Warner Bros.’ eagerly awaited Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire casts its spell over 3,800 theaters today in a bid to end the two-week box office reign of Disney’s animated Chicken Little. Since fans have had to wait two years for this fourth installment of the series based on the popular novels by J.K. Rowling, Goblet may prove to be the most successful of the batch, despite its PG-13 ratings.
Directed by British filmmaker Mike Newell (Donnie Brasco, Four Weddings and a Funeral), this latest Harry Potter adventure has the student wizard chosen to compete in the Triwizard Tournament, a challenging, multi-faceted competition that pits him against representatives from three different wizarding schools. In addition to the tremendous pressure to bring school pride to Hogwarts, Harry must deal with the return of the evil Voldemort in this vfx extravaganza featuring computer animated creatures and other digital wizardry by ILM, The Orphanage, BUF, The Motion Picture Company, Framestore CFC, Rising Sun Pictures, Cinesite, Animal Logic and Double Negative.
The fantasy pic should easily claim the top spot this weekend since the only other major opener is 20th Century Fox’s Johnny Cash bio pic, Walk the Line. Harry’s biggest competition may come from holdovers. Chicken Little performed well in its second weekend and promises have legs for weeks to come, and Sony Pictures’ Zathura: A Space Adventure could also get a boost from strong word of mouth.
Get the behind-the-scenes scoop on the visual effects created for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in the January issue of Animation Magazine, coming soon to Barnes & Noble and other fine booksellers.
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