Box Office Actuals (7/15/11 - 7/17/11): Harry Potter.

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:

As I am on vacation, I apologize for the truncated version of this week's report and its tardiness. However, if this is a good week to be late on a box office report, it would be this one. Simply stated, the eighth and final entry in the "Harry Potter" film franchise, "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows - Part 2" rewrote nearly the entire record book when it comes to box office openings. People knew this would be big...but this big?

In the weekly breakdown, we will focus on the numbers from Friday through Sunday, but it should be mentioned that at the time of this report, "...Deathly Hallows Part 2" has added the record of the largest 4-day North American gross in history. All the numbers and the records broken will be itemized below.

The "Harry Potter" phenomenon has already ensured that this franchise will be the biggest grossing of all time...and with the combined worldwide gross already at the level of approximately $542 million, another record, tenuously held by the "Star Wars" franchise, will not be passed but shattered. The current domestic record holder for the series is the first entry, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" ("Philosopher's Stone" in overseas markets), which amassed $317.6 million in North America and $974 million worldwide. The lowest grossing entry in the series, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban" grossed $249.5 million domestic/$795.6 worldwide. "Deathly Hallows Part 2" may have exceeded that film's total by the start of the weekend.

A "Harry Potter" breakdown and a childhood favorite misfires, despite glowing reviews. More analysis, The Weekend Breakdown and The Top 40 after the cut!

Box Office Actuals (7/8/11 - 7/10/11) - "Transformers" Keeps Competition At Bay...

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:

"Transformers: Dark Of The Moon" retained its lockdown on the top spot of the North American Box Office totals, dipping 51.9% and grossing another $47.1 million. Overall, the third "Transformers" film is rolling along strong with a 12-day gross of $261.1 million thus far.

As impressive as that number is, the film is still lagging a distant second behind the pace set by 2009's "Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen", which had earned $293.4 million in that same stretch. 2007's "Transformers" film had banked $212.3 in its first 12 days.

Paramount executives are not only pleased with the fact that they have a massive hit on their hands domestically, but worldwide the film is delivering staggering totals. Overseas, "Transformers: Dark Of The Moon" has grossed $395 million and has tallied more than $662 million thus far. Within a week, the film will move past the first entry in the series, in terms of worldwide gross ($709 million), and the $836 million+ hauled in by "...Revenge of the Fallen" is well within reach. The only thing standing in "Transformers" way? A pesky little wizard named Harry Potter, who could potentially re-write some history books beginning this weekend.

In 2007, the first "Transformers" held the top spot for two weeks and narrowly was defeated in Week 3 by the Adam Sandler/Kevin James comedy, "I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry". In 2009, "...Revenge Of The Fallen" fell from the top after a two-week run when "Bruno" opened to the tune of $30.6 million for Sacha Baron Cohen.

Unlike the terrible 62% drop of "...Revenge of the Fallen", "...Dark Of The Moon"'s decline of slightly more than half of its opening audience was better than expected. Both films have held decent in their respective third weekends, but they have never faced the likes of a "Harry Potter" film. The "Harry Potter" series finale has the potential to surpass this year's biggest opening weekend of 2011 - the $97.8 million opening for "Transformers: Dark Of The Moon".

Can raunchy R-rated comedy continue to deliver big numbers? Can Kevin James overcome the worst reviews of his career? And which documentary had a massive opening weekend per-screen average? You might be surprised with the answers and the Top 40...after the cut!

Today's Posters: Larry Crowne, Friends with Benefits, Project Nim, and Horrible Bosses

The rest after the cut...