'Harry Potter: Deathly Hollows' Fell Short of 'Eclipse' Midnight Record

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 conjured a lively $24 million in estimated box-office from a record 3,700 theaters in the U.S. and Canada offering midnight-Thursday performances of the action fantasy.
Its midnight box office fell just short of record territory. Last summer’s The Twilight Saga: Eclipse rung up $30 million in witching-hour coin as part of its $68.5 million first-day tally on Wednesday, June 30.

But for IMAX...
Midnight receipts for Hallows: Part 1 included $1.4 million from high-grossing Imax specialty venues. That is a record, surpassing Imax’s $1 million midnight contribution by Summit Entertainment’s Eclipse. More at TheHollywoodReporter

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows brought in $24 million across the nation last night, as fans lined up for midnight showings of this blockbuster. While impressive, though, that tally falls short of two Twilight Saga installments.
The record-holder for midnight showing haul is Eclipse, which earned $30 million during the first two hours of its release. That figure topped the previous best: New Moon's $26.3 million. The HollywoodGossip Tnx @tailien

More numbers from Larry Richman of Pronetworks @larry411
"For those who asked: Twilight Fri 36M, New Moon Fri 72.7M, Eclipse Wednesday 68.5M (Opening Numbers)
Opening wknd record holders: #1 Dark Knight 158.4M, #2 Spidey 3 151.1M, #3 New Moon 142.8M, #4 Pirates Chest 135.6M, #5 Iron Man 2 128.1M
Opening day record holders: #1 New Moon 72.7M, #2 Eclipse 68.5M, #3 Dark Knight 67.2M, #4 Trans Fallen 62M, #5 Spidey 3 59.8M"
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