I'm seeing this with my friends later in the week, glad to see everyone's enjoying it as DS thought it wasn't the right ending!

I wouldn't really trust DS as a reviewer, I never really agree with any of their reviews.

 

Early word is that midnight showings grossed a record $43.5m, smashing the $30m benchmark set by Eclipse. This is not only likely to beat The Dark Knight's opening weekend record, but trounce it, it all depends on its legs.

 

EDIT: Deadline reporting this is on track to have a $180m opening weekend, which would indeed shatter TDK $158m!

 

THURSDAY 6:30 PM, 3RD UPDATE:

My sources have the latest box office numbers for Warner Bros' Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Domestically, $45 million has been collected already in pre-sales for this opening North America weekend, including $27M for tonight's 3,000+ midnight screenings which could reach $40M alone. Internationally, $43.6 million has been added from the 24 of 59 countries where the franchise finale opened Wednesday. Another 19 nations debut the movie Thursday but that figure won't be available until tomorrow. By Friday, the film will playing in an additional 16 territories as well as in 4,575 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. What these numbers mean is that Warner Bros is on track to break its own Dark Knight domestic opening 3-day weekend record of $158M. Helped by Harry Potter - Part 2's higher 3D ticket prices, the new pic could reach $180M. "Midnights and Friday will be huge," a rival studio exec tells me. "The only question will be how front-loaded they are and where they end up. A lot of the international openings Wednesday were records so the total foreign will be huge as well."

 

Right now I'm told that advance sales numbers and midnight screening numbers are changing ever 1/2 hour. Theater owners are just starting to record and report tickets purchased for tonight. As of 4 PM, Warner Bros had 1,800 theaters reporting $27M, but 3,000 will be playing the movie starting midnight so many theaters have yet to provide numbers. And then there are the projected walk-ins. It's clear that this Harry Potter sign-off will set a midnight record, bigger than the previous record-holder Twilight Saga: Eclipse which scored $30M.

 

Another record to fall will be the biggest single day ever, set by Twilight Saga: New Moon with $72M. Warner Bros thinks it's possible for $40M midnights and $40M Friday for an $80M single best day. I'm told the big theater circuits like AMC and Regal have already sold out midnight screenings and are adding 3 AM showings. Some are even scheduling round-the-clock releasing all weekend. "People have just been coming out of the woodwork," a Warner Bros exec marveled to me. "What this really tells you is that our busines is alive and healthy and the old cliche is true: make good movies and they will show up."

 

The biggest foreign weekend opening was the recent Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' $260M this summer. Warner Bros expects Harry Potter - Part 2 to demolish that. Harder will be shattering the biggest worldwide opening set by the recent Transformers: Dark Of The Moon over a 7-day period: $402M. Speaking of international, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 opened to $43.6m in 26 countries on Wednesday by scoring 65% of its take from 3D.

 

The telegraph has also reported that this has grossed $162.50 million in foreign cinemas by Friday night; and have confirmed that this has made $80m plus on friday in the US. So it's total stands at $242m WW already.

Edited July 16, 201114 yr by Daniel II

Literally the whole audience clapped and cheered when

Bellatrix and Voldemort were killed.

:o People should not cheer and a clap at that! I will cry and I know it. :(

The first one's on ITV1 now

 

My catch up marathon has started then. Pretty excited to get to see this last one!

Watched the midnight showing, it was sosososo good. I loved it <3

 

Professor McGonagall/Maggie Smith was COMPLETELY amazing, by far my favourite character in the last film. <3

Opening day: $92,100,000 :o

 

Source: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/days/...open&p=.htm

 

So after Friday, with still two days of its first weekend to go, the WW gross stands at $254,600,000. Forecasts now have its opening weekend pegged at north of $190m; considering this was tracking originally to gross between $125-150m, it is phenomenal. It may even be possible for this to do over $200m in just three days. Crazy.

 

With this summer being a bit of a damp squid for the box office in America, this is a very much needed success, and I think it will easily manage $500m + domestic when all is said and done.

Edited July 16, 201114 yr by Daniel II

Worse. The WEST OF IRELAND. There's a cinema in the city, but that's a 90 minute bus ride away and most of my friends are in Dublin, and I *hate* going on my own. :(

YOU POOR THING. I'm 2 bus journeys and 75 minutes away so I think you win / lose. There's an 'unofficial' cinema in the town 7 miles from me though, but it shows films already released on DVD :manson:. And then you have a crazy TWENTY (!) screen COMPLEX in Sheffield. <3

 

I think many are downloading it here.

Edited July 16, 201114 yr by Harve

Professor McGonagall/Maggie Smith was COMPLETELY amazing, by far my favourite character in the last film. <3

Ah yes! I'm so in love with her.

