Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a fantasy-adventure film based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth film in the Harry Potter film series. It is directed by David Yates, the director of the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. David Heyman and David Barron produced the film, and the screenplay was written by Steve Kloves, the screenwriter of the first four films. Filming began on 24 September 2007, and the film was released in cinemas worldwide on 15 July 2009, one day short of the fourth anniversary of the corresponding novel's release. In everywhere but the United States, the sixth film was simultaneously released in regular cinemas and IMAX 3-D in all countries. In the US, the IMAX version was delayed by 2 weeks because of a Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen several week commitment. The film was released instead in IMAX 3D on 29 July, two weeks after its original release, in these countries.

The film opened to critical acclaim and instant commercial success, breaking the record for the biggest single-day worldwide gross of all time. In five days the film made $394 million, breaking the record for biggest five-day worldwide gross in history. It is also the highest-grossing film of 2009, grossing $930 million, which places the film as the eighth highest-grossing movie of all time.