Fans were eagerly waiting for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and happily crowded cinemas over the weekend, bringing about ticket sales worth $77.4 million in North America.

“Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix” had a successful debut week, with box office earnings in the United States and Canada amounting to an estimated $140 million. It also secured the film the No. 1 spot as biggest weekend earner, with $77.4 million.

The film was released Wednesday and managed to break several records. The fifth “Harry Potter” had the biggest Wednesday opening ever and biggest earnings for a five-day period that was not a holiday.

Warner Bros is probably mighty proud of its film, as it has reportedly outdone all four predecessors.

The usual cast of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint was joined once more by acclaimed actors such as Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes and Gary Oldman, among others.

Newcomers to the Potter series are Imelda Staunton and Helena Bonham Carter.

Fans of the bespectacled boy wizard, who has grown before our eyes (he was merely 11 in the first Potter film), can rest assured that there is more Potter fun to come.

Even though “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” is the last book author J. K. Rowling has for fans in the series, there are still two more movies to come and, good news for diehards, all three main actors have agreed to play.

There was talk at one point that Emma Watson, who plays the very studious Hermione Granger, had decided to leave and do different things. The studio reportedly convinced her to remain and sign contracts for the upcoming movies.

According to estimates from media by Numbers, these are the top 10 movies this weekend and their ticket sales.

1. “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” $77.4 million

2. “Transformers,” $36.0 million

3. “Ratatouille,” $ 18.0 million

4. “Live Free or Die Hard,” $10.9 million

5. “License to Wed,” $7.4 million

6. “1408,” $5.0 million

7. “Evan Almighty,” $5.0 million

8. “Knocked Up,” $3.7 million

9. “Sicko,” $2.7 million

10. “Ocean's Thirteen,” $1.9 million