Harry Potter film shattered box office records with $168.6 million in ticket sales over its debut weekend, the best three-day opening ever in the United States and Canada, distributor Warner Bros. said on Sunday.The staggering sum for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, beat the previous record of $158.4 million over the initial three days for the 2008 Batman movie, The Dark Knight.The eighth film in the series about a teenage wizard and his friends battling against evil also set records for the largest opening-day domestic sales total, largest midnight screenings and largest opening on giant IMAX screens.
The movie took in an average $38,526 on more than 4,300 screens, according to Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc. It was the first Potter film also released in 3D.Harry Potter, already the highest-grossing film franchise ever with over $6.4 billion in global ticket sales, is based on the novels of British author J.K. Rowling.The massive numbers for Deathly Hallows - Part 2 showed the story still enchants audiences a decade after Harry's first film adventure was released. "It's become a cultural event," said Dan Fellman, head of domestic distribution for Warner Bros.