Harry Potter's Weekend Take: $330 Million
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1," cast a spell in more than 50 countries and collected $330 million in global ticket sales.
The tally includes a best-ever U.S. and Canadian debut of $125.1 million in this latest adventure of the teenage sorcerer and his friends at Hogwarts school. Six previous "Potter" films collected $5.4 billion globally for the Warner Bros studio.
In the United States and Canada, last week's champ, comedy "Megamind," came in a distant second with $16.2 million, just ahead of runaway train flick "Unstoppable" with $13.1 million. But given the popularity of the "Potter" movies, the other movies had not been expected to be much competition for No. 1.
The $125.1 million for "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" beat the previous best weekend debut for a "Potter" film in the United States and Canada, which was $102.7 million for "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" in November 2005.
The movie, which is based on the final installment of the series of best-selling books by author J.K. Rowling, collected more than $30,000 per theater in just over 4,100 U.S. and Canadian venues. By contrast, "Megamind" took in $4,300 per location in nearly 3,800 theaters.
The movie played in some 54 overseas countries with highlights being 17.5 million pounds ($28 million) in the United Kingdom and A$15 million ($14 million) in Australia.