The latest Harry Potter sequel has given Warner Bros. its seventh No. 1 hit of the year and has
pushed the studio's domestic gross past the $1-billion mark, it said Sunday. The success of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes on the heals of the studio's surprising good luck with The Hangover, which, with more than $235 million in ticket sales as of this weekend, has become the highest-grossing R-rated comedy domestically in history. In a news release on Sunday, Warner Bros. said that it is the only studio ever to earn $1 billion annually for nine consecutive years.