Without a doubt, one of the most anticipated movies of the summer had to have been Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. This was one movie that avid fans had waited for since the novel’s release back in July 2007. The wait was finally over on July 15, 2011, when the second part of the final movie was released in theaters. With advance tickets selling out fast, more than 2,000 shows were sold out even before the day came. In fact, the film made over $32 million in advance ticket sales alone. So was the movie what fans expected it to be? Whether it was or not, The Deathly Hallows – Part 2 shattered the midnight box office record and made $43.5 million before dawn, all from excited fans of the series waiting to find out if it was.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was the final adventure of the Harry Potter film series. Based on J.K. Rowling’s seventh and final book, the movie was split into two separate films. With the good and evil forces against each other and the wizarding world of Harry Potter in a full out war, it was time for the ultimate showdown between Harry himself and Lord Voldemort. As Warner Brothers said; “it all ends here.” And indeed it did end with this final film. It was not only the end of the franchise, but more of an end of an era that’s lasted over a decade. That being said, it was most important to fans that this final film was done correctly and that the final Harry Potter movie went out with a bang, along with being very true to the novel as well.
While, many fans thought that the first installment was a slow, character driven movie, based on the wanderings and quiet moments of the trio as they searched for the Horcruxes, critics agree that this second installment was the best of all of the Harry Potter films, especially in regards to action and heartbreak. At only two hours and ten minutes, the movie was in fact the shortest of all the Harry Potter films, but it can easily be labeled as the best films in the franchise. It had everything fans of the series could ask for: action, adventure, romance, comedy, and most importantly closure.
Though many fans of both the books and the movies will complain that there were important things omitted from the movie, it’s important to remember that books and movies are wired differently. Not everything from the book can be included in the movie, and in-depth explanations of things are difficult to incorporate when an audience’s attention is at stake. Ultimately, with the help of the final book being separated into two films, the final film was able to stay as close as possible to the book, even incorporating some of the scenes word for word as originally written.
The film itself has already broken numerous records as it’s been in theatres including shattering the midnight box office record, holding the opening day record, and the opening weekend box office record, raking in $475.5 million worldwide. In fact, according to mugglenet.com, “in a single day, Deathly Hallows: Part 2 took in more money than four of the previous seven Harry Potter films did over their entire opening weekends.” While it moved into a week in theatres, the franchise passed Star Wars as the highest-grossing film franchise of all time. (I expect making eight movies had something to do with it.) On July 30, 2011, the film officially hit one billion in ticket sales, making it the top earner in the series. And finally, on August 7, the film placed itself in the number three spot of all-time moves, passing The Return of the King.” Now Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is only behind Titanic and Avatar. So most likely, third place is where the film is going to stay, unless it makes an additional $700 million to make it past Titanic and win the second place spot.
