Harry Potter fought with all his might but in the end was no match for the vampires of Twilight.
The “no longer kids” star power of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, combined with a record number of IMAX screens, helped Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 draw $24 million in estimated ticket sales from approximately 3,700 midnight screenings last night. A record $1.4 million of that bounty came from IMAX screens, but the total fell short of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and its $30 million midnight screenings record set earlier this year behind tabloid favorites Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, and Robert Pattinson.
Deathly Hallows is still poised to either reach or top the $100 million from its whopping 4,124 screens this weekend. It will easily be the best opening day and weekend gross of any Potter film to date, but will need a big surge today to best The Twilight Saga: New Moon’s single-day record of $72 million.
We’ll have a better handle on where Deathly Hallows stands tomorrow morning when the Friday box office estimates come in. Check back then for an update.
