Image Credit: Jaap Buitendijk
Sorry, Twihards. In one fell magical-broomstick swoop, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 shattered the records for best midnight debut and largest opening day, both of which were previously held by Twilight films.
According to early estimates, Potter grossed a staggering $92.1 million on Friday, crushing The Twilight Saga: New Moon‘s record of $72.7 million. And midnight screenings accounted for $43.5 million of Potter‘s opening day, surpassing The Twilight Saga: Eclipse‘s $30 million midnight tally. To convey how enormous Potter‘s opening day was, consider this: The film collected more money in a single day than the first Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, made its entire first weekend ($90.3 million).
It’s now certain that Potter will also capture the opening weekend record, currently held by The Dark Knight with $158.4 million. But by how much? If Deathly Hallows — Part 2 follows the trajectory of Deathly Hallows — Part 1, dropping 38 percent on Saturday and 34 percent on Sunday, it’ll finish the weekend with $187 million. Part 2 could be more front-loaded than Part 1, but at this point, I dare not underestimate this teenage wizard. Count on an opening weekend of at least $180 million.
Potter‘s only blemish whatsoever was its 3-D performance. Only 43 percent of its opening-day figure came from 3-D showings, compared to 60 percent for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Still, 43 percent of a gigantic number is still a very large number. And overseas, Potter has been flat-out enchanting, having earned $157.5 million so far. That brings the PG-13 film’s global haul to $249.6 million. It’s now on pace to score the biggest worldwide debut of all time, which currently belongs to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince with $394 million.
Making 3 percent of Potter‘s opening day was Disney’s Winnie the Pooh, which debuted to $2.9 million on Friday. Despite being dwarfed by Potter, this is a respectable start for the honey-addicted bear. The G-rated movie should finish the weekend with about $9 million. As for holdovers, Transformers: Dark of the Moon finished second, dropping 57 percent for $6.3 million. By Sunday, Michael Bay’s action extravaganza should reach $300 million domestically. In third was the R-rated comedy Horrible Bosses, which slipped 45 percent for $5.5 million. And Zookeeper occupied fourth place, earning $3.9 million — a 47-percent decline.
Also, on Friday, Midnight in Paris became Woody Allen’s top-grossing film with $40.4 million, passing his 1986 movie Hannah and Her Sisters. Check back here on Sunday for the complete box office report.
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 — $92.1 mil
2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon — $6.3 mil
3. Horrible Bosses — $5.5 mil
4. Zookeeper — $3.9 mil
5. Winnie the Pooh — $2.9 mil
Box office preview: Harry Potter aims its wand at Twilight and The Dark Knight
Wow…. Harry demolished the box office. Perhaps with the stellar reviews it will have better legs than the previous HP movies?
America loves crap
The last movie of the potter films is anything but crap, Alan Rickman is stellar
LOL just leave…you’re so annoying and one-note.
The World hates LOL.
I’m only one note because the American people are one note. The summer started off great with Fast Five, America finally embraced a quality film. Since then, it has been nothing but crap, sorry to say. When America gets it right, like with Fast Five, I let them know. When they get it wrong, like with every other movie this summer, I let them know. I call them as they are, I am a truth teller.
LOL is crap.
America got it wrong with Fast Five. LOL, you are a moron, indeed.
BTW, anything Twilight, books/movies is a major fail.
Your comment makes no sense at all, since the movie is doing really well overseas. Perhaps you like to eat crap, cuz you’re full of it.
I expect better from my fellow Americans.
You do realize LOL that even though this is an American produced film, almost all of the cast and crew are British… so are you also saying the UK loves crap? Everyone knows LOL probably got kicked out of Film School because he sucks on crap all day.
Harry Potter is anything but crap. But more to the point, really really poor statement because, like, it’s almost completely British from author to cast and crew.
sorry guys i have to go suck on a big shaft. see ya!
You know what is really LOL? All the dumb posters that think that “LOL” is somehow serious.
LOL, did you just say Fast Five was a good movie? America got it right? Yes, I actually feel sorry for you.
Winner, the UK is the land that gave the world The Benny Hill Show, I will let that speak for itself. Regardless, I am not concerned with other countries, I am here to give my fellow Americans the tough love they so clearly need. Fast Five may well be the best film of the last 50 years. It’s certainly the best film of this century, that’s not even arguable. Fast Five is like a master’s class in filmmaking, poetry in motion. It was a proud day for my people when Americans spoke as one and made such a beautiful and thought provoking film number one. Alas, they have let me down ever since, but I still have hope.
