Harry Potter finale makes history, sets four new records

A swan song of the blockbuster Harry Potter series eclipsed a previous trailblazer of the Hollywood tentpoles by grabbing a heart-stopping $ 168.55 million over the weekend, as well as creating three other firsts as the highly popular franchise bows out of celluloid incarnation for good.

A swan song of the blockbuster Harry Potter series eclipsed a previous trailblazer of the Hollywood tentpoles by grabbing a heart-stopping $168.55 million over the weekend, as well as creating three other firsts as the highly popular franchise bows out of celluloid incarnation for good, Xinhua reports.

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According to estimated statistics released by Warner Bros., which distributes Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, the final and 8th installment on the boy wizard franchise opened as No. 1 in North America box office on Friday, grossing $91.2 million from 4,375 venues in the US and Canada.

It broke the milestone for all-time highest single-day gross which was held by The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which garnered $72.7 million when it opened on Friday, November 20, 2009.

On Saturday, it continued with the foray at box office derby, finishing the business with $42.85 million. All told, the finale of the series has also managed to become No. 1 in three other areas: largest midnight gross ($43.5 million), largest opening weekend -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1, hit the screens last November, previously held that record with $125 million in ticket sales upon its debut, and largest IMAX opening ($15.5 million from 274 theaters).

Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Paramount Pictures' third Transformer installment, continued its money-making business, and is estimated to take in $21.25 million, finishing as No. 2 at the box office. It has garnered a cumulative sales totalling $302.8 million over three weeks.

Horrible Bosses, a New Line/Warner Bros. dark/black comedy which features Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman and Colin Farrell, successfully held up at the box office derby. It is estimated to make $17.63 million as No. 3 most popular films of the weekend. It has reaped $60 million in two weeks.

Rounding out the top five most popular films in North America are:

Zookeeper, $12.3 million this weekend, and $42.35 million in two weeks; Cars 2, $8.3 million this week which is on track to garner $165 million in four weeks.

In the shadow of the Harry Potter juggernaut, Disney Animation Studios' Winnie the Pooh was the weekend's only release which was off to a solid start, grossing $2.9 million on Friday and grabbed $8 million in movie ticket sales from 2,405 locations during Friday-Sunday timeframe.

The fifth theatrical film released and the second from the Walt Disney Animation Studios, the animated family film, which was inspired by three A A Milne stories, looks like it's succeeding in luring tots too young for the PG-13 Potter. It received an A-CinemaScore, with those under 18 giving it an A+.