The final instalment of the Harry Potter franchise had a magical weekend at the box office, breaking the US and worldwide records for its opening weekend gross.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 grossed $168.55m (€120m) at the US box office, besting The Dark Knight’s 158.4m (€112m) record that had stood for the past three years. The film also broke the US opening day record by $20m, grossing $92m on Friday, boosted by a record-shattering $43.5m midnight launch).
The worldwide opening weekend for Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was another new record, as the film grossed €338m ($475m), topping the previous holder, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by €58m.
The next step for the franchise is the soon-to-be accomplished record as the top-grossing franchise in movie history. The films have grossed $2.177bn in the US in comparison to Star Wars’ $2.218bn, though it should be added that the boy wizard had an additional two movies to outgross George Lucas’ efforts.
“Everybody expected this movie to be big because the tracking was so huge,” said Dan Fellman, distribution chief for Warner Bros., “But nobody could project just how big big was until we got there. Once those midnight numbers came in, all bets were off.”
If you’re still undecided on whether or not you should seek out the series’ epic conclusion, have a read of the JOE review for Deathly Hallows: Part 2 here.
