'Goblet of Fire' works magic at the box office

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The bespectacled boy wizard has worked his biggest box-office magic to date.

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" grossed $101.4 million in its debut weekend, the best results yet for the franchise, according to studio estimates released Sunday.

The latest Potter movie led a lineup that helped reverse the Hollywood box-office slump, with the top 12 films raking in $171 million, up 19 percent from the same weekend last year when "National Treasure" was No. 1 with $35.1 million.

"Goblet of Fire" was the fourth-best, three-day opening weekend ever, behind "Spider-Man" at $114.8 million in 2002 and "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith" and "Shrek 2," at $108 million apiece.