Actually I saw HP7 last night in 3D on IMAX, and as much as it pains me to say it—the film has a lot of flaws, especially compared to Part 1. The 3D conversion is really sloppy, and parts of the film are hard to watch because people—especially faces—are distorted. You’ll know what I mean if you see the movie in 3D—at times Harry’s eyes look like they are about a foot deep into his head. And other times, his face appears to be sticking out closer to the camera then the rest of his body, and he’s leaning back on a bed. Other problems—the battle scenes have a lot of energy, but are very one-note. Meaning, same spells, same presentation again and again. Once of the coolest things about OOP was the different spells Voldemort and Dumbledore threw at each other. You don’t see that here. The highly anticipated duel between Molly and Bellatrix is a letdown. Hagrid is hardly in the film at all. Lots of extras running around and screaming and not doing much. I kept thinking throughout the show that it almost seemed like a Chris Columbus movie rather than David Yates. Okay, now the plus side—the acting is stellar and the effects are superb. There’s a LOT of battle sequences. A real sense of “wow, here we go” when the battle against Voldemort takes off. The Gringott’s sequence is really cool—just not long enough. The ending is well done and poignant, and they all look convincingly older. The big Snape scene is the highlight of the movie. I hope there’s a director’s cut that adds back in some deleted scenes, hopefully with Hagrid, and some backstory, particularly with the Snape/Lily/Petunia triangle. Overall I give the film a pass, but it’s not the strongest effort of the seven, and needs to be viewed with the first part of the finale, rather than on its own. Oh, and LOL sucks. And so does Fast Five.
“Fast Five may well be the best film of the last 50 years. It’s certainly the best film of this century, that’s not even arguable. Fast Five is like a master’s class in filmmaking, poetry in motion.” This truly made me laugh out loud. And it’s my birthday. Thank you.
Did anybody else think that the grownup make-up of the main characters was puke-inducing? Really WB? Couldn’t you have spent a few extra bucks out of those billions for more realistic make-up?
So basically transformers just got blown completely out of the water, in pre-sales on only the Harry Potter (midnight) showings? Niiccee.
Can someone please ban this clown?For information sake harry potter is not crap,even the hard nosed critics who did not like part 1 gave it universal approval.Okay.So shut up.If we go by ur saying then fast five will be the only movie which we should see
I love LOL. I am American. Americans love crap. LOL is crap.
fast five was high octane CRAP. Nothing more, entertaining mindless fun, yes, spectacular crapfest extravaganza!! You love it b*tch, you love yourself for loving it, shove it in your mouth, choke on it.
Just to put it out there, Fast Five has not been the best film in 50 years! Not even the best film this year and not even the best film in April, source code was much better than fast five. So how about not america loves crap but LOL loves crap!
Saw it. Loved it. Think I’ll see it again!!
There’s one thing to consider when writing about how Harry Potter has shattered Twilight’s records. Twilight has two more chances to best this phenomenal efforts. So all this talk about Twi-hards sucking it… Well there are two chances that Potter fans will be sucking it with no way of claiming the top spot. (BTW I’ve never seen any Twilight film, so I’m not defending the film, but pointing out the economic opportunities.)
If your life is tied to how a franchise does at the box office, you need professional help.
Yer but Potter has a much bigger appeal than twilight and i dont think it will come close to this films record. Plus Potter is going to do much better overseas and in DVD sales than twighlight. Potter is likely to make loads not only this weekend but next week and the following week.
Silly old bear, what made you think you could take on the Potter hype machinery.
Stunning kids, just stunning. It should also grab overseas opening and worldwide opening records, too.
I saw it again earlier this morning and it was still selling out shows for this afternoon and tonight. Expect a lot of repeat viewings and a HUGE opening-weekend number.
I expected it to have a monster first day, but holy sh*t.
Suck it, Twitards!!!!
I know right. I just saw it again today. It’s even better the second time. The Prince’s Tale is absolutely brilliant!
Damn, that’s almost half of what it makes in total US gross, that in one day, its been real Dark Knight.
Half? More like a little less than a third.
