''Harry Potter'' dominates box office
哈利波特风暴横扫全球 首映票房再创新高
Mike Newell, right, British director of ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,'' the fourth installment of Harry Potter series, poses with actors, from left, Emma Watson, Katie Leung and Robert Pattinson, during a press conference to promote their film in Tokyo Friday, Nov. 18, 2005.
The bespectacled boy wizard has worked his biggest box-office magic to date. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" grossed $101.4 million in its debut weekend, according to studio estimates released Sunday.
The latest Potter movie led a lineup that helped reverse the Hollywood box-office slump, with the top 12 films raking in $171 million, up 19 percent from the same weekend last year when "National Treasure" was No. 1 with $35.1 million.
"Goblet of Fire" was the fourth-best, three-day opening weekend ever, behind "Spider-Man" at $114.8 million in 2002 and "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" and "Shrek 2," at $108 million apiece.
The fourth installment of the adventures of Harry and his curious classmates at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the first Potter film to earn a PG-13 rating for its fantasy violence and special effects. But that did not deter audiences.
"The Potter franchise is just irresistible to moviegoers," said Paul, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "The combination of the Potter books and the love audiences have for the movies conspired a big opening weekend."
Based on the best-selling books by J.K. Rowling, "Goblet of Fire" follows 14-year-old Harry, who unwillingly competes against three older wizards in a dangerous Triwizard Tournament.
Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros., which released "Goblet of Fire," said the results exceeded the studio''s expectations. The third Potter film, "Prisoner of Azkaban," premiered last year at $93.7 million.
"As the audience has gotten older in time, faithful readers of the Potter books will remain faithful to the movies," Fellman said.
(Agencies)
哈里波特这个戴眼镜的小男巫创造了他迄今为止最大的电影票房奇迹。根据周日的票房统计，《哈里波特与火焰杯》上映第一个周末的票房收入高达1.014亿美元。
最新一集哈里波特电影的演员们再次挽救了低靡的好莱坞票房，上周好莱坞排名前12位的电影票房收入达到1.71亿美元，比去年同期上升了19%。去年这个时候，《国家宝藏》以3510万美元位居票房排行榜首位。
《哈里波特与火焰杯》上映第一个周末前三天的票房收入在所有的电影中排名第四，仅次于2002年的《蜘蛛人》（票房收入为1.148亿美元）、《星战前传III——西斯的复仇》和《史莱克2》，后两部电影的票房收入均为1.08亿美元。
哈里波特4讲述了哈里和他好奇的同学们在霍格华兹魔法与巫术学校的冒险经历，其中的科幻暴力和特技使这部电影成为哈里波特系列电影中第一部被列为PG-13级的影片，但这并没有阻碍观众前来观看。
“哈里波特对于喜欢看电影的人来说是不可抗拒的，哈里波特丛书和观众对哈里波特电影的钟爱共同促成了这个票房收入可观的周末。”美国票房分析公司Exhibitor Relations总裁保罗说。
根据J.K.罗琳的畅销小说改编的电影《哈里波特与火焰杯》讲述了14岁的哈里被迫在危险重重的三巫斗法大赛中和魔法学校三位比他年长的巫师竞赛的故事。
华纳兄弟公司负责该片的发行工作，该公司发行经理丹·费尔曼说票房收入比公司的预期还要好，去年上映的《哈利波特3：阿兹卡班的囚徒》的首映票房收入为9370万美元。
“观众们的年龄渐渐变大，哈里波特系列丛书忠实的读者们对于电影的忠实度一如既往。”费尔曼说。
(中国日报网站薛晓文编译，中国日报提供)
部分词汇翻译
Vocabulary:
irresistible: impossible to resist（不可抗拒的）
