Opening day: Guinea pigs beating ‘Potter’ at the box office

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Forget about the ‘Half-Blood Prince.’ Harry Potter’s most powerful foe is turning out to be a bunch of superpowered guinea pigs.

Disney’s ‘G-Force’ scored a surprise first place at the box office Friday, selling $11.5 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada. That sets it up for a solid weekend performance of about $35 million.

‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,’ meanwhile, is continuing to sputter at the box office after its strong start. The sixth film starring the teenage wizard fell 65% from its opening Friday to $9.3 million. ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,’ by contrast, which also opened on a July Wednesday, fell under 61% on its second Friday in 2007.

‘Potter’ is in a tight race for second place this weekend with Sony’s romantic comedy ‘The Ugly Truth,’ which earned a healthy $10.8 million on its opening day. Because family films tend to do better at weekend matinees than an R-rated picture like ‘The Ugly Truth,’ both movies are on track to gross about $30 million through Sunday.

Horror film ‘Orphan,’ which Warner Bros. is distributing for Dark Castle Entertainment, made $4.9 million on its opening day and should take in about about $13 million for the weekend, a so-so start for the low-budget picture.

-- Ben Fritz