Movie Audiences Just Wild About Harry

By Stephen M. Silverman

Monday June 07, 2004 08:00 AM EDT

Jim Spellman/WireImage

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The boy wizard has never been stronger, with the third entry in the movie series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, racking up the franchise's best opening weekend to date and emerging as No. 1 at the box office, according to studio estimates.

The film took in $92.65 million – the third-best three-day opening weekend in history, behind Spider-Man's $114.8 million in 2002 and Shrek 2's $108 million last month, reports the Associated Press.

Harry may have taken the No. 1 spot from Shrek 2, but the computer-animated feature is still going strong, having earned $313.6 million in its three weeks and putting it within swimming distance of Finding Nemo, the all-time top-grossing animated movie, with $339.7 million.

In 10 days, the global disaster thriller The Day After Tomorrow has made $128.8 million.

The weekend Top 10, according to studio estimates, were as follows:

1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, $92.65 million
2. Shrek 2, $37 million
3. The Day After Tomorrow, $28.15 million
4. Raising Helen, $6.7 million
5. Troy, $5.7 million
6. Mean Girls, $2.9 million
7. Soul Plane, $2.85 million
8. Van Helsing, $2.35 million
9. Man on Fire, $1 million
10. Super Size Me, $835,000