Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two set records at the box office this weekend, destroying any films that were in its path. The record-breaking film was a fitting conclusion to a series that has maintained its high quality throughout its run. The other new release of the weekend –Winnie the Pooh – did not make an impact at the box office and finished just outside the top five, but that was not really much of a surprise. This was my first solid weekend of predictions in quite awhile, as I predicted all five films in the top five and correctly placed them in the correct finish. My predictions were pretty close to the actual grosses as well, so I was pleased with myself (for once). Here’s how the weekend broke down:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two debuted in 1st place with a gross of $168.5 million (I predicted a 1st place finish and a gross of $154 million). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two had a per theatre average of $38,526, which was far and away the highest per theatre average of any film in release. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two set quite a few records this weekend. They are as follows:
Highest opening weekend in the franchise:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – $90.2 million opening weekend
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – $88.3 million opening weekend
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – $93.6 million opening weekend
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – $102.6 million opening weekend
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – $77.1 million opening weekend
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – $77.8 million opening weekend
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – $88.3 million opening weekend
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – $93.6 million opening weekend
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – $102.6 million opening weekend
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – $77.1 million opening weekend
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – $77.8 million opening weekend
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One – $125 million opening weekend
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two – $168.5 million opening weekend
Highest opening weekend of all time:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two – $168.5 million opening weekend
The Dark Knight – $158.4 million opening weekend
Spider-Man 3 – $151.1 million opening weekend
Highest opening weekend in the month of July:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two – $168.5 million opening weekend
The Dark Knight – $158.4 million opening weekend
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – $135.6 million opening weekend
Highest single day and opening day gross:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two – $168.5 million opening weekend
The Twilight Saga: New Moon – $72.7 million opening weekend
The Twilight Saga: New Moon – $68.5 million opening weekend
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two was a juggernaut this weekend, pure and simple. Audiences wanted to see the final chapter of the popular series, and they came out in full force to see it. The 3-D factor definitely helped the film, as I don’t know if it would have broken all those records without it, but that is just armchair quarterbacking on my part. The new goal is for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two to become the highest grossing installment in the franchise, and it will have some work to do if it wants to catch Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone gross of $317.5 million. Congratulations to all who were involved in this franchise. It is definitely an achievement on what you have done, and I know the people at Warner Bros. would agree with me on that.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon dropped from 1st place to 2nd place with a gross of $21.2 million (I predicted a 2nd place finish and a gross of $21.2 million as well). Transformers: Dark of the Moon had a per theatre average of $5,425 and was down 54.9% from last weekend’s gross. The fact that Transformers: Dark of the Moon had a drop below 60% is amazing to me becauseTransformers: Dark of the Moon was the film most likely to suffer with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two this weekend. I give the film credit for holding up as well as it did. An interesting storyline in the coming weeks will be which film ends up with the higher box office gross at the end of its run: Transformers: Dark of the Moon or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two. After three weeks of release, Transformers: Dark of the Moon has grossed $302.8 million against a budget of $195 million. DreamWorks//Paramount has to be pleased with the gross.
Horrible Bosses dropped from 2nd place to 3rd place with a gross of $17.6 million (I predicted a 3rd place finish and a gross of $19.5 million). Horrible Bosses had a per theatre average of $5,625 and was down 37.7% from last weekend. The “R” rated comedy benefitted from last weekend’s excellent word-of-mouth and strong critical reviews. This truly has been the summer of the “R” rated comedy as The Hangover Part II, Bridesmaids, Bad Teacher and Horrible Bosses have been hits at the box office. After ten days,Horrible Bosses has grossed $60 million for Warner Bros. against a budget of $35 million.
Zookeeper dropped from 3rd place to 4th place with a gross of $12.3 million (I predicted a 4th place finish and a gross of $9.4 million). Zookeeper had a per theatre average of $3,532 and was down 38.7% from its opening weekend gross. The hold is surprisingly strong as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two was a film that I thought would definitely impact Zookeeper’s audience of young males, but it didn’t turn out that way. Still, the per theatre average is very low for a film in only its second weekend, so the long term prospects for Zookeeper are not strong. After ten days, Zookeeper has grossed $42.3 million against a budget of $80 million for Sony Pictures.
Cars 2 dropped from 4th place to 5th place with a gross of $8.3 million (I predicted a 5th place finish and a gross of $8 million). Cars 2had a per theatre average of $2,568 and dropped 45.1% from last weekend’s gross. The film definitely got hurt by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two opening this weekend as the family audience went to see that film instead of Cars 2. There is a chance that Cars 2 does not gross $200 million, which would be a major surprise and disappointment for Disney//Pixar. After four weeks of release, Cars 2 has grossed $165.3 million against a budget of $200 million
Winnie the Pooh debuted in 6th place with a gross of $8 million (I predicted a 6th place finish and a gross of $7.5 million). Winnie the Pooh had a per theatre average of $3,326. The film was released as counter-programming against Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two as it was going after families that had children that were too young to see wizards fighting. The opening weekend is respectable for a film that didn’t get a big theatre count on its release. The film might hold up in the coming weeks, although I think thatWinnie the Pooh will make most of its money when it gets released on DVD. The film cost $30 million to make so it will not be a big money maker or a big financial loser in theatres for Walt Disney Pictures.
A few films in limited release have released their grosses for the weekend, but none were major hits:
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan had a gross of $136,000 from 24 theatres, giving the film a per theatre average of $5,667.
Tabloid had a gross of $101,000 from 14 theatres, giving the film a per theatre average of $7,214.
Life, Above All had a gross of $14,300 from 5 theatres, giving the film a per theatre average of $2,860.
So to recap, here were my predictions:
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two – $154 million
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon – $21.2 million
- Horrible Bosses – $19.5 million
- Zookeeper – $9.4 million
- Cars 2 – $8.4 million
And here are the actual numbers:
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two – $168.5 million
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon – $21.2 million
- Horrible Bosses – $17.6 million
- Zookeeper – $12.3 million
- Cars 2 – $8.3 million
Next weekend, two new films come out with the extremely difficult task of trying to dethrone Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two from the top spot. The two films are the Justin Timberlake//Mila Kunis comedy Friends with Benefits and the super-hero adventure Captain America: The First Avenger with Chris Evans playing the iconic character. Check out Biff Bam Pop next Friday to read my predictions!
