HP already breaking records!!

'Harry Potter' Grosses $31.3M
The Associated Press
Nov 17 2001 2:40PM

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Harry Potter and his flying broomstick are sweeping away box-office records.
The first big-screen adventure of the boy wizard, ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,'' grossed $31.3 million in its debut Friday, the highest single-day take ever, according to distributor Warner Bros.

The previous record-holder was ``Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace,'' which took in $28.5 million on opening day in 1999.

``Harry Potter'' may even break its own single-day record. Warner Bros. expected the movie to take in more money Saturday than it did on opening day, said Dan Fellman, the studio's head of distribution.

At that level of business, ``Harry Potter'' is virtually assured of shattering the record for best three-day debut, set by ``The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' with $72.1 million in 1997.

``It's phenomenal. We did well in the early shows, in the late shows. The audiences are every single age category, right across the board,'' Fellman said. ``You can't break these records without establishing a success story in every quadrant.''

Fellman would not estimate how much money ``Harry Potter'' might take in for the rest of the weekend.

But Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations, said ``Harry Potter'' should top $90 million in its first three days.

That would rival the $92.7 million ``The Lost World'' grossed in its first four days over Memorial Day, one of the year's busiest weekends at movie theaters. That number for ``The Lost World'' even includes about $2 million the movie took in from Thursday night sneak previews.

``Harry Potter'' also is likely to hit the $100 million mark faster than any other movie has. ``The Phantom Menace'' reached that point in five days. Dergarabedian said ``Harry Potter'' should top $100 million in just four days.

They did the coverage of HP at the theater where we went to see it, and there on television was mike and me trying to hide behind a bag of popcorn that wasn't quite big enough. I did find the camera lights intrusive once the movie started, they had the interview lights on for about 5 minutes into the movie.

that's rude! I can't believe they kept thier light on 5 minutes into the movie!

They were all dressed up like wizards and witches and from what I could see, the kids didn't really want to be interviewed, they wanted to watch the movie! lol

'Potter' Topples Box Office Record
The Associated Press
Nov 18 2001 3:23PM

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Wizards vanquished lizards as ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' grossed $93.5 million in its first weekend, shattering the box-office debut record held by the dinosaur sequel ``The Lost World: Jurassic Park.''
Other records also fell by the wayside. ``Harry Potter'' posted the top three one-day box office hauls, according to studio estimates Sunday.

And it positioned itself to become the fastest movie to hit $100 million, with a shot at crossing that mark in its fourth day on Monday. It took five days to reach that level for ``Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.''

``Lost World'' took in $72.1 million in its first three days over the 1997 Memorial Day weekend. If the box-office estimate holds when final numbers are reported Monday, ``Harry Potter'' will have surpassed the $90.1 million ``Lost World'' grossed in its first four days.

On Friday, ``Harry Potter'' broke the record for best single-day take with $31.6 million, topping the previous best of $28.5 million by ``Phantom Menace'' in its opening day in 1999.

On Saturday, ``Harry Potter'' broke its own record by taking in $32.9 million. And distributor Warner Bros. estimated the movie's Sunday ticket sales at $29 million, which would give the film the No. 3 best one-day gross.

``We obviously knew going in we were going to have a great opening,'' said Dan Fellman, Warner's head of distribution. ``Nobody anticipated such a staggering number that would shatter every industry record.''

Based on the first book of British author J.K. Rowling's adventure series about a school for wizards and witches, ``Harry Potter'' was directed by Chris Columbus and stars Daniel Radcliffe in the title role.

They have little time to bask in the film's success. Production on ``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' begins Monday in London, with Warner planning to have it in theaters the weekend before Thanksgiving next year. The studio hopes to do the same with the third ``Harry Potter'' movie in 2003.

``Monsters, Inc.,'' the No. 1 film for the previous two weekends, fell to second place with $23 million. Disney's decision to put the animated tale into theaters two weeks before ``Harry Potter'' has paid off: ``Monsters, Inc.'' set a record for best debut for an animated movie and had taken in $156.7 million in just 17 days.

The top 12 movies grossed $157.1 million, up 6.6 percent from the same weekend a year ago when four movies opened in wide release, including the blockbuster ``Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.''

The two-and-a-half-hour running time of ``Harry Potter'' limits the number of screenings that theaters can squeeze in each day. Warner compensated by debuting the film in a record 3,672 theaters, which showed it on about 8,200 screens - nearly one-fourth of the nation's total.

``Harry Potter'' averaged $25,467 a theater. ``Monsters'' averaged $19,332 in 3,237 theaters in its debut.

``I think in the wake of Sept. 11, people are looking for entertainment close to home,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks the box office. ```Harry Potter' plays right into that. It's a fantasy world people can get out of the house and enjoy for a few hours, but stay relatively close to home.''

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures are to be released Monday.