This weekend it was no suprirse that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was going to lead the boxoffice, but it also edged out The Dark Knight’s ($158m) securing the top spot in the All Time Opening Weekends by $10million.
Boxoffice Mojo has the numbers:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – $168,550,000 – Opening
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – $21,250,000 – 3wks
Horrible Bosses – $17,630,000 – 2wks
Zookeeper – $12,300,000 – 2wks
Cars 2 – $8,344,000 – 4wks
Not only did Harry Potter set new records, but it did so without the benefit of a Wednesday Opening giving it no running start at the weekend. Theaters around my parts were ADDING screenings and selling out those spots too. I had friends who couldn’t get tickets to the midnight opening, so they went to the 3am screening instead.
But lets look at what people saw who DIDN’T want to see Harry Potter, or coudln’t get in. Seems Transformers 3 is still holding on strong sitting pretty in its second place spot in its third week.
But Disney either picked the WORST weekend to bring out its first Winnie the Pooh feature film in over two decades, or they over estimated its ability to pull on the heartstrings of nostalgia. A sad $8million in its opening weekend does not fare well for the little bear all stuffed with fluff.
So if you went to see Harry Potter this weekend, what screening did you manage to catch? Midnight? Middle of the night? Matinee?
And if you didn’t see Potter, what did you catch this weekend?