Potter takes over the world box office

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1 opened to slightly over $125 million this weekend, making it the 6^th largest 3-day opening of all time. The films also raked in $205 million from international showings, putting its global total at a staggering $330 million already. And since Warner Bros decided to make the first film into two, they’ll be making similar, if not bigger numbers with the second installment (which is due for a June 2011 release).

The franchise that made J.K. Rowling a billionaire has grossed over $5.4 billion dollars at the box office. The lowest grossing film (but my personal favorite) was the Alfonso Cuaron-directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (the third one in the series), which still made $795 in worldwide box office. Most of the other films have been in the $900 million range. Will HP7-1 be the one that finally breaks a billion? If not, HP7-2 surely will, since everyone wants to see how the series ends. This was a smart move from WB, essentially making double the money with one production (both films were shot at the same time). And since HP7-2 will be in 3-D, I think the 25% up-charge will boost the gross to over a billion dollars.

With all the money these films make, you would assume WB is really raking in the dough. But the net profit is not as large as you would think. WB never released HP7’s budget but claimed it was “less than $250 million” which means it was probably $250 million. A movie of this magnitude also requires a marketing budget of at least $60 million. This puts the total at roughly $310 million. The studios keep half of all box office grosses and the other half goes to the exhibitors. So for WB to recoup this $310 million, the movie has to gross $620 million (which shouldn’t be too much of a problem). But WB is notorious for creative accounting, which shows it losing money on a lot of these big budget cash cows. The fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), grossed $938 million worldwide, but WB still claims it lost over $160 million on it.

Still, WB can't deny the Potter franchise has been a blessing for the studio. After the Potter series end, their next big feature will be Batman 4, the follow-up to the 2008 juggernaut, The Dark Knight.