Loaded Couch Potatoes

A few different websites out there are showing off what they claim is a preview of the new Harry Potter themed Superbowl ad for Universal Orlando. I’ve embedded the video being shown below.  View it before the copy-right overlords of the interwebs have it taken down.

I think they could have done a better job for a commercial that is going to cost them $2.5 billion to show during the Super Bowl.  At this point I’m sure they’re going for just more of an “oh I’m excited to see a commercial for it” factor than trying to compete with the usual creative commercials seen during the game.  I did however like the split second view of the coaster train on the dragon’s fire.

Ugh…  (1)  G-Force ($31.7 million, $8576 per screen):  God fucking damn, America, are you shitting me?

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(1)  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($77.8 million, $17,997 per screen, $158 million total):  After that monstrous (and record-shattering) midnight-show opening night, you might forgiven for thinking that a “mere” $77 million weekend is a little disappointing.  It’s not, really … but it kinda feels that way, as Potterphiles on Wednesday no doubt had visions of breaking all of The Dark Knight‘s records dancing in their heads.

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I started writing this as a comment on Honk Mahfah’s post, but it ran a little long for that section. If you haven’t read his review, you’re going to want to do that now….

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Time for a confession: there’s something about the Harry Potter franchise — be it the novels or the movies — that just doesn’t connect with me.  I’ve enjoyed it, overall; I read the final three novels as soon as I could get my hands on them, and I’ve seen each of the movies at the earliest available opportunity.

But they’re not sticking with me, for some reason.  I can remember a few details here and there, and the broad strokes of the stories are still more or less present in my head … but I spent a large portion of the sixth movie thinking to myself, “Man, I don’t remember much of this.”

Is that a problem with me or a problem with the movie(s)?

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Honk Mahfah is not only referring to himself in the third person again, he’s also looking for predictions:

What do you think?  Will tomorrow’s midnight screenings of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince set a new record for best midnight opening?  The current champeen is The Dark Knight, which last year at about this same time pulled in $18.5 million during the wee hours of its opening day.  The runner-up is currently Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, which bagged $16.9 million.  For a compariosn, this year’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the third-place opener, with an even $16 million.

Clearly Harry’s chances are lessened due to the absence of the word “revenge” in the film’s title.

What say you?

After a couple of high-profile box-office weekends, this one was just plain old boring.  Thing are going to be lively enough come Wednesday, though, so don’t feel too bad for all those ticket sellers and popcorn slingers.

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It’s here!  With less than 100 days till the movie’s release, the final trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been officially released.  Coming in just under 2 minutes and 30 seconds, this trailer has a lot of new footage.