North American audiences flocked to Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix as the film dominated the domestic charts - as it did overseas and globally - with an estimated $77.4m three-day and $140m five-day launch.

This was the biggest launch in the franchise by virtue of the fact that it opened several days earlier than its four predecessors, and the biggest five-day debut for a non-holiday film in North American history, beating Shrek 2's $128.9m.

The result was the key driver in a robust $171.1m summer weekend as the top 12 titles beat the same weekend in 2006 by 14%.

'This is an unprecedented opening - for the studio and for the industry - which tells us that the strength of this franchise just continues to grow as the fifth film of the series shatters box office records across the country,' Warner Bros' president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said.

DreamWorks/Paramount's Transformers coasted past $200m in its second weekend as $36m raised the cumulative tally to $222.9m. In third place, Buena Vista's Ratatouille is gaining rapidly closing in on $150m after three weekends as $18m elevated its tally to $143m.

There was also good news for Fox as Live Free Or Die Hard crossed $100m in its third weekend thanks to a $10.9m haul that raised the running total to $102.9m.

Lionsgate/After Dark's horror title Captivity sunk without trace in its opening weekend, opening in 12th place on $1.6m. Focus Features' acclaimed drama Talk To Me, about 1960s DJ Ralph 'Petey' Greene and starring Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor, opened in limited release on just under $400,000 from 33 theatres.

Next weekend's wide releases are: New Line's musical Hairspray starring John Travolta and Nikki Blonsky; and Universal's comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry, with Adam Sandler, Kevin James, and Jessica Biel.

Estimated Top 10 North America July 13-15, 2007

Film (Dist)/Int'l dist/Est wkd gross/Est total to date

1 (-) Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (Warner Bros) WBPI $77.4m $140m

2 (1) Transformers (Paramount) PPI $36m $222.9m

3 (2) Ratatouille (Buena Vista) BVI $18m $143m

4 (3) Live Free Or Die Hard (Fox) Fox Int'l $10.9m $102.9m

5 (4) License To Wed (Warner Bros) WBPI $7.4m $30.5m

6 (6) 1408 (MGM) TWC $5m $62.2m

7 (5) Evan Almighty (Universal) UPI $4.9m $87.9m

8 (7) Knocked Up (Universal) UPI $3.7m $138.2m

9 (9) Sicko (Lionsgate) TWC $2.7m $15.9m

10 (10) Ocean's Thirteen (Warner Bros) WBPI $1.9m $112.4m

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