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The final Harry Potter film was set to smash box office records on both sides of the Atlantic this weekend after reports that US ticket sales on Friday were the biggest in the history of Hollywood.

In the final, climactic confrontation between the forces of good and evil in the world of wizardry, there was already one clear victor

– the studio, Warner Bros.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2

opened just after midnight on Friday in both

Britain and America. It made more than £9

million in its first day in British cinemas,

easily eclipsing the previous record of £5.9

million made by the first instalment of

Deathly Hallows.

It will almost certainly overtake the British

record for an opening weekend – also held

by the first Deathly Hallows film, which

earned £18.3 million in its first three days

last November. The new film is expected to

make more than £20 million over its

opening weekend.

Deathly Hallows Part 2 is also on course to

surpass the British box office record set by

the film adaptation of the musical Mamma

Mia!, starring Meryl Streep, which made £69

million throughout its run.

In the US, the film took $43.5 million (£27

million) for midnight showings and an

estimated further $40 million during the day

on Friday.

That put the total one-day earnings at more

than $80 million, comfortably above the

previous US one-day record, set by Twilight

Saga: New Moon with $72 million.

Earnings were bolstered by higher ticket

prices for the movie's 3D version.

"Records will fly out of the window this

weekend," a studio executive said. "All 3D

theatres sold out to excellent reactions."

In the US, there were predictions that the

film – the eighth and last in the Harry Potter

series – would earn $180 million by tonight,

far exceeding the previous record for an

opening three-day weekend, held by Dark

Knight, the 2008 Batman movie, which

grossed $158 million.

Even before this phenomenal opening, the

first seven films based on the books by JK

Rowling were the largest-grossing franchise

in history, with worldwide box office

takings of $6.4 billion. The film's premiere in

London on July 7 drew crowds from around

the world, with fans queuing for more than

24 hours in the rain to catch a glimpse of

the film's stars, Daniel Radcliffe, a tearful

Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint (all pictured

above) at their final promotion of the

franchise.

Josh Berger, the president and managing

director of Warner Brothers UK, said: "This is

completely unchartered territory. The books

and films are so beloved and have such

broad appeal. Because this is the final

chapter, it seems to be attracting even more

fans than ever before."

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