娱乐英语新闻:Harry Potter finale writes history by setting 4 opening weekend records

LOS ANGELES, July 17 (Xinhua) -- A swan song of the blockbuster Harry Potter series eclipsed a previous trailblazer of the Hollywood tentpoles by grabbing a heart-stopping 168.55 million U. S. dollars over the weekend, as well as creating three other firsts as the highly popular franchise bows out of celluloid incarnation for good.

According to estimated statistics released by Warner Bros. which distributes "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II," the final and 8th installment on the boy wizard franchise opened as No. 1 in North America box office Friday, grossing 91.2 million dollars from 4,375 venues in the U.S. and Canada, smashing the milestone for all-time highest single-day gross which was held by "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," which garnered 72.7 million dollars when it opened Friday, Nov. 20, 2009.

On Saturday, it continued with the foray at box office derby, finishing the business with 42.85 million dollars. All told, the finale of the series has also managed to become No. 1 in three other areas: largest midnight gross (43.5 million dollars), largest opening weekend -- "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1," hit the screens last November, previously held that record with 125 million dollars in ticket sales upon its debut, and largest IMAX opening (15.5 million dollars from 274 theaters).

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon," Paramount Pictures' third " Transformer" installment, continued its money-making business, and is estimated to take in 21.25 million dollars, finishing as No. 2 at the box office. It has garnered a cumulative sales totaling 302. 8 million dollars over three weeks.

"Horrible Bosses," a New Line/Warner Bros.dark/black comedy which features Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman and Colin Farrell, successfully held up at the box office derby. It is estimated to make 17.63 million dollars as No. 3 most popular films of the weekend. It has reaped 60 million dollars in two weeks.

Rounding out the top five most popular films in North America are:

"Zookeeper," 12.3 million dollars this weekend, and 42.35 million dollars in two weeks; "Cars 2," 8.3 million dollars this week which is on track to garner 165 million dollars in four weeks.

In the shadow of the Harry Potter juggernaut, Disney Animation Studios' "Winnie the Pooh" was the weekend's only release which was off to a solid start, grossing 2.9 million dollars on Friday and grabbed 8 million dollars in movie ticket sales from 2,405 locations during Friday-Sunday time frame. The fifth theatrical film released and the second from the Walt Disney Animation Studios, the animated family film, which was inspired by three A. A. Milne stories, looks like it's succeeding in luring tots too young for the PG-13 Potter. It received an A- CinemaScore, with those under 18 giving it an A+. Enditem