The scene in your sig was amazing

(plus when she cast the spell to protect Hogwarts and said "oooh I've always wanted to use that spell!" or something similar. Amazing)

 

*Spoilers abound*

 

This doesn't work nearly as well as a seperate movie as Part 1 did, sadly.

 

After such a great build up, the battle scenes felt flat, and I was disapointed we didn't see more of it once it actually got going; I wanted to see Fred, Lupin and Tonk's deaths on screen.

 

The last battle in the Great Hall was a mess (rushed, only saw glimpses) the Molly/Bellatrix fight was badly handled, and there was no punch whatsoever behind THAT line, and I felt nothing when Bellaxtrix died. I think it would have come together better if the Voldemort/Harry showdown still took place in the Great Hall in front of everyone, and I think Harry's speech to him should have remained. It would felt more of a climax, rather than "Oh, okay, it's over". I also thought the Gringotts bank hesit was for a lack of a better word, bleh (aside from the dragon escaping) and the epilogue also felt flat.

 

Also, the trio felt quite seperate; Part 1 did an excellent job in focusing in on them, examining their relationships under the strain of the task they had to complete; they felt closer and in effect really made me feel the wieght they were bearing. Part 2 lost that for me.

 

The film's best section was from Snape's death until Neville's rallying speech, with the triumph being Snape's memory scenes. McGonagall also got to be equally badass in the film as she was in the book, Maggie Smith is just wonderful to watch. I was also impressed with the Room of Reuqirement sequence and the opening scene where we eerily see the kids being forced to march in a Nazi-esq way with the Dementors surrounding the school.

 

I think the underlying problem is, is that there are so many subplots and 'minor' characters who were cut out from earlier films or weren't in many as they should have been; and almost everything and everyone played quite a big part in the last book, and there's a lot of emotional pay offs and minor plot details that have more signifcance than originally thought; a lot of passing references were in fact plot set-up and of course the film makers couldn't have known this at the time. So it didn't resonate with me emotionally as much as I thought it would: it didn't come together.

 

On a side note, I also think Micheal Gambon was a poor Dumbledoor and is one of the biggest problems I have with the movies; there was no warmth in his portrayal, although he did win me over slightly in the after-life scene, but once again it lost emotional impact thanks to Gambon/Yates making Dumbledoor seem like a prick.

 

Overall, this was good, no more than that - perhaps it would have worked better if I had watched it straight from Part 1; either way the first part was a far more satisfying movie.

 

RANK

 

1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

2) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban

4) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

5) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

6) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

7) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

8) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

 

I'm seeing this agan on wednesday in 2D instead of 3D; while watching it in IMAX certainly helped in making the battle scenes feel more epic, the effect was pretty dodgy (if you tilt you head even a bit, you start to see double and it goes out of focus) and wasn't really needed - and my eyes were exhausted by the end. It may be part of my problem I had with the movie; we'll see.

 

I must say though, Snape going to Godric's Hollow, and crying over Lilly's body as Harry is in the crib - I was fighting back the tears - a great add-on. I was also ecstatic that they included my favourite part from not only the Deathly Hallows, but all the books:

 

"I have spied for you, and lied for you, put myself in mortal danger for you. Everything was supposed to be to keep Lily Potter's son safe. Now you tell me you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter-"

"But this is touching, Severus," said Dumbledore seriously. "Have you grown to care for the boy, after all?"

"For him?" shouted Snape. "Expecto Patronum!"

From the tip of his wand burst the silver doe: she landed on the office floor, bounded once across the office and soared out of the window. Dumbledore watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears.

"After all this time?"

"Always," said Snape.

 

Choking up even thinking about it. What the movie really made me want to do was read the book again and watch the earlier films; I'm about half-way through Half-Blood Prince, so it shouldn't be too long until I get onto it.

 

3/5 - People clapped at my showing and my friend was in tears. It was generally a very positive reaction.

Edited July 17, 201114 yr by Suedehead2
Highlighted spoiler alert

Saw this yesterday and thought it was AMAZING.

 

 

Snape was the perfect character and without a doubt the best in the series. Rickman's acting was spot on, I burst into tears when Harry looked into his memories through the Pensieve and when he casted the Patronus which turned into a doe. Just powerful.

