''Around- the- World Brief: "Potter" passes "Rings"

With help from a strong opening in China, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 reached its final major milestone this weekend. On Sunday, it passed The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to move up to third place on the all-time worldwide (domestic plus foreign) chart with $1.134 billion. It only trails James Cameron's Avatar ($2.78 billion) and Titanic ($1.84 billion) but by insurmountable margins.

Deathly Hallows Part 2 earned an estimated $61.8 million from 61 markets, which included a very roughly-estimated $25.5 million debut in China. That's by-far the biggest Chinese opening ever for a Harry Potter movie. The movie's foreign total reached $791.1 million, and it will move past Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in the next day or two to claim third place on the all-time foreign chart. It should finish with around $900 million overseas, which will push its worldwide total past $1.25 billion.

It's important to note that while overseas ticket price inflation data is tricky to come by, Deathly Hallows Part 2 would obviously not rank third all-time in ticket sales. It's sold fewer tickets than Return of the King, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and many older movies as well.

(by Ray Subers)
August 7, 2011