Expect to hear a few stories like this over the weekend of how many records Harry Potter will set. It’s already knocked out one in a few hours after its release, and it’s unseated a rival fantasy book series in the process.
Yes, the previous midnight showing record was held by Twilight. ECLIPSE sold $30M worht of tickets to Twi-hards everywhere, but it’s been no match for the Harry Potter army. DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 brought in $43.5 million from midnight showings, demolishing that record.
The question now is if HARRY POTTER can unseat THE DARK KNIGHT’s $158M opening weekend, the highest of all time. Potter has 3D ticket sales on its side, something THE DARK KNIGHT didn’t offer, and even if patrons normally wouldn’t pick a 3D showing, they might have to shell out the extra cash in order to find a non-sold out show. As seems to be the case with blockbusters these days, there are a handful of typical 2D times, but IMAX and 3D hold the vast majority of the showtimes, and it can be hard to avoid them even if you’re trying to.
Thursday and Friday will undoubtedly be Potter’s biggest days, and the question is how much it will drop off for the other half of the weekend. Probably significantly, but even with diehards racing to the theater, there will be many who will wait, and some that might have to if enough Friday times are sold out.
Will Potter beat Batman? I think it could, and unfortunately if it does, will have 3D to thank.