Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 soars to a record-breaking opening weekend of £18.3m at the UK box office.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, beginning the final adventure in the Harry Potter film series, has made cinema history at the UK box office this weekend, breaking records for the biggest three day opening, the biggest single day, the biggest Friday, the biggest Saturday and the biggest Sunday of all time at UK cinemas.
These phenomenal records were previously held by Quantum of Solace who held the biggest three day opening and the biggest ever Friday with £15,384,217 and £4,957,917 respectively and the fourth in the Harry Potter film series, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire holding the previous records for the biggest single day and the biggest Saturday at UK cinemas with £5,657,391 and the biggest Sunday with £5,254,223.
“The opening of this film has become an extraordinary worldwide event,” said Josh Berger, President and Managing Director of Warner Bros. Entertainment UK. “These remarkable box office numbers are a testament to the talents of the filmmakers, cast and to the vision of J.K. Rowling, the creator of this magical world. We congratulate everyone involved in the film, all of whom share in this success.”
In addition to holding the all-time franchise box office record—with a collective worldwide gross of more than $5.4 billion—all six previous Harry Potter films have the distinction of being among the 20 top-grossing box office hits of all time internationally. The seventh title, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is a motion picture event in two full-length parts, with Part 2 opening on July 15, 2011.
Heading the cast, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson reprise the roles of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The film’s ensemble cast also includes Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Richard Griffiths, John Hurt, Rhys Ifans, Jason Isaacs, Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, David Thewlis, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton, Toby Jones, David Legeno, Simon McBurney, Helen McCrory, Nick Moran, Peter Mullan, David O’Hara, Clémence Poésy, Natalia Tena, Julie Walters, Mark Williams and Bonnie Wright.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 was directed by David Yates, who also helmed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. David Heyman, the producer of all of the Harry Potter films, again produced the film, together with David Barron and J.K. Rowling. Steve Kloves adapted the screenplay, based on the novel by J.K. Rowling. Lionel Wigram is the executive producer, with John Trehy and Tim Lewis serving as co-producers.
Behind the scenes, the creative team was led by director of photography Eduardo Serra, production designer Stuart Craig, editor Mark Day, composer Alexandre Desplat, visual effects supervisor Tim Burke, and costume designer Jany Temime.
Concurrently with its theatrical release, the film is being released in select IMAX® theatres. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 has been digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience® through proprietary IMAX DMR® technology.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Heyday Films Production, a David Yates Film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, being distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures’ 22nd November 2010
