'Harry Potter' leads holiday weekend with $50.3M

Other than "Tangled," the new wide releases did not draw huge crowds, each catering to a segment of the audience.

Sony's "Burlesque," with Aguilera as a waitress seeking stardom at a Hollywood musical club, drew women; 20th Century Fox's "Love and Other Drugs," with Gyllenhaal as a pharmaceutical salesman who falls for an ailing woman (Hathaway), brought in date crowds; and CBS Films' "Faster," starring Johnson as an ex-con out for revenge, attracted male action fans.

In limited release, the Weinstein Co. drama "The King's Speech" got off to a majestic start with $349,791 in four theaters in New York City and Los Angeles. That gave it a whopping average of $87,448 a theater, compared to $13,628 in 3,603 theaters for "Tangled."

"The King's Speech" stars Colin Firth as British monarch George VI, father of Queen Elizabeth II, as he comes to power in 1936 while struggling to overcome a lifelong stammer. The film, which has early Academy Awards buzz as a potential front-runner, gradually expands to more theaters through the holidays.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1," $50.3 million.

2. "Tangled," $49.1 million.

3. "Megamind," $12.9 million.

4. "Burlesque," $11.8 million.

5. "Unstoppable," $11.75 million.

6. "Love & Other Drugs," $9.9 million.

7. "Faster," $8.7 million.

8. "Due Date," $7.3 million.

9. "The Next Three Days," $4.8 million.

10. "Morning Glory," $4 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.