Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth film in the Harry Potter film series is all set to hit theatres on Thursday ?instead of the usual Friday release? with 350 prints across 450 screens in India and worldwide in 10,000 theatres. Warner Brothers is said to have spent close to Rs 1.5 crore in marketing this sixth Potter series film.
The first Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone released in 2000 with 95 prints earned Rs 2.5 crore at the box office.
However, the fifth film, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix that was also dubbed in Hindi and released with 300 prints fetched a whooping Rs 26 crore in India. The producers plan to dub the latest film in Hindi as well as Tamil and Telugu to reach a larger audience.
The second film, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, the third The Prisoner of Azkaban and the fourth Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire were released with 100, 50 and 175 prints respectively.
A source from Warner Brothers mentioned, ?We are confident that this film will also undo the collections of the previous Potter releases.? The production house has tied-up across India with Westside stores as the retail merchandise partners. Gaming company, Electronic Arts has launched a game based on the film that is available on platforms like PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, PSP, Wii and DS. The game will be available at retail outlets like Croma, Landmark and Planet M. Jayant Sharma, chairman and CEO, Milestone Interactive who will be distributing the game in India said, ?Harry Potter has been a great franchise for video games. This year in particular has seen a phenomenal surge of interest in the series with the recent launch of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We have seen a 25% increase in sales as compared to Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix.?
Most multiplexes feel that the film is likely to generate an initial occupancy of almost 70% to 75% on the first 2 days of its release. The footfalls are expected to reach almost 100% over the weekend especially on Sunday. Devang Sampat, senior vice president, Cinemax India Ltd says, ?There is a lot of initial hype that has been created around the film and the fact that it is being released on a Thursday instead of the usual Friday release is a wise marketing strategy.?