Potter holds on to crown with $50.3m over Thanksgiving

The five-day holiday weekend generated combined grosses of $267m this year compared to last year’s $273m haul, box office analysts said.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 took $76.3m over the five-day holiday weekend and has raced to $220.4m after ten days through Warner Bros in a new franchise record by this stage.

Disney’s fairy tale reboot Tangled pushed the boy wizard close on $49.1m however. It has taken $69m since launching last Wednesday. Burlesque, Screen Gems’ musical starring Christina Aguilera and Cher, opened in fourth place on $11.8m and $17.2m since Wednesday.

Fox’s rom-com Love & Other Drugs starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway launched in sixth place on $9.9m, rising to $14m since the Wednesday launch. CBS Films’ action title Faster with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson opened one place below on $8.7m and $12.2m since Wednesday.

Heavyweight Oscar The King’s Speech, which The Weinstein Company is releasing in North America, enjoyed a sensational limited launch as four theatres yielded $349,791 for a per-site average of $87,448. The drama will expand over the holiday season.

Next weekend’s wide release is Relativity’s Western The Warrior’s Way starring Danny Huston, Kate Bosworth and Geoffrey Rush.

Estimated Top 10 North America Nov 26-28, 2010

Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (1) Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Warner Bros) WBPI $50.3m $220.4m

2 (-) Tangled (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $49.1m $69m

3 (2) Megamind (Paramount-DreamWorks Animation) PPI $12.9m $130.5m

4 (-) Burlesque (Screen Gems) SPRI $11.8m $17.2m

5 (3) Unstoppable (Fox) Fox Int’l $11.75m $60.7m

6 (-) Love & Other Drugs (Fox) Fox Int’l $9.9m $14m

7 (-) Faster (CBS Films)  $8.7m $12.2m

8 (4) Due Date (Warner Bros) WBPI $7.3m $85m

9 (5) The Next Three Days (Lionsgate) Lionsgate $4.8m $14.6m

10 (6) MorningGlory (Paramount) PPI $4m $26.5m