Harry Potter's Golden Rule

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince magicked the pants off its box-office competition this weekend. Variety reports that the sixth installment of the popular Harry Potter series earned nearly $400 million in its worldwide debut, which includes the $237 million it raked in overseas in the biggest overseas opening of all time. The $159.7 million that the film made domestically over five days topped the $139.7 million scored by the previous Order of the Phoenix installment. It's a good thing the film made so much, since it cost a whopping $235 million to produce. Also an auspicious sign for Warner Brothers execs: the Potter audience is apparently maturing but remaining loyal—exit polls revealed that 60 percent of the audience was over 18.