Midnight showings paid off big for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. They broke every midnight record on the books, earning a whopping $12 million just at those midnight showings. The previous record holder was Lord of the Rings: Return of the King with $8 million in 2003.

The really interesting thing to me is that according to Variety exit polls revealed that 48% of the audience was female. If you’ve ever been to a midnight showing for something like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars, then you know that’s not usually the case at these sorts of screenings. The audience is massively skewed towards the male, and the nerds lined up outside tend to go ga-ga for even the most mediocre flash of female flesh. It’s kind of like being in prison, only without the rape. Unless of course you count what George Lucas did to Star Wars. On second thought, it’s exactly like being in prison.

That doesn’t however necessarily mean that Harry Potter has a more slavishly devoted fanbase than those other midnight showing box office contenders. Back in 2003 when Return of the King did it, midnight showings were much more of a rarity and just as rare were the theaters willing to participate in them. Now they’re common, and for a movie like Harry Potter just about every theater does them. It’s a sure bet that Order of the Phoenix was showing in significantly more theaters at midnight than any of the other previous midnight champs had to work with.

But, with that $12 million boost to count towards the film’s final single day total, Order of the Phoenix could be well on its way to breaking the biggest ever single day record set by Spider-Man 2. The full results for Wednesday won’t be in till late Thursday, but Spidey’s previous $40 million record looks like it could well be in jeopardy.

What remains to be seen is whether or not the movie will keep making money in subsequent days when it’ll need repeat business to keep on earning. If the messages I’ve been getting from people are any indication, I’m not the only one who was seriously disappointed in this fifth Harry Potter.