July 15, 2011 by Paul Curtin
Whether or not the movie industry is said to be in good or bad shape, it seems like every summer there are blockbuster movies that end up setting new records. With midnight screenings on weeknights becoming more popular and people being on break during the summer, the summertime is the perfect time for record-breaking films. Last night, the latest and final Harry Potter film in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, crushed the midnight opening record by bringing in $43.5 million at 3,800 locations. Potter took back the top spot after 2009’s The Twilight Saga: New Moon brought in $26.3 million at 3,514 locations and edged out the previous Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 1‘s $24 million.
I can’t imagine the craziness that took place in theaters last night as thousands of Potter fans waited in massive lines and rushed to get their seats. Back in the summer of 2008, I went to The Dark Knight‘s midnight screening, which broke the midnight box office record at the time, and that was a total madhouse — picture Black Friday at a movie theater. Speaking of The Dark Knight, the first official trailer for the sequel, The Dark Night Rises, was shown during the previews before Deathly Hallows: Part 2 last night. While some poor quality versions of the trailer can be found on YouTube right now, expect the high quality version to be released by Warner Bros. in the next few days.
