International Box Office: Harry Potter's Record-Breaking Ways Extended Overseas
July 20, 2011
It seems every day we have another broken record to report on. The final international numbers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2's opening weekend came in, mostly, and the film earned $264.32 million on 17,539 screens in 58 markets for a total opening of $323.38 million internationally and $492.57 million worldwide. Needless to say, this is the biggest international and worldwide opening ever. To put this into perspective, not counting the fellow Harry Potter films, this is already the tenth best Warner Bros. movie of all time. (With this franchise and Christpher Nolan's Batman franchises ending, there's got to be someone at the studio is full panic mode. They might have an entire division of people whose sole job is to panic 24 hours a day.) The only small downside for the film is its per screen average, which didn't lead the international chart, but more on that in a bit.
As for individual markets...
Transformers: Dark of the Moon was well back in second place, but despite the competition was actually quite strong. It added $39.49 million on 8,961 screens in 57 markets and now has totals of $462.26 million internationally and $765.13 million worldwide. It will hit $800 million worldwide by this time next week, and shortly after that, it will become the highest grossing film in the franchise. Meanwhile, it earned $5.64 million on 877 screens over the weekend in South Korea for a total of $63.49 million after just three weeks of release. It is one of the biggest hits of all time in that market.
No major market openings didn't hurt Cars 2 too badly, as it earned third place with $13.86 million on 5,099 screens in 29 markets for a total of $147.27 million internationally and $312.66 million worldwide. Since the film has yet to open in most international markets, it is still on pace to reach $500 million worldwide, perhaps even $600 million.
Kung Fu Panda 2 was right behind with $10.18 million on 4,996 screens in 50 markets for totals of $423.14 million internationally and $583.21 million worldwide. It has yet to open in Japan and Italy, but by the time it does open in those markets, it will likely be at $600 million worldwide, which will probably be the film's last major milestone.
The film with the highest per screen average on this week's list was Pokemon: Best Wishes: The Movie, which managed $6.81 million on 351 screens in Japan for a per screen average of $19,390. I'm not sure what is more shocking, that is made more per screen that Harry Potter's average of 15,071, or that they still make Pokemon movies.
Keeping tabs on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides for a little while longer makes sense, as it is nearly at a potential milestone. This weekend it made $2.61 million on 1954 screens in 45 markets for a total of $790.79 million internationally and $1.028 billion worldwide. It has now made more than Alice in Wonderland, while it has a slim shot at becoming just the third film to reach $800 million internationally.
We don't have individual results for a number of potential $1 million markets, including Greece, India, Indonesia, Peru, etc. Also, the film doesn't open in China till the beginning of next month, and since the previous installment earned more than $30 million there, it will likely bring in a significant amount.
Filed under: International Box Office, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Kung Fu Panda 2, Cars 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides