was the top film in the U.S. and Canada over the weekend with $77.4 million. The film toppled Transformers, which fell to second from first with $36 million in sales, Media By Numbers LLC said today in a statement.”

“Order of the Phoenix'' has taken in $140 million domestically since the film opened on July 11, and $190.3 million internationally, said Warner Brothers spokeswoman Veronika Kwan-Rubinek. She said the film had 16.2 million pounds ($32.9 million) in receipts its first four days in the U.K.”

“The first four “Potter” movies have made $3.54 billion worldwide, making “Harry Potter” Time Warner's most lucrative franchise, according to Box Office Mojo LLC, which tracks international sales. The company's Warner Bros. studio plans two more films based on the sixth and seventh books.”

Mind u, not that I have anything against Transformers but I really didn’t see the big deal about the show. Sure it was about good vs evil with huge transforming robots saving the world. The CGI during the transforming stage was pretty good. And it was quite entertaining. I’ve asked people what they think was so great about the movie and 80% tell me it’s the CGI. But for me, effects alone isn’t enough to make a great movie. There’s so much more to a good movie than just what u can do with a computer.

When I watched “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”, the movie was pretty close to the book but a lot of details were missing. This was understandable as it was just a 2 hour movie.

As for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, now that’s a movie which blew me away. I’ve come to accept that the movie can never be as good nor as detailed as the book. But this one made me go ‘WOW’. It was better than I could ever imagine. The CGI was good and it was very detailed, and not just about effects which were blowing up in your face. I especially liked the part where Harry was flying on his broom across the Thames. The fight sequence between Dumbledore, Harry and Voldermort was gripping with details such as the shattering of glass and the small particles floating around Harry as he was lying on the ground. It was a good thing I read the book or I would have been utterly shocked and devastated when Sirius fell through the archway and died. I still feel the way he died was too undramatic as he played such a pivotal role in Harry’s life. Still, at least it was true to the book. The character building in the movie was good and showed so much human emotional though I felt that there could have been more screen time for Hermione and Ron.

Speaking about Hermione, don’t u think she’s getting so hot! There’s a beautiful shot of her in Hot magazine. Still looking virginal and sweet but hot nonetheless.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” (the book) will be released this Saturday, 21^st 2007. On one hand, I’m extremely excited and can’t wait to read it. On the other hand, this is the seventh and final book. And someone dies. So I’m having mixed feelings about the book. First Sirius dies in the most undramatic way. Then Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard, dies during a battle with Lord Voldermort in order to save Harry. Who dies next? Harry? I hope not.