 

McGonagall was amazing as always, I wish they showed the confrontation between her and one of the Carrow twins in the Ravenclaw common room. Narcissa's lie to Voldemort was spot on too. Anyone else felt a bit sad when Lavender was lying there getting eaten by Fenrir Greyback :( ? I thought that was awful and disturbing

 

 

My only critique of the film is

 

 

They changed quite a bit of the main battle. I wanted to see McGonagall, Shacklebolt and Slughorn fighting Voldemort and Luna, Hermione and Ginny taking on Bellatrix. The fight scenes were quite short :/ Also, I wanted to see Bellatrix taunt Molly, they should've also shown how Tonks, Lupin and Fred died

 

Anyone else felt a bit sad when Lavender was lying there getting eaten by Fenrir Greyback :( ? I thought that was awful and disturbing

 

Was it Lavender? :o

 

*Spoilers abound*

 

This doesn't work nearly as well as a seperate movie as Part 1 did, sadly.

 

After such a great build up, the battle scenes felt flat, and I was disapointed we didn't see more of it once it actually got going; I wanted to see Fred, Lupin and Tonk's deaths on screen.

 

The last battle in the Great Hall was a mess (rushed, only saw glimpses) the Molly/Bellatrix fight was badly handled, and there was no punch whatsoever behind THAT line, and I felt nothing when Bellaxtrix died. I think it would have come together better if the Voldemort/Harry showdown still took place in the Great Hall in front of everyone, and I think Harry's speech to him should have remained. It would felt more of a climax, rather than "Oh, okay, it's over". I also thought the Gringotts bank hesit was for a lack of a better word, bleh (aside from the dragon escaping) and the epilogue also felt flat.

 

Also, the trio felt quite seperate; Part 1 did an excellent job in focusing in on them, examining their relationships under the strain of the task they had to complete; they felt closer and in effect really made me feel the wieght they were bearing. Part 2 lost that for me.

 

The film's best section was from Snape's death until Neville's rallying speech, with the triumph being Snape's memory scenes. McGonagall also got to be equally badass in the film as she was in the book, Maggie Smith is just wonderful to watch. I was also impressed with the Room of Reuqirement sequence and the opening scene where we eerily see the kids being forced to march in a Nazi-esq way with the Dementors surrounding the school.

 

I think the underlying problem is, is that there are so many subplots and 'minor' characters who were cut out from earlier films or weren't in many as they should have been; and almost everything and everyone played quite a big part in the last book, and there's a lot of emotional pay offs and minor plot details that have more signifcance than originally thought; a lot of passing references were in fact plot set-up and of course the film makers couldn't have known this at the time. So it didn't resonate with me emotionally as much as I thought it would: it didn't come together.

 

On a side note, I also think Micheal Gambon was a poor Dumbledoor and is one of the biggest problems I have with the movies; there was no warmth in his portrayal, although he did win me over slightly in the after-life scene, but once again it lost emotional impact thanks to Gambon/Yates making Dumbledoor seem like a prick.

 

Overall, this was good, no more than that - perhaps it would have worked better if I had watched it straight from Part 1; either way the first part was a far more satisfying movie.

 

RANK

 

1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

2) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban

4) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

5) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

6) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

7) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

8) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

 

I'm seeing this agan on wednesday in 2D instead of 3D; while watching it in IMAX certainly helped in making the battle scenes feel more epic, the effect was pretty dodgy (if you tilt you head even a bit, you start to see double and it goes out of focus) and wasn't really needed - and my eyes were exhausted by the end. It may be part of my problem I had with the movie; we'll see.

 

I must say though, Snape going to Godric's Hollow, and crying over Lilly's body as Harry is in the crib - I was fighting back the tears - a great add-on. I was also ecstatic that they included my favourite part from not only the Deathly Hallows, but all the books:

Choking up even thinking about it. What the movie really made me want to do was read the book again and watch the earlier films; I'm about half-way through Half-Blood Prince, so it shouldn't be too long until I get onto it.

 

3/5 - People clapped at my showing and my friend was in tears. It was generally a very positive reaction.

Again there are spoilers here!

 

Will try and give my opinion on this.

 

To say it didn't work as a separate film is rubbish - if anything it is the other way round!

 

It was quite faithful to the book - Harry, Ron and Hermione are separated quite a bit in the book - it goes to show how they have changed over the years as Harry had to finish things off alone and Ron and Herminone are getting closer. Again faithfully to the book, the deaths of Fred and Tonks/Lupin are brushed over so I didn't feel cheated. There was alot going on its no surprise.

 

As for your comment about the film makers not knowing what characters would be prominent later, JK Rowling kept them up to speed throughout and made sure certain characters were retained in the films as they would have a part in later films. I thought Michael Gambon was a much better Dumbledore - he gave the part an edge that Richard Harris just didn't have.

 

Overall, it was the 2nd best film of the series for me (after the excellent Prisoner of Azkaban) and I thought Maggie Smith almost stole the whole film!

