Box Office Contest Update: Hogwarts Edition

To John’s delight (and that of Warner Bros. employees), “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” opened huge this week, setting a box-office record with more than $22 million from midnight showings on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and then adding another $79.5 million over the weekend for a five-day cume of $159.7 million, according to estimates from Box Office Mojo.

His “Ice Age” is holding up strong, adding another $17.7 million this weekend for a total of $152 million.

John is convinced this means that the game is still on and that he has a chance to stop Stu’s inevitable march to victory. I disagree, but since he has three more movies still to be released, we’ll wait patiently.

“Bruno” plunged -73% from last weekend for a three-day take of $8.4 million and a total of $49.6 million=unhappy numbers for me.

Stu continues to ride high, with “Transformers,” “The Hangover” and “The Proposal” still in the top six this week.

“Public Enemies” has snatched up $79 million, making it Michael Mann’s second-highest-grossing film ever, behind only “Collateral.” That’s good news for Mann and Universal, but not good enough for Dave in this summer’s contest.

Next week: John’s hopes ride on Jerry Bruckheimer’s “G Force,” while Dave plays out the string with the release of “The Ugly Truth,” starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler.

Totals through July 19:

Stu (seven films): $1.1 billion
Robert (six films): $613 million
Dave (seven films): $563 million
John (five films): $389 million

Reminder: If it’s playing in your town, go see “The Hurt Locker.”

Click here for our complete picks and release dates.