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Wizard wins box office bank

By Staff | Jul 27, 2011

Based on results tallied by Box Office Mojo.com, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” has put the franchise ahead in the raw numbers tally. Potter flicks have amassed $2.195 billion dollars to-date, which narrowly ousts George Lucas’ “Star Wars” series, which has $1.918 billion in sales. Another site, the-numbers.com, disagrees showing “Star Wars” at $2.226 billion and Potter at $2.177 billion.

Rounding out the top five, James Bond ($1.608.5); Batman ($1.449) and a virtual tie for #5-#6-#7, Pirates of the Caribbean ($1.275.5), Shrek ($1.270.3) and Spider-Man ($1.113.8).

Mojo’s tabulations then have Lord of the Rings ($1.060.7), Transformers ($1.030.1), Star Trek ( $1.013.3), and just under the big Billions club, X-Men ($930.0 million) and Indiana Jones (903.7 million).

The Box Office Mojo figures are not adjusted for inflation. The site’s primary expert, Brandon Gray, estimates that in terms of viewers , well, the Skywalker team has it light sabers down.

Gray analyzes, “the eight Harry Potter movies have had 57 percent of the impact of seven ‘Star Wars’ movies.” He adds, that the initial “Star Wars” releases (the early films have had multiple re-releases) have more attendees than Potter.

How about the whole planet? What’s more popular world-wide? Surprise. There’s something about that young wizard tallying $6.858 billion. However, it’s Bond (whether Connery, Moore , Dalton or Craig) whose 23 films have grossed $5.074 billion at #2, followed by the George Lucas sci-fi masterpieces, “Star Wars” with $4.411 billion.

Johnny Depp’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” takes fourth place ($3.709 billion), with the green ogre, “Shrek” at $2.956 and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy close by ($2.914). Worldwide, Batman, Spider-Man and Transformers follow in that order.

Finally, you will notice some genres have been omitted. Anyone care for a comedy or romance? What about horror? Using U.S. gross results from the-numbers.com, “Meet the Parents” qualifies for the comedy, along with the two “Hangovers,” the “Home Alone” series, and “Ghostbusters.”

The “Mummy” has things wrapped with U.S. totals in the $459 million range, the slasher spoofs, “Scary Movie” tally about $429 million and that cannibal Hannibal Lecter has gobbled $425 million.

Contact Tony at

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