Deathly Hallows Pt 2 Sets US B-O Record

JULY 18, 2011 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 soared into the record books with the highest-grossing opening weekend ever in US cinema. The series finale drew an estimated US$168.55 million on around 11,000 screens at 4,375 locations, dethroning The Dark Knight's US$158.4 million.

Deathly Hallows Part 2's first weekend flew past the previous franchise high of US$125 million, posted by Deathly Hallows Part 1 last November, and it topped the franchise in terms of estimated attendance as well. While its opening gross also out-distanced The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 3 (US$151.1 million), The Twilight Saga: New Moon (US$142.8 million), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (US$135.6 million) and the first Spider-Man (US$114.8 million), Deathly Hallows Part 2's estimated opening attendance was less than those titles, ranking sixth overall.

Internationally, the finale flick captured US$307 million in 59 countries since it opened last week, another record. That includes weekend sales plus Wednesday and Thursday for some markets, making a global total of about US$475 million!

Deathly Hallows Part 2 marked Harry Potter's first foray into 3D, and it made a splash with the broadest 3D launch ever (3,100-plus locations, including 274 in IMAX in the US).

Here are the Top 5 North American B-O studio estimates for July 15-17, 2011 weekend, in terms of rank, (previous week ranking), Movie name (studio), Weekend takings in USD, (Cumulative gross, USD) and week on chart, courtesy of Boxofficemojo. (US$1=RM3)

1. (-) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (Warner Bros) $168.6 million ($168.6 million) 1

2. (1) Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Paramount) $21.3 million ($302.8 million) 3

3. (2) Horrible Bosses (Warner Bros) $17.6 million ($60.0 million) 2

4. (3) Zookeeper (Sony) $12.3 million ($42.4 million) 2

5. (4) Cars 2 (Buena Vista) $8.3 million ($165.3 million) 4