(EW.com) -- Well done, Potter.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1" posted the franchise's best opening ever by grossing $125.1 million this weekend, according to studio estimates. That figure smashes the wizarding series' prior opening-weekend record of $102.7 million, held by 2005's "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire".
The new Potter flick also registered the sixth-largest opening weekend of all time, landing just behind this year's "Iron Man 2," which debuted to $128.1 million in May.
"Deathly Hallows" launched its weekend spell late Thursday night when 3,700 theaters screened the PG-13 fantasy movie at midnight. Some theaters arranged showings as late as 3:15 a.m.
The movie gathered $24 million from those screenings en route to a Friday tally of $61.2 million, the fifth-best opening day, period. After Friday, "Deathly Hallows" essentially followed the box-office trajectory of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," which was released on the same November weekend last year.
"New Moon" earned a record $72.7 million its opening day, and then fell 42 and 34 percent on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
"Deathly Hallows" held up a tad better, dropping 38 percent on Saturday (for $38.2 million) and an estimated 33 percent on Sunday (for $25.8 million). While Warner Bros. may have preferred a somewhat steadier ride from "Deathly Hallows," no one's complaining, least of all moviegoers. CinemaScore audiences gave the movie an "A" grade.
The weekend's other new wide release, the break-my-wife-out-of-prison thriller "The Next Three Days," could have used a charm or two.
The $30 million movie landed in fifth place and earned an estimated $6.8 million, star Russell Crowe's worst opening since 2006's "A Good Year".
However, 83 percent of the PG-13 film's audience was more than 25, and the older a movie's crowd gets, the less likely they are to immediately rush out and see it. With a "B+" rating from CinemaScore audiences, Lionsgate is hoping the picture will benefit from good word-of-mouth during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Despite having to play second fiddle to a teenage wizard, DreamWorks Animation's "Megamind" slid a respectable 45 percent for $16.2 million. After three weeks, the superhero comedy has collected $109.5 million.
In third place was the Denzel Washington runaway-train thriller "Unstoppable," which grossed $13.1 million its second week, a deceleration of 42 percent.
Landing in fourth place, the road-trip comedy "Due Date," starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis, held up better than expected its third week. The R-rated film dropped 41 percent for $9.2 million, bringing its cumulative total to $72.7 million.
In limited release, the Oscar-hopeful "Made in Dagenham," starring Sally Hawkins as an activist who leads the charge for female equal pay in 1960s England, debuted in three theaters and earned a decent $41,100.
"White Material," the French film by acclaimed director Claire Denis, also premiered in three theaters and grossed $36,300.
And Danny Boyle's "127 Hours" continued to perform well as it gradually expands. The true-story drama, starring James Franco as a mountain climber who gets trapped by a boulder, took in $915,000 from 108 locations.
Check back next week as four movies -- "Burlesque," "Faster," "Love and Other Drugs" and "Tangled" -- launch on Wednesday for the extended Thanksgiving weekend.
Which one will play the role of the turkey?
CNN
