Only Harry Potter could work this kind of movie magic.
Warner Bros.’ “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2” is already headed for a record-breaking opening this weekend, with more than $40 million in advance ticket sales, according to Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. executive vice president of distribution. Most of those pre-sold tickets are for midnight showings.
Several New York area theaters yesterday were scrambling to add screenings to accommodate huge advance ticket sales on the final installment of the J.K. Rowling series that has followed the boy wizard.
One AMC Loews Cinema in Kips Bay posted a 6:20 a.m. showtime. “Deathly Hallows 2,” which opened at midnight, is showing in 4,375 theaters.
“We’ve recorded over 100 sold-out show times for Manhattan,” said Harry Medved, a spokesman for movie content and ticket sales site Fandango. “That’s very unusual for any movie and it’s pretty extraordinary to see a movie sold out at every screen on the island in the middle of the night.”
Hollywood is wondering if the weekend box office will top that of another Warner Bros. blockbuster “Dark Knight,” which pulled in a weekend tally of $160 million.
According to a survey by Fandango, 62 percent of respondents said they would see the movie more than once. It also received a 97 percent positive rating on review aggregator Rottentomatoes.com.
Joel Cohen, CEO of Movietickets.com, which also sells advance tickets, said the movie was on track to be the second most popular advance seller of all time and that ticket sales had surpassed the previous Potter installment. The record-holder is “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”
“We are seeing a tremendous amount of activity, it’s very positive,” said Cohen. “It’s unfortunate it’s coming to an end.”
Cohen declined to give specific advance sales figures.
