The Biggest Harry Potter Movie Ever Loses Its All-Time Box Office Spot to ‘The Odyssey’
Mischief managed, for 15 years at least.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has climbed past Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 on the all-time worldwide box office chart, ending the Potter finale’s long run as the franchise’s highest earner sitting above a Homer adaptation.
The numbers
Per trade reports, The Odyssey stands at roughly $1.35 billion worldwide through its fifth week of release. Deathly Hallows – Part 2 closed its 2011 run at $1.343 billion, a figure that made it the top earner of the eight-film series and, at the time, the third-biggest international haul ever behind only Avatar and Titanic.
The same week, Nolan’s film also overtook Deadpool & Wolverine to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, and it is still adding money with Japan not opening until September 11.
A quick note on what this is
Nominal dollars are the chart the industry uses, but they are not a clean attendance measure. Fifteen years of ticket-price inflation separate the two films, and once you adjust for that, the Potter finale sold considerably more tickets. Deathly Hallows – Part 2 also benefited from 3D surcharges. The record is real; so is the asterisk.
Potter’s box office crown is far from gone, though. The eight films still sit at a combined $7.7 billion worldwide, and Sorcerer’s Stone returns to theaters August 27 for the 25th anniversary, so the chart may shuffle again before the HBO series arrives on December 25.
Does the ranking matter to you, or is Potter’s ticket count the real scoreboard? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to follow along for more Harry Potter news.
