'Potter' Beats 'Transformers' to $1 Billion

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Transformer: Dark of the Moon's two-week head start couldn't hold off Harry Potter's record-breaking pace: Deathly Hallows Part 2 passed $1 billion worldwide on Sunday, while Transformers still has a few days left before it reaches that milestone.

 

Deathly Hallows Part 2 hit $1 billion on its 19th day in theaters, which tied Avatar's record for fastest to reach that level. With a $1.008 billion total, Potter ranked eighth on all-time worldwide chart, ahead of The Dark Knight but behind Alice in Wonderland. With China opening next weekend, Potter's ready to ultimately take third place from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.12 billion).

Dipping 48 percent, Deathly Hallows Part 2's foreign weekend was $66.4 million from 59 markets. That brought its foreign total to $690 million, which ranked seventh all-time and could move up to fifth place when the actual reports are on Monday. It's also number one all-time among Warner Bros. releases. Potter's top territory remained the United Kingdom with a $88.5 million haul, followed by Japan ($66.7 million), Germany ($61.1 million) and France ($50.5 million).

Transformers: Dark of the Moon reached its last major market this weekend, opening to a series-best $9.5 million in Japan. A massive 82 percent of that came from 3D, indicating that Japan is one territory where 3D hasn't lost its fame. Across all of its markets, Transformers grossed $42 million for a $645 million total. It's worldwide sum reached $982.9 million, and it should reach $1 billion by Wednesday or Thursday.