'Harry Potter 7' has best opening weekend in series
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"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1," the seventh installment on Hogwarts, is assured of having the biggest opening weekend for the franchise, garnering a magical 61.2 million dollars in movie ticket receipts on Friday.
"Death Hallows" has surpassed 2005's "Goblet of Fire" Friday showing of 102.7 million dollars, the franchise's previous high, and is likely to also surpass "Goblet's" opening weekend take of 102.3 million dollars. Among the 61.2 million dollars haul, 24 million dollars come from midnight showings after the clocks struck 12 Thursday night.
The film, which is based on the first part of J.K. Rowling's seventh and final "Harry Potter" novel, ranked No.5 on Friday-only debut movie gross record in Hollywood history. The other four top earners are: "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" (72.7 million dollars), "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" (68.5 million dollars), "The Dark Knight" (67.2 million dollars ) and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (62 million dollars).
The finale, "Deathly Hallows: Part 2," is due out in July.
"With a single-day gross that many films would be hard-pressed to earn in a single weekend, 'Harry Potter' continues to weave his spell over an adoring fan base," industry analyst Paul Dergarabedian said.
