'Harry Potter' is No. 1 in U.S. theaters

LOS ANGELES, July 19 (UPI) -- J.K. Rowling's young wizard conjured a fortune this weekend with "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" No. 1 in U.S. theaters, Box Office Mojo said Sunday.

The latest movie installment of the British author's fantastical novels, with Daniel Radcliffe in the title role, piled up an estimated $79.48 million in its first weekend in U.S. theaters.

The animated "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" stayed No. 2 with $17.7 million. and the science-fiction adventure "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" was still No. 3 with $13.75 million.

Last weekend's top-grossing movie, the mockumentary "Bruno," fell to No. 4 in its second week with $8.37 million, followed by "The Hangover," which moved back up a spot to No. 5 with $8.32 million in its seventh week in U.S. theaters.

Rounding out the Top 10 were "The Proposal" with an estimated $8.23 million in ticket sales, "Public Enemies" at $7.59 million, "Up" at $3.15 million, "My Sister's Keeper" at $2.83 million and "I Love You Beth Cooper" at $2.7 million.

"The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" dropped out of the top tier in its sixth week.

Another new offering, "500 Days of Summer," a romantic comedy starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, debuted at No. 12 with just $838,000 in gate receipts.