Harry Potter may have made his final bow on the silver screen, but he’s raked in a ton of dough with Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
The film hit a billion dollars in record time and even knocked over Transformers 3 – which just weeks ago was the biggest movie of the year.
Still, Transformers 3 is now the biggest moneymaker in the series, as it generated a cool $900 million world-wide in less than a month and remains on track to hit a billion soon, but obviously, Harry got there first. (The site BoxOfficeMojo also ran a funny mock poster of Harry and Optimus Prime staring each other down.)
The Harry Potter series has been a major cash cow for Warner Brothers, with all the films making $7 billion worldwide.
As the Hollywood Reporter notes, the last Harry Potter is the 9th film to cross the billion mark, along with The Dark Knight and Alice In Wonderland. Avatar is the only film that’s gone over $2 billion world-wide so far, and Harry Potter tied its record for hitting a billion in 19 days.
Although the film definitely took a tumble its second weekend, as most films do, a big blockbuster like this usually makes most of its money on opening weekend.
As Phil Contrino of BoxOffice.com told Joel Ryan, “Even a huge franchise like this has a ceiling, and the base hasn’t expanded much. [Deathly Hallows: Part 2] doesn’t have a shot at Avatar’s record.”
Still, who wouldn’t love to make even a fraction of Harry’s box office magic? Clearly, the money will keep on rolling in with DVD sales and the Harry Potter theme park.
“At the same time, it’s bittersweet,” Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Brothers told the New York Times.
“It’s also the end of a great franchise, and we’ve watched these talented kids grow up.”
