Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 has passed the $1bn (£609m) mark at the worldwide box office, distributor Warner Bros has said. The final installment in the eight-part boy wizard series is the first to reach the milestone.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone had the previous best global takings with $974.8m (£593m) in 2001. The 2009 epic Avatar holds the current record for the biggest worldwide box office haul with $2.8bn (£1.7m). Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is expected to pass Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides soon, which is this year’s top grossing movie so far at $1.03bn (£626m).
The Harry Potter film took $21.9m (£13.3m) at the North American box office over the weekend, climbing to a domestic total of $318.5m (£194m). It has now topped the franchise’s previous best in the US and Canada of $317.6m (£193.6m) for Philosopher’s Stone. But taking into account today’s higher admission prices, Deathly Hallows: Part 2 has not yet caught up to Philosopher’s Stone in terms of actual tickets sold.
