‘Harry Potter’ Mania Grows, With Nearly 500 Showtimes Already Sold Out on Fandango

LOS ANGELES, July 9 /PRNewswire/ — Fandango, the nation’s leading moviegoer destination, reports that nearly 500 showtimes of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (opening next Tuesday night at midnight) are sold out across the country.

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The sixth Harry Potter movie currently represents:

• Fandango’s fastest-selling title of the year;
• 65% of daily ticket sales on Fandango (followed by Bruno, which opens tomorrow and accounts for 19% of ticket sales);
• The biggest Harry Potter film yet for the company, at this point in the film’s sales cycle; the sixth Potter is selling twice the amount of tickets that the fifth Harry Potter movie sold at the same point on Fandango.

According to an ongoing survey of Fandango moviegoers planning to see the movie:

• 82% have viewed Half-Blood Prince trailers or clips online.
• 52% said they found the story’s darker elements most appealing, while 15% picked the romance and 9% picked the comic, lighter elements.
• 48% selected Emma Watson as the Potter lead actor most likely to become a major movie star in the next five years; while only 9% picked Rupert Grint and 43% picked Daniel Radcliffe.
• 47% of parents say they’re more comfortable letting their children see the latest Harry Potter movie due to its PG rating (the last two Potter movies were rated PG-13).

“There’s considerably more interest in the Half-Blood Prince because of pent-up anticipation from moviegoers originally expecting to see it last November,” says Rick Butler, Chief Operating Officer of Fandango. “Fans have been literally waiting two years for this installment.”

As a bonus, every Harry Potter advance ticket buyer on Fandango will receive a free music download of the song Friends and Love, from the film’s soundtrack. Details of the promotion are available at www.fandango.com/promo/harrypotter.

Potter fans can also visit the Fandango Summer Movie Guide to view photos of Harry, Ron and Hermione through the ages in a special Harry Potter Retrospective. The gallery can be viewed at http://summermovies.fandango.com/2009/toplists/.

About Fandango

One of the Web’s top movie and entertainment destinations, Fandango sells tickets to more than 16,000 screens. Fandango entertains and informs consumers with reviews, commentary and trailers, and offers the ability to quickly select a film, plan where and when to see it, and conveniently buy tickets in advance. Fandango is available at www.fandango.com, 1-800-FANDANGO and via your wireless mobile device at mobile.fandango.com. Fandango is a unit of Comcast Interactive Media.

SOURCE Fandango