'Harry Potter' breaks records: three trends behind the success

The final "Harry Potter" film shattered box office records worldwide with a whopping $168.6 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales over the opening weekend and nearly $476 million globally.

The staggering domestic total for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2" is the best three-day

opening for a film ever, distributor Warner Bros said on Sunday. It beat the previous record of $158.4 million over the initial three days for the 2008 Batman movie, "The Dark Knight."

Internationally, the finale for "Harry Potter" captured $307 million in 59 countries since it opened last week, another record. That includes weekend sales plus Wednesday and Thursday for some markets.

The prior record for an overseas opening belonged to "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," the fourth installment of the series released in May, which took in about $260 million outside North America in its debut.

The eighth film in the "Harry Potter" series about a teenage wizard and his friends battling against evil also set records for the largest opening-day domestic sales total, largest midnight screenings and largest opening on giant IMAX screens.

The movie took in an average $38,526 on more than 4,300 screens, according to Warner Bros, a unit of Time Warner Inc. It was the first "Potter" film also released in 3D.

"Harry Potter," already the highest-grossing film franchise ever with over $6.4 billion in global ticket sales, is based on the novels of British author J.K. Rowling.

"A CULTURAL EVENT"

The massive numbers for "Deathly Hallows -- Part 2" showed the story still enchants audiences a decade after Harry's first film adventure was released.

"It's become a cultural event," said Dan Fellman, head of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. Young fans stuck with the series as they grew up and the audience expanded over the years, Fellman said, adding that final global ticket receipts could "easily" reach the rare $1 billion mark.

The "Harry Potter" magic dwarfed other films over the weekend, but there were a couple of notable events.

Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" reached a milestone by hitting $41.8 million in domestic sales since its release, making it the highest-grossing film in North America from director Allen, according to distributor Sony Pictures Classics.

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" took the No. 2 spot on U.S. and Canadian box office charts with an estimated $21.3 million over three days, distributor Paramount Pictures said. The film ranks as the year's first film to top $300 million in domestic sales with $302.8 million total.

Rounding out the weekend's top five domestic films were "Horrible Bosses" with $17.6 million, "Zookeeper" with $12.3 million and "Cars 2" with $8.3 million. Disney's new "Winnie the Pooh" movie finished sixth with $8 million.

"Deathly Hallows -- Part 2" and "Horrible Bosses" were released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc. "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" was distributed by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.

"Zookeeper" and "Midnight in Paris" were released by various units of Sony Corp. "Cars 2" and "Winnie the Pooh" were distributed by Disney's Pixar animation unit, a division of Walt Disney Co.

Step Aside, Jay, There’s a New Ratings Leader in Late Night

Since 2000, NBC's Tonight Show and host Jay Leno have consistently topped the ratings every quarter. (That's 40 quarters in a row — just saying.) And while still beating out the competition in overall viewership, focusing on the all-important 18 to 49 age demographic shows The Daily Show With Jon Stewart narrowly pushing into the lead. (In fairness, Stewart had just 3,000 more viewers in that bracket than Leno.) Still, this likely marks the end of a ten-year streak for The Tonight Show, which will struggle to regain top spot as we enter

presidential campaign season, when Stewart and former protégé Stephen Colbert are at their satirical best. And let's not forget that now Colbert has all that Viacom money at his back, thanks to his recently approved Super PAC — actually called "Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow." Sorry, Jay.

U2's Bono, Stephen Colbert Attend Judy McGrath Farewell Party

"You're gonna fly your freak flags forever," the ousted MTV exec tells a crowd of colleagues and friends.

Former MTV Networks chairman and CEO Judy McGrath bid adieu to 30 years with the company in style.

A star-studded crowd of about 50 that included Stephen Colbert and U2's Bono and The Edge gathered to see McGrath off at an impromptu party following the announcement of her resignation on Thursday.

According to the NY Post's Page Six, the beloved exec showed up wearing a laminate around her neck that read "Backstage for Life" and told her friend and colleagues, "I know you know how I feel ...

I'll send you an elaborate letter on Gmail ... You're gonna fly your freak flags forever. I love you badly, and you know where I live."

McGrath, an industry veteran who saw the Viacom-owned MTV Networks through multiple reinventions and helped develop hit shows such as "Unplugged" and "Jersey Shore," recently announced that she was stepping down from her position after 30 years with the company.

When asked about whispers at the party that Executive Vice President David Janollari would take on McGrath's responsibilities, an MTV rep told Page Six, "Judy chose to leave now because of the health of all of the networks. MTV is doing incredibly well, so we won't be making changes. David Janollari will continue his role running programming."