Harry Potter Book Shatters Sales Record

The new Harry Potter book sold an astonishing 6.9 million copies in its first 24 hours, smashing the record held by the previous Potter release.

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which went on sale at a minute past midnight Saturday, averaged better than 250,000 sales per hour, more than the vast majority of books sell in a lifetime.

“This is a cause for celebration, not just for Scholastic, but for book lovers everywhere,” said Lisa Holton, president of Scholastic Children’s Books, author J.K. Rowling’s U.S. publisher.

Sales for the sixth installment of Rowling’s fantasy series easily outpaced those for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” which came out in 2003 and sold 5 million copies in the first 24 hours. Acknowledging that some stores quickly ran out of books two years ago, Scholastic has increased the print run for “Half-Blood Prince” from 10.8 million copies to 13.5 million.

The Scholastic numbers are for the United States only. Sales figures from Britain are expected today.

Anticipated from the moment fans finished the fifth one, the new book has been available virtually everywhere, from price clubs and supermarkets to the Scholastic website. Holton said Sunday that a big factor in the new sales record was a sixfold increase in the number of Potter bookstore parties, from 800 to 5,000, with superstores and independent retailers dramatically increasing their participation.

Even allowing for deep discounts on the $29.99 release, “Half-Blood Prince” still easily generated more than $100 million in revenue. It’s not only the richest opening in publishing history, but also tops the combined estimated take for the weekend’s top two movies, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “The Wedding Crashers.”

“When a book beats out movies, we’re in great shape,” Holton said.

Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations, said he didn’t believe that Harry Potter pulled kids away from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” which starred Johnny Depp as the reclusive candy king Willy Wonka.

“With a $55-million opening, it’s hard to say anything had a negative effect on the movie’s performance,” Dergarabedian said Sunday.

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” was the biggest debut ever for Depp, topping the $46.6-million opening weekend of his 2003 hit “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”

Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble Inc. estimated that U.S. sales would be 1.3 million for “Half-Blood Prince” in its first 48 hours, about 400,000 higher than for the first 48 hours of the fifth Harry Potter book. Rival superstore chain Borders Group Inc. reported a record 850,000 Potter sales worldwide in the first day, 100,000 greater than for the debut of “Order of the Phoenix.”

A few readers have already decided to pass on their copies to others. Used editions were available through EBay, Amazon.com and Alibris.com.