Phoenix also generated the fifth biggest opening day overall behind Spider-Man 3's $59.8M Friday, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest's $55.8M Friday, Star Wars Episode III's $50M Thursday, and X-Men: The Last Stand's $45.1M Friday. The sizzling start bodes well for the five-day debut period

Despite the midweek launch, the fifth wizard film enjoyed a stronger first-day turnout than all previous Potter pics which all opened on a Friday. With multiple-screen engagements and a record 91 Imax locations, Phoenix has seized control of more than 9,000 total screens across the United States and Canada.

The new Hogwarts film should see a sizable drop on Thursday since fan frenzy drove much of the fan base out on opening day. But since it is the summer, it may not have the type of Wednesday-to-Thursday drops that films like The Lord of the Rings pics suffered which were in the neighborhood of 50%.

Past megahits opening on a Wednesday like Spider-Man 3, The Return of the King, and Star Wars Episode I all generated roughly 28% of their five-day bows on their first day. None of those were July openers, but if Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix plays out in a similar fashion, Warner Bros. might be set to collect roughly $150M or more by the end of the weekend.

International results were equally impressive with Phoenix opening at number one in all markets with most showing bigger debuts than all previous wizard flicks. Among the notable standouts are France with $5.9M from 1,060 prints, Germany with $3.6M from 1,300 prints, Australia with $3.5M from 500, Italy with $3.1M from 837, Spain with $2.6M from 602, Brazil with $1.5M from 850, and South Korea at $1.3M from 545. The internatinoal cume is $29.2M with many more territories still to open throughout the week.

For a NEW review of Harry Potter visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Friday for another daily box office report on Harry Potter.