In The News
WB: Harry Potter Films Now the Top Grossing Franchise of All-Time
MoviesVariety is reporting tonight that Warner Brothers has announced the Harry Potter film series are now the top-grossing film franchise in movie history. Amassing a staggering ” $4.47 billion worldwide,” the series about the boy who lived has surpassed the box office totals for all 22 of the James Bond films, as well as the six “Star Wars” films.
UPDATE: Warner Brothers has now issued a press release to TLC with more on this achievement, and includes the following:
In addition to holding the franchise box office record, all five of the Harry Potter films have the distinction of being among the 20 top-grossing box office hits of all time. In making the announcement, Alan Horn said, “It would be an understatement to say we are proud of the success of the Harry Potter films. We also want to congratulate all of the extraordinary actors, filmmakers and artists who have shared this remarkable cinematic journey with us.” Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. Pictures President of Domestic Distribution, said, “It is a thrill to see the Harry Potter franchise reach this unparalleled mark, and, with two movies yet to come, it is amazing to think what heights the franchise could reach by the end of the decade. Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, Warner Bros. Pictures President of International Distribution, added, “This worldwide box office record once again proves that the appeal of the Harry Potter movies knows no border, no age limit, and no language barrier. Each of the five films has captured the hearts and sparked the imagination of audiences everywhere.”
Reports Variety:
Bond, which dates back to 1962, has generated $4.44 billion worldwide and the “Star Wars” pics have pulled down $4.23 billion since the first release in 1977.For its part, Fox says that the “Star Wars” franchise would, with adjustment made for inflation, actually translate into $6.21 billion; MGM had no comment about what Bond’s adjusted B.O. would be.
And domestically the “Star Wars” franchise still far outpaces the boy wizard. All told, the “Star Wars” pics have grossed $2.18 billion, while the “Harry Potter” franchise has grossed $1.41 billion. But then there are still two more “Potters” to go.
And all three have generated millions upon millions in downstream ancillary coin for their studios, once homevideo and TV revenue are added into the tallies.
The final two Harry Potter films have yet to be released, with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince set to begin principal photography in a few weeks and is due in theaters November 21, 2008. The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film is set for release some time in 2010.
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I hope over all it beats star wars… :) But yea the movies definatelly are awesome
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude. That’s a lot of money. GO POTTER!
This makes me strangely proud. I think it’ll beat out Star Wars- Harry Potter Forever!!!
WOOO-HOOO! Potter rules! It beat James Bond, which has 22 films? That’s pretty amazing.
staggering, indeed. congratulations, everyone Harry Potter! as i like to toast: Long Live the Boy Who Lived! =)
Even with the box-office revenues for “Star Wars” and “Bond” adjusted for inflation, the fact that “Harry Potter” has amassed that kind of money in only 5 outings is impressive. And the success of the final two should be in line with the first five, so the Harry Potter franchise will most likely beat “Star Wars” by the time DH closes at the box office in 2010.
Well, I’m ok with this news. It puts my 3 favorite film serie at 1-2-3 in the record books.
Well, if they’re so loaded, they better not skimp on special effects and CG characters for the last two movies. (I wouldn’t want to see the maze from the fourth movie repeat itself!) Some house elves should definitely make their appearance, otherwise they’ll leave Hermione without a reason to kiss Ron. And lets face it, that’s what most of us are waiting for in the first place. ;)
And this is with only 5 movies in the bag and with 2 more to go. Way to go! Remember the Star Wars franchise was done over a 25-30 year period.
Warner Bros thanked Actors, film makers and Artists. So what category does JK Rowling fall under? The films are based heavily on her books so why does she not get at least a nod? None of this would have happened without her. Just surprised at this ommission
I agree with Professor Potter…maybe they included JK with the “artists”...but she should have been named “first and foremost”!
It is pretty amazing to think that the films have done this well in a relatively short time! I always look so forward to going to the theatre to see how they did a certain effect and how they tell the story. I remember being floored with the dementors in PoA—to me, they looked just they way I thought they would look.
Holy crap—are you serious? It beat Star Wars? Wowwwwww. That’s freakin’...amazing.
Does this include DVD sales too? Because if that is so, we still have the release of the fifth movie to tack onto the total in a few months. And think about the DH film. For some reason, I feel like that could really beat out the rest of the Potters for the highest grossing Potter film.
Ponette, speak for yourself. r/Hr’s kiss is way down the want list for me. I’ve always been captured by Harry’s story and his tragedy. Kisswise, i’m rather see evil H/Hr’s kiss-their chemistry would burn up the screen!
radcakesfan: thanks, i couldn’t agree more! ‘that’s what most of us are waiting for in the first place’... come on, who really cares?!
To be honest, even if WB made a horrendous HP movie, we’d still see it (multiple times) because that’s how much we love JKR’s books. So it’s disappointing that WB didn’t mention her.
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not a surprise after the 7th book.