That’s what I meant, all I know that it holds the record for opening day and not that teen soap twilight.
You know what? I’m actually GLAD that not that much of its money is coming from 3D. That means that it’s making an insane amount of money on its own merits, and it means that haters (*cough* bitter Twihards *cough*) can’t use the “it’s doing so well because it’s in 3D” excuse.
I whole-heartedly agree!
Exactly. It should be no surpise that tripe like Transformers had such a higher 3D take. Those movies are about nothing but explosions and special effects. Potter fans are much more drawn by the story and the characters both of which Transformers lack.
That’s exactly what I was thinking!
True, true. If I read BoxOfficeMojo’s article correctly, HP8 has the highest opening day in terms of attendance as well.
Not only that, but unlike, say, Transformers, where there IS no plot to follow, viewers are actually more interested in the plot than in just the action.
Yes, it actually surpassed “New Moon” in amount of tickets sold, not just dollar amount.
i hope *cough* bitter people like u*cough won’t find some crappy excuse for when breaking dawn beats HP newest record like it has done every other yr! LOL
seriously i had no idea how much twilight affects people even when its not even in theatre! lol
the stupidity it encourages affects people. You would be a very good example. If you think offscreen vampire sex is going to blow this movie away you are just naive and need a life.
daisy thank you for your opinion , do i know you from somewhere? if you were a fan of a film that constantly gets bashed here , and whose fans get insulted 24/7 like you just did to me, wouldnt you crack at some point reading all those hurtful things so what i retaliate by saying something i knew would rile you(in general)up!!! because deep down that’s a fear you have! and its not like i’ll ever say anything bad about potter itself because i love the books and films are ok , i saw DH2 last night along with millions of other people to make this OD gross happen, and i will do the same when BD comes out!
Even if Breaking Dawn makes more money (I personally doubt it) it will never be as good of a movie as any of the Harry Potter films. The story is just weaker, the characters blander, and the “world” created by the books are just not as interesting. I know many “twihards” that did not like Breaking Dawn; while most Harry Potter fans were completely satisfied with The Deathly Hallows.
All I can say in response, and I’ve read and seen the Twilight series, is: Quality over quantity. I enjoyed the books – I can’t say the same for the movies, I’m sorry – but HP is just on a whole other level, on the page and on screen.
sabrina w, no i woudl not crack. If what people i did not know had that much of an effect on me i would probably need counseling, and possibly medication. If hearing epople smack talk twilight is that upsetting for you you may want to stay off the internet fragile flower. People hack on stuff i like all the time and here I stand tear free and able to deal just fine.
you are just bitter so because of that you told Summit Entertainment to copy HP with your damn part 1 and 2. breaking dawn isnt even a book! Go dream of starry eyed vampires and go take your hate somewhere else.
I am a die hard Twi fan, but I also love Harry Potter, I really don’t know where the HP and Twi hate come from??? they are completely two different books and movies….I am grateful to Twilight because it introduced me to Robert Pattinson, which ultimately introduced me to the Goblet of Fire, which then I had to go back and watch all of the other Harry Potter movies….I loved going to the midnight show for Harry Potter last year and just a couple of days ago….
OMG are u for real?!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you’re like a rare breath of fresh air on this board! OMG a twilight and potter fan!
hi I AM TOO! today was just too much! i’m so sick of the constant bashing of twilight by some harry potter fans, sometimes i even wonder if they are truly potter fans! i broke down and made some not so nice comments just now, but i’ll stop because i now know i’m not alone! and its OK to be a twilight fan and a potter fan!
i’ll admit i’m foremost a twilight fan , i casually watched every potter in theatre but then recently in january both potter books so i could truly see if i’d enjoy the last movie and let’s just say i read all 7 books in 3 weeks the rest is history! i won’t shy away from the truth , i do’nt have to choose between the two! i think they’re both great books and films!
sorry about typo, i meant to say i bought the potter series in a really beautiful boxseet by the way from amazon! i devoured them just like i did twilight series albeit not for same reason, but what matters is when a story captures your imagination to the point where you just have to turn the next page and the next and …
The whole Harry Potter Vs. Twilight battle actually started with Twilight fans and supporters when they started saying that “Twilight is the new Harry Potter,” and comparing Twilight to Harry Potter. Part of the reason (well, maybe most) was because of how quickly Twilight gained recognition and “fame” across teenagers. But nevertheless, the way I see it, Twilight was just a phase- it will NEVER last like Harry Potter did, and will never have such an effect on any generation (and any affect it does have, can’t be to positive.)
