‘Harry Potter’ Opens With Record $92.1 Million in Receipts

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2” set a single-day record with $92.1 million in ticket sales yesterday in the film’s opening in the U.S. and Canada, Hollywood.com Box-Office said.

The total includes record-breaking grosses of $43.5 million from midnight and early morning shows at 3,800 locations and $2 million in revenue at IMAX Corp. (IMAX) theaters, Hollywood.com said. The results for the Warner Bros. film’s opening at 4,375 theaters exceeded the $72.7 million one-day opening record of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” in November 2009, Hollywood.com said today in an e-mailed statement.

Based on the early sales, the last of the “Harry Potter” pictures may exceed other records, including the $158.4 million July 2008 weekend record set by “The Dark Knight,” also a Warner release, the box-office tracker said.

“I feel pretty comfortable saying the three-day domestic record is in jeopardy,” Dan Fellman, Warner’s president of domestic theatrical distribution, said in an interview yesterday. “This is bittersweet because we own it ourselves with ‘The Dark Knight.’”

In the latest film, students and faculty at Hogwarts engage in a life-and-death battle with forces of evil as Harry faces a final showdown with his nemesis, Lord Voldemort.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Sabo in New York at jsabo@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sylvia Wier at swier@bloomberg.net.

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"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2"

Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Brothers via Bloomberg

Daniel Radcliffe in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2." The movie is the final adventure in the Harry Potter series.

Daniel Radcliffe in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2." The movie is the final adventure in the Harry Potter series. Photographer: Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Brothers via Bloomberg