Moviegoers flocked to theaters last week to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which took firm command of the box office for Warner Bros., grossing $12.5 million and besting the openings of recent major releases including Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and Transformers.

The fifth installment of the popular fantasy series, which opened on Wednesday, July 11, had a solid per-screen average of $31,242 for its first full week, compared to Pirates and Transformers, which debuted in the high $20,000s, though it trailed the mid-$30,000s of Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third. Potter was also well-received on the international scene, grossing $330 million worldwide for its first weekend in theaters, making it the largest worldwide opening in Warner Bros. history, and the largest for the franchise.

‘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,’ commented Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman in a release.

Transformers hung on to the number two spot for the frame, adding another $5.5 million for its third week in theaters, for a total box-office take of $20.9 million for Paramount Pictures. Disney’s Ratatouille placed third with $9.9 million in total box-office earnings. Meanwhile, there’s no sign of the controversial Lionsgate title Captivity, the other new release for the week of July 13-19, distributed in Canada by Maple Pictures.

On the domestic front, Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm’s Nitro had a firm grip on the number one spot with $490,256 in receipts last week, for a total box-office take just shy of $3 million. The rest of the chart looks unchanged from the previous week, with Dinosaures 3D: Les géants de la Patagonie, Away from Her and A vos marques…Party! rounding out the top four.