Variety 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.
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!
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.
Ponette – I am with you. With all this dough flying around, they have no excuse for not making the last two films SPECTACULAR.
I marvel at just how much $$ these films have made and all the people who are now wealthy as a result! I knew I should have set my sights on being a WB executive!
I am hoping with this news that the movie makers will be able to spend more money to make the movies WE want to see and they stop using the excuse of cutting out Dobby because he cost too much money to put on screen. I hope they will spend the money needed to make the last two movies the best…especially the awsome final battle at Hogwarts that Jo wrote.
Pointless to compare unless using dollars adjusted for inflation. Regardless of this, however, it appears the Potter movies will overtake any other franchise. This is a great accomplishment!
However, Jim Dale’s performance on the audio books far surpasses any movie experience. Next to reading the books “the old fashioned way” Dale’s readings are as good as it gets.
Congratulations to Warner Brothers for earning this much money through the films. Now that you have acquired all of those dollars, you better utilize them wisely. That may or may not include making the Deathly Hallows the three hour epic it has to be. ;)
Even if profits are adjusted for inflation, it goes without saying that HP still performed spectacular feats at the box office.
These figures have to be inflation-adjusted or they mean nothing. In which case, even the most successful Potter film “The Philosopher’s Stone” might – only might – just make it into the top 50 all-time highest grossing films. The rest probably would not even make the top 100. To claim all five HP movies are in the top 20 ever is disingenuous, or plain ignorant. But that’s movie executives. ;-)
The first six James Bond movies were released in the 1960s when it cost about $1 to see a movie. Directly comparing the grosses to 21st century films is plain stupid.
Woo yeah go Harry and everything, but get some perspective!
Radcakesfan and Johnny – fair enough, I’ll speak for myself, and might I add JK Rowling, Emma Watson and zillions of other Ron/Hermione shippers in the equation? That’s not such a bad company to be with, is it? ;)
But, blah, I didn’t want to get into an argument on shipping in the first place. I was just talking about money not being an excuse any more for the lack of Dobby and Firenze and other CG characters. sigh And thanks Yokata and Will, for putting things into perspective, at least for us. :D
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.