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."
"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.
Big
films still to come this year include "Lord of the Rings,"
"Ali," "The Shipping News," "Vanilla
Sky" and "Ocean's Eleven."
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.
Dergarabedian
said "Harry Potter" should top $100 million in just
four days.
"It's
unprecedented," Dergarabedian said. "Any studio
would be happy to have a $31 million weekend for a new movie,
and here, they've got a single day at that level."
The movie is based on the first of British author J.K. Rowling's planned seven-book adventure series about a boy magician's adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The
first four books have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide.
Directed
by Chris Columbus, "Harry Potter" stars Daniel Radcliffe
as Harry, and Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as his pals Ron
and Hermione. The adult cast includes Richard Harris, Maggie
Smith, Robbie Coltrane and Alan Rickman.
The movie opened in a record 3,672 theaters on about 8,200
screens, nearly a fourth of the nation's movie screens. Demand
for the film was so strong that some theaters started special
screenings at 12:01 a.m. Friday.
The
success of "Harry Potter" pushes Hollywood further
toward breaking its overall box-office record for the year.
Revenues this year are expected to top $8 billion, beating
last year's record of $7.7 billion.
"This is good for the industry," Dergarabedian said. "It gets people in the mood to go to the movies and exposes them to marketing for other upcoming films. It just creates more movie-going."
| Theater | City |
|---|---|
| Megaplex Theatres at Jordan Commons | Sandy |