The wizard boy Harry Potter has done some magical record breaking mojo by soaring the last chapter of the movie into record books with the highest-grossing opening weekend ever. The final chapter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 scored an estimated $168.55 million from 11,000 screens at 4,375 locations. The amount was enough to dethrone The Dark Knight's $158.4 million. Read on more about the weekend's box office details.
Deathly Hallows Part 2's first weekend flew past the previous franchise height of $125 million of Deathly Hallows Part 1 last November. However, once can come into a proper conclusion that the box office surge was helped by extra 3D surcharge and little advancement in the attendance compared to the previous one. Dubbed as "It Ends All" phenomenon for the franchise, it was expected that fans and those on the fence will come up to see the wizard movie for the last time - and it is definitely going to be front-loaded. The proof was that it's opening day gross was at a record shattering $92.1 million (including $43.5 million on midnight launch) to settle for the biggest opening day ever in the history (previously held by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse).
As expected, the front-loaded effect seems in effect on the second day. Its Saturday's gross dipped by more than 53% to an estimated $42.85 million, while the studio projected the Sunday's gross to drop by another 22% to $33.6 million. The three day's tally of $168.55 million was a record, but was less attended than The Dark Knight ($158.4 million), Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million), The Twilight Saga: New Moon ($142.8 million), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($135.6 million) and Spider-Man ($114.8 million).
Deathly Hallows Part 2 was indeed helped by the splashing 3D - been the largest 3D launch ever at 3,100 locations including 274 IMAX theaters. The 3D gross contributed about 43% of the total gross, lower than Transformers: Dark of the Moon's 60%. According to Warner Bros., 54 percent of Deathly Hallows Part 2's audience was female, compared to 57 percent for the last movie, and 45 percent was under 25 years old, compared to 56 percent for the last movie.
The weekend's other newcomer was Walt Disney's traditional 2D animation. Winnie the Pooh, which itself based on the popular bear character started the grossing weekend with a disappointing $8 million at 2,405 locations for sixth place. Distributor Walt Disney Pictures' exit polling indicated that 85 percent of the audience was parents and their children, and 62 percent was female. In terms of age, 38 percent was kids age 11 years old and younger, while 53 percent was 18 and older. Meanwhile, Midnight in Paris surpassed Hannah and Her Sisters to become Woody Allen's highest-grossing movie ever, though it ranked as Allen's seventh in terms of estimated attendance and won't go higher. Midnight reached $41.8 million in 59 days.
The rest of the week's box office looks like this and is based on studio's estimated data:
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross ($) | Change (%) | Total Gross ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 | 168,550,000 | NEW | 168,550,000 |
| 2 | TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON | 21,250,000 | -54.9 | 302,800,000 |
| 3 | HORRIBLE BOSSES | 17,680,000 | -37.7 | 60,002,000 |
| 4 | ZOOKEEPER | 12,300,000 | -38.7 | 42,352,000 |
| 5 | CARS 2 | 8,344,000 | -45.1 | 165,326,000 |
| 6 | WINNIE THE POOH | 8,000,000 | NEW | 8,000,000 |
| 7 | BAD TEACHER | 5,200,000 | -41.7 | 88,505,000 |
| 8 | LARRY CROWNE | 2,573,000 | -56.7 | 31,628,000 |
| 9 | SUPER 8 | 1,925,000 | -60.2 | 122,242,000 |
| 10 | MIDNIGHT IN PARIS | 1,891,000 | -28.2 | 41,793,000 |
| 11 | BRIDESMAIDS | 1,683,000 | -36.0 | 161,290,000 |
| 12 | MR POPPER'S PENGUINS | 1,350,000 | -57.2 | 61,455,000 |
