Sebastian Calbet

July 19, 2011

Highest grossing franchise in history. The Harry Potter series of movies has come to a close.

Not all will experience the loss of anticipating the next movie release, the studios will keep the 8 movies alive, no doubt.

There was a reason for joy and celebration this past weekend as the receipts from worldwide movie-goers poured in like magic. According to Entertainment Weekly, the movie grossed a jaw-dropping $542.5 million world-wide in the opening weekend alone, thusly breaking several box office records including the highest midnight gross, the highest single-day gross, the highest domestic weekend gross, and highest Imax opening weekend gross.

Truly, the term epic definitely applies here.  Nothing will quite match the last fourteen years, though, when childhood was framed for many by the reliable time-released progression of the "Potter" books and films.

Those who, at age fifteen, discovered "The Sorcerer’s Stone" when it was first published will be twenty-nine when they see "Deathly Hallows, Part 2" this week, perhaps with children of their own.

I recall standing in a midnight line at a Borders bookstore waiting for the release of a Harry Potter book in New Orleans, Louisiana with a friend of mine and his young daughter, dressed in a character's garb. I was actually caught up in the moment along with the other parents and children. 

Funny, even as the final curtain closes at the theaters, Borders is facing its final closing procedures as well. The young lady I stood beside during the hours long line, well, she's in her second year of university. She wants to open a public relations firm.

Farewell to the Harry Potter films and the record-setting franchise. As the actors return to school during the fall. I am certain fans will continue discussing their love for Harry Potter and grateful to J.K. Rowling for putting pen to paper over a decade ago.

Enjoy The Trailer Here: http://emergingmagazine.com/group/movietrailers/forum/topics/harry-potter-and-the-deathly