I’ll admit, I was a fan myself- for about half a year. It was a phase I went through. The books aren’t too bad (movies are horrible though), but to compare them to Harry Potter is like comparing Elvis Presley to Justin Bieber.
Exactly, Hannah!
Seriously though, do HP fans really think that Twihards hate HP? I for one am just a normal movie goer when it comes to HP movies. I don’t hate them and I don’t know any Twihards who does either.
usually HP fans hate twitards, not the other way around. See, once you have been exposed to really good writing you cannot go back and read Twilight and think its anything but a joke. SM writes like a 13 year old girl. The way she glamorizes stalking and emotionally abusive relationships is disgusting, and her insistence in making her “heroine” a pathetically shallow and sick girl who is alwos obviously supposed to be her… well it is difficult to say “oh yeah they are both great” when we all know only on of these two series is actually written well.
Thats exactly my point. The twilight crowd just wants to be allowed to enjoy their books and movies in peace. They don’t go around bashing HP fans or the Transformers fans. They’d be the first to admit that the books or movies are not classical masterpieces. But then, they weren’t supposed to be. FYI Harry Potter books have a substantial number of literary critics too. Lets not go into the ‘she’s too shallow and submissive and he’s like a stalker and dominating etc, because Hermione has her detractors who argue that she is a throwback as far as feminism is concerned and the way Dumbledore is hiding his sexuality is a slap in the face to Gay and lesbian rights. You see where this leads to. Anything written can be argued against. You don’t read it if you don’t like it. Why the relentless hatred? It’s all a matter of subjective opinion anyway. Let others enjoy whatever floats their boat.
Okay, no- Twilight fans DO NOT tend to admit that they’re not classical masterpieces. The thing is, most Twilight fans do not admit ANY books are masterpieces (MOST, as in, NOT everyone)- from what I’ve seen, they go around bashing almost all other books people actually do enjoy. Many Twi-hard fans I know of are people who have never read a decent book, picked up Twilight, and went “OMG This is AWESOME.” Like I mentioned above, the Twi-hards started the HP Vs. Twilight thing by claiming that Twilight was the new Harry Potter. If that never happened, these arguments would never exist, because it’s clear which series is superior in terms of literature.
I don’t mind people who like Twilight. I really don’t. My cousin likes it. I have friends who like it. I used to like it myself. I just don’t like them comparing them to Harry Potter when the majority of them haven’t even read the series. Okay, not even Harry Potter. Other series as well- LOTR, Star Wars (yes, movies too), etc.
I’ve seen it twice in 2D, but I’m really excited to see it in 3D now.
Wow! America love quality! Who knew?
Come on Pooh bear, you can pick up a bit more…
poor silly old bear. he’ll pick up pace soon enough.
WOW!
Hooray!
The Chosen One!
I get the comparison between Potter and craplight because both come from popular books.. But film wise, it’s no contest, one it’s an actual film and the other one is just an extended 2 and a half hour GAP commercial catering to lonely, unattractive teens who don’t know any better, and sad, old candle collecting, cat owner hags..
I believe Twishame was written and produced for lonely women who are insecure and identify themselves with Meyer.
Lonely all women and tweeners and teens that have no self respect or find stalkers sexy.
Jeez, there’s no need to be rude. Twlight is crap but there’s no need to be disrespectful of the people who like it. You don’t like it, don’t read it/don’t go see it. But this vicious name calling is just mean. And it really doesn’t make your support of the Potter movies/books look good, you just bring your own cause down.
nicely said AB
you’re preaching to deaf people who are wrapped up in their self-righteousness becoz obviously only their side of the pond looks greener! pfff
It just stuns me how many women are obsessed with a series that is setting feminism back like 50 years. Doesn’t make sense to me at all.