Was it Lavender? :o

 

Yep, :( the lifeless girl on the ground getting her neck eaten by Fenrir Greyback was Lavender :( Even though she never had a major part in any film (apart from the fling with Ron in Half-Blood Prince) I was quite saddened by her death, they never really confirmed if she died in the book, but seems like the film does.

 

Yep, :( the lifeless girl on the ground getting her neck eaten by Fenrir Greyback was Lavender :( Even though she never had a major part in any film (apart from the fling with Ron in Half-Blood Prince) I was quite saddened by her death, they never really confirmed if she died in the book, but seems like the film does.

 

Damn, that was sad then! I thought it was that kid they added in randomly in the 5th film, but the scene was pretty quick :(

 

There seems to be some early Oscar buzz for Alan Rickman's performance as Snape in this film. That'd be beyond fantastic.

*****SPOILERS MAY BE AHEAD******

 

I loved it all from start to finish, hooked all the way through and everyone in the screen was silent throughout (I'm glad my local cinema isn't one where everyone claps).

 

That said, although I loved it all, it wasn't without some flaws, even if they were minor. How did George suddenly have two ears again? Is there any mention in the book that memories can come from tears, because that was a new one for me. "THAT'S MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH" - I visioned Molly screaming the line, and I think she just kind of said it, that left me disappointed. I'd also have liked to see more of young Lily & young Snape during Snape's memories. Lupin's child didn't seem to be mentioned 19 years later. Isn't Harry meant to wake up naked at Kings Cross? (Although I realise they couldn't have showed that properly). Some changes I thought were really good - in the book, we aren't actually there when Ron & Hermione are in the chamber of secrets, are we? I did enjoy that addition.

 

Loved some of the humour added though.

 

"I know that's not much to go on" "That's nothing to go on Harry"

"Ooh, I've always wanted to do that spell"

"Yeah, you & what army?"

Luna being firm with Harry when chasing him up the stairs, don't remember the exact line, something like "Now you listen to me Harry Potter"?

The stoned goblin

 

The reaction from the death eaters when Neville appeared to be joining them was quite good too, and there was a moment where I hoped Draco wouldn't step forward although I guess he was always going to.

 

Are we meant to assume that Hermione had some spare Polyjuice Potion prepared just in case, or spare from when they used it in Pt.1? Otherwise that would've taken up a month. The bit I don't understand was that Griphook identified one of the wands as Bellatrix's, so when the goblin in Gringotts asked for it, why didn't they just hand it over?

 

All that said, I could hardly have enjoyed it more, and combined with Pt.1 it is my favourite movie of the series. I don't think I can pick an highlight, but I will just mention the scene at Kings Cross when Harry wakes up, because the rest of the film is so dark yet that was just so bright & white, really liked the contrast.

The bit I don't understand was that Griphook identified one of the wands as Bellatrix's, so when the goblin in Gringotts asked for it, why didn't they just hand it over?

I wondered that too!

*****SPOILERS MAY BE AHEAD******

 

Are we meant to assume that Hermione had some spare Polyjuice Potion prepared just in case, or spare from when they used it in Pt.1? Otherwise that would've taken up a month. The bit I don't understand was that Griphook identified one of the wands as Bellatrix's, so when the goblin in Gringotts asked for it, why didn't they just hand it over?

 

All that said, I could hardly have enjoyed it more, and combined with Pt.1 it is my favourite movie of the series. I don't think I can pick an highlight, but I will just mention the scene at Kings Cross when Harry wakes up, because the rest of the film is so dark yet that was just so bright & white, really liked the contrast.

For the first bit, I think they had some left over, although I'm not sure - there could've just been a passage of time to prevent it dragging on.

 

The second one, the Death Eaters informed the Ministry that Bellatrix's wand was stolen, but I think Hermione did produce it in the book, before the Goblin became suspicious, knowing it couldn't be Bella, so they'll have just shortened it.

In the book, doesn't

Trelawney drop a crystal ball on Greyback's head, after Hermione blasts him back off Lavender with a spell? Then Lavender 'feebly stirs' so I think she was meant to survive in the book, they just changed it for the film.

Just to point out to all of you, we didn't see

how Fred, Tonks or Lupin died in the book so why would we need to see it here?

 

 

It was quite true to the book I felt, apart from the odd change, the only criticism I'd agree with is that I'd have liked the

Voldemort/harry showdown to have kept the speech and been in the Great Hall too

.

Just to point out to all of you, we didn't see

how Fred, Tonks or Lupin died in the book so why would we need to see it here?

I pointed that out on the last page -

though we did see how Fred died in the book (and we saw a tiny bit in the film)