HARRY POTTER and the HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Crushes the Midnight Opening Record with $22 Million

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” made its long-delayed debut into theatres on Wednesday at 12:01 am.  In its 3,003 midnight runs, the sixth film not only outperformed its predecessor (“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”) it also outperformed every film that ever opened in midnight engagements – and yes, that includes “The Dark Knight”.  “Half-Blood Prince” made an estimated $22.2 million from midnight screenings alone – easily besting the $18 million “Knight” made in 2008 as well as the $16 million we saw from “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” just last month.  It’s now pretty clear that “Half-Blood Prince” will top the $44 million opening of “Phoenix” from back in July of 2007, but to see how much higher it can go, you’ll have to check back tomorrow…