JC the books setting feminism back 50yrs really ,you truly believe that?!
so tell what excuse do men have for not rectifying that situation? maybe they find it convenient to have women under their thumb? why do they beat on women, why do they kill, rape brutalize women? do women in some countries have access to twilight books that it influenced them to let a man use them ? what exactly are men doing to give women their rightful and equal place in society? why are women being sexually harassed at work? why are women afraid to go out at night and walk alone when its ok for guys to do the exact same thing? stephenie meyer caused that? now come on you can’t possibly believe twilight is responsible for all that? that’s an irresponsible and inaccurate statement!
when fathers beat their wives in front of their kids and both gender grow up thinking its normal and reproduce that example, twilight is also to blame! and naturally men are as innocent as a baby?! really!!!!! ok i’m off this is too stupid even for me!
That time of the month for you huh?
Calm down Sabrina… I think JC was referring to the fact that women are obsessed with a book that is about a girl who is completely dependent on a man. I seriously doubt he was accusing Stephanie Meyer’s book of increasing domestic violence rates.
@ @Sabrina W
Your comment just set feminism back…well like a week. But it was still rude. Anyways, I hate this Twilight vs. HP vs. Hunger Games debate. People are allowed to like whichever ones they want to. EVERYONE (esp. on the EW boards) needs to calm down.
I love how the Harry Potter fans are bashing Twilight fans because of the latter’s grammar, yet many Harry Potter fans are no better with it. Give me a break.
Go choke on a bowl of d ic ks while enjoying twilight
Really? @m1? That is beyond childish. I don’t even know why I’m bothering.
Sabrina, I’m a guy, and I don’t feel safe walking around at night anymore. Get used to it ladies.
Yeah, let’s do a Hitler and send all those unattractive teen girls and the sad old women to concentration camps, because seriously, they don’t deserve to have any fun, right? Get over yourselves haters.
Potter fans are crazy cool ;-D
Truth
Word. When we say it Friday night, our theatre had the coolest audience! People were clapping, crying, cheering, it was the most incredible thing.
same!!
I went to go see this 9:45 this morning to avoid crowds. The theater was almost full.
I did the same thing, only 10:35. The theater was sold out.
I went at 1:45 pm and there was a HUGE line with people waiting to get tickets! Also, i think it will have definite legs, due to the sheer amount of people who enjoyed and will see it again. When (SPOILER ALERT!) Neville slayed the snake towards the end everyone in the theater clapped and cheered. I cant think of the last time that happened!
Our theatre was very active too! We had a couple of people who shouted their displeasure that they had rewritten Harry’s line “I am about to die” to “I am ready to die.” I have to say I agreed with them. The rewrite made it sound like he was resigned to his death, in the books he, to me, seemed like he wasn’t ready, like he wanted to run, but knew that he had to face death. It just irked me.
That happened in my theater too, dipshat. People also cheered when *SPOILER* Molly killed Bellatrix.
We went to a 6:05 PM showing thinking it would be dinner time for families and too early for date night. We showed up at 5:20 and the ticket woman told us they had two seats left in the 5:15 show. We jumped at that and were in a full theatre. On our way out after there was a huge line outside of all three screens that were playing HP.
As we speak, Twilight fans are planning to buy 5 or 6 tickets for the next Twilight movie to top it.
They should save their money – with the flaundering US economy…
I doubt it will work. One thing I notice at HP midnight premieres is that there are always kids, teens, college students, parents, grandparents, all races, and men and women. There’s just a broader fanbase for Potter.
Plus, judging by that twilight trailer they showed in front of Potter, I don’t see a lot of men jumping at the chance to see them get married, f*ck, and have a baby.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…I couldn’t stop laughing after I read your comment. That is so TRUE!!!
While I have read both series and watched both sets of films (will be there opening weekend of Breaking Dawn), I am under no delusions of which is the superior story, and which has the wider ranging appeal. 
People really do need to calm down though. It’s ridiculous the way both sides are behaving. As for Twilight setting feminism back – yes, it does to a certain extent but not entirely. I think DISNEY PRINCESSES (with the exception of Mulan and a couple of others) do more damage to the feminist cause than Twilight. OH and don’t worry. HP will rule because he is after all the boy who lived! 
Hey you know what the best part is these came from the WB which owns DC comics so if you think about it these movie is kicking all of Mavrel Comic Book Movies asses
Seriously? You clearly don’t think about things very often.
Only an idiot would think of it that way. Potter has nothing to do with DC comics
It’s also making more in one day than the WB/DC movie Green Lantern has made total so far, so what does that do to your bizarre argument pitting HP against Marvel movies?