Harry Potter is now the top-grossing franchise of all time!

Box Office Mojo has the details on this financial landmark:

On Wednesday, Harry Potter edged out Star Wars to become the top-grossing franchise of all time. The eight Potter movies have accumulated $2.223 billion, compared to $2.218 billion for Star Wars. They're also the only two franchises to have crossed the $2 billion mark, though James Bond and Batman would join the party when adjusted for ticket price inflation.

Star Wars still trumps Potter in terms of estimated attendance, more than doubling the wizard wunderkind. It even maintains most of that margin when its re-releases are factored out.

Harry Potter shatters the midnight screening record!

Not a huge surprise, but still noteworthy. The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop:

Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 cast a powerful spell at the midnight box office, grossing a massive $43.5 million, the best showing of all time.

The previous crown holder was The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which earned $30 million in midnight shows.

Deathly Hallows has already grossed north of $100 million at the worldwide box office, and the weekend is yet to come. The pic began rolling out internationally on Wednesday, earning $43.6 million from 26 countries. Numbers for Thursday weren’t immediately available.

At the domestic box office, Deathly Hallows 2 played in 3,800 midnight runs. Friday, the pic moves into a total of 4,300 theaters, including 3,000 3D runs.

Bridesmaids is now Judd Apatow's highest grossing film...

...and is about to break some more box office related records, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

With hits like The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad, producer-director Judd Apatow has spent the past decade as Hollywood's king of guy humor. But the Apatow-produced, female-driven comedy Bridesmaids is on track to pass Knocked Up on Wednesday night as the highest-grossing domestic movie of Apatow's career.

That’s not all. Projections show that by Sunday or Monday, Universal's Bridesmaids -- directed by Paul Feig -- will supplant Sex and the City as the top R-rated female comedy of all time domestically.

Through Tuesday, Bridesmaids' North America gross was $148.1 million, just behind Knocked Up, which cumed $148.8 million in 2007, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, which earned $148.2 million domestically in 2006. Barring unforeseen interference from the Transformers sequel, Bridesmaids should pass both those movies Wednesday night.

Apatow directed and produced Knocked Up and produced Talladega Nights. Both were bigger hits overseas, with Knocked Up still serving as Apatow's top worldwide grosser at $219 million. Bridesmaids has made $21 million internationally but is still rolling out in many territories, where it is off to a phenomenal start.

In the U.S., Bridesmaids was released May 13 and is still playing in a little fewer than 2,000 theaters. Sex and the City grossed $153 million in 2008 but had the advantage of being based on a popular HBO series, which contributed to a whopping $57 million opening weekend. Bridesmaids, on the other hand, opened at a strong-but-not-blockbuster $26 million yet has continued to lure audiences based on strong word-of-mouth.

Bridesmaids also will become Universal’s top R-rated comedy of all time, replacing Knocked Up. The film stars Kristin Wiig -- who co-wrote the script with Annie Mumolo -- Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper and Wendi McLendon-Covey.

-Joey's Two Cents: It couldn't have happened to a better film...thoughts?