According to Boxofficemojo, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was the top film at the domestic box office over the three-day weekend. I'm sure this didn't surprise Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) shareholders. The latest installment of the popular fantasy series took in about $79 million as of early estimates. However, Prince actually opened last Wednesday. If you add in monies derived from the Wednesday and Thursday showings, you've got a gross of about $159 million so far.

This compares favorably to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which opened in July 2007. Phoenix made just under $140 million during its five-day debut. I like such growth. It shows that the franchise retains a good quantity of demand.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling is scheduled to be published by Scholastic Press (NASDAQ: SCHL) on July 21, and some fans are speculating that Harry will die. I am quite confident in telling you that he won't, for several reasons.

1. The artistic.
Experienced authors will tell you that a satisfying ending is one that, after it happens, readers will see as inevitable, even if they didn't see it coming. For example, the ending of Sixth Sense, while a shocker to many (including me), worked because it neatly tied up loose threads we'd momentarily lost sight of. The ending completed the Bruce Willis' character arc.

Rowling has not established the need for someone to sacrifice his life so that Voldemort might die. In fact, she has already given Harry's parents and Dumbledore to the cause. Harry's death would be gratuitous, and, most importantly, inconsistent with the rest of the saga. Harry is the viewpoint character, and it is our vicarious enjoyment of his overcoming obstacles that gives the series such impact. It's hard to enjoy the denouement of a dead character.

Most importantly, though, Harry is not a flawed character seeking redemption through sacrifice. He is an innocent predestined to conquer the wicked AND LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

2. The practical.
If Rowling were to kill off her hero in the final book, it would not only diminish sales of this volume, but horribly impact the future sales of the series. Knowing that Harry was to die, (and who on Earth would not know of this plot twist?), would change the reader's experience, robbing each bit of conflict of its gravitas. Plus, fans would revolt. Arthur Conan Doyle learned this lesson when he tried to kill off Sherlock Holmes -- some plot reversals fans will simply not accept.

3. The financial.
With two more films on the planning board (including Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, due for release July 11th by Warner Brothers, a division of Time Warner, NYSE:TWX) and a theme park in development, I can't believe these companies would invest so much in a closed-end storyline. And while Rowling may have all the money she needs, keeping the tale open-ended is a much shrewder business decision.

So I'm not worried about Harry. My prediction -- he'll defeat Voldemort with Snape's help, assume Dumbledore's position as head of Hogworts, marry Jenny Ginny and stand as best man at Ron and Hermione's wedding.

Harry Potter can't die. Trust me.

More Harry Potter news

Tom Barlow: The Harry Potter Finance Quiz
Gary E. Sattler: New York Times bestseller list leaves Harry Potter out
Tom Barlow: Harry Potter ending: A water cooler cheat sheet
Zac Bissonnette: With Harry Potter done, is it time for Scholastic to sell itself?
Tom Barlow: Rowling safeguards Potter empire
Zac Bissonnette: Is the last book the end of Potter mania?
Tom Barlow: Harry Potter and the Pots of Gold
Barry Summerlin: Harry Potter doesn't even need Muggle marketing
Julie Tilsner: Not even Harry can save bookstores from their fate
Peter Cohan: Harry Potter and the Pot of Gold

Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Warner Brothers and General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal Studios have pulled off the magic trick of the decade by gaining the rights to create a theme park based on J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series. "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" will be created in Universal's "Islands of Adventure" theme park at the Universal Orlando Resort in Florida. Completion is expected in 2009.

The announcement is timed to take advantage of this summer's Pottermania. The seventh and final book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is scheduled for release July 21. The next Harry Potter film, the Warner Brothers feature Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, opens July 11.

The park will offer rides and interactive attractions, as well as shopping and restaurants based on the novels. Expect Universal to put huge money into this development to make it a world-class experience.

WB and Universal are betting that, even though no new HP books will be forthcoming, the product will remain popular. With the continuation of the profitable film series keeping Harry in the public eye, I'll bet demand for the park will still be strong in 2009.

Warner Bros., the feature film unit of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), will be releasing its long-awaited Harry Potter film "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" two days earlier than planned. The new release date will open in the U.S. on July 11, after a world premiere in Tokyo on June 28 and a London premiere on July 3.

It is quite common for certain blockbuster films to come out on a Wednesday, which July 11 is, instead of a Friday because it gets to count toward "weekend opening ticket sales." It also allows for some movie-goers to not be distracted by the other blockbuster films that are available that day.

If you ever wonder why this is done, the answer is simple. MONEY. It's always about money. Take a look at the films coming out in June and you'll see why they are waiting to release the film in July. This is a movie-packed summer and there are only so many movie dollars to be spent in any given time period.

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Last year I previewed the big-budget summer movies, giving you a look at ten interesting films that were on the docket for the summer of 2006. This year I'm back with an even longer list (bloated like these films' budgets) of 15 movies you may want to escape to -- or possibly run screaming from.

Of these fifteen movies, Spiderman 3 and ten others are sequels, which in itself indicates something about the state of the industry (And I didn't even include Rush Hour 3 in this list, because, honestly, who wants to see that?). Two of the remaining four movies, Transformers and The Simpsons, are based on animated television shows, leaving only two original ideas in the whole lot -- Knocked Up and Ratatouille. Please, don't shoot the messenger.

Anyway, here is the list, chronologically, of the movies that Hollywood's brain-trust believes you will shell out your cash to see in the air-conditioned darkness of your local movie-house, along with my opinion of how they'll fare. The first on the list, Spider-Man 3, is already out in Asia, but will not be released here until May. All release dates below are for the U.S.

5/04 - Spider-Man 3, Sony Corp's (NYSE: SNE) Sony Pictures
Being the first blockbuster of the summer almost guarantees a successful open, and the popularity of the franchise seals that guarantee. One problem, however, is that "success" measured by any normal means won't be enough, as this movie had an estimated budget of $258M.

5/11 - 28 Weeks Later, News Corp's (NYSE: NWS) 20th Century Fox
The highlight of the horror/zombie genre for the summer, this follows the surprise success of Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, which reinvented the zombie film with faster zombies and smarter characters.

5/18 - Shrek the Third, Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Paramount Pictures
One of the only cartoon franchises that has held its own against Pixar (Ice Age being the other), the draw of this fairytale romp is that while kids love the story, there are enough winks at the adult audience to make parents happy to take them.

5/25 - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS)
Money in the bank for Disney, and since it was shot simultaneous with the second Pirates installment, it wasn't even as expensive to make as this summer's other budget hog, Spider-Man 3.