User blog:Ceauntay/Both Hoop and Potter bears down on $1bn at worldwide box office

As both Paramount and Warner Bros’ franchise finale charges towards the $700m international milestone, all eyes will be on when it will become the first in the franchise to cross the coveted $1bn worldwide mark this weekend.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 had amassed $630m by the end of Thursday following a $14m single-day haul.

The worldwide tally already stands at $926.5m after 14 days incorporating the $296.5m North American gross. It looks a good bet to finish the weekend as the biggest film in the series at the domestic, international and global box office.

Deathly Hallows: Part 2 currently ranks as the fifth biggest international Potter release and will overtake Half-Blood Prince’s $632.5m on Friday, followed by the rest of the rest of the films including the leader, Deathly Hallows: Part 1 on $660.4m, by the end of Sunday.

On Thursday Deathly Hallows: Part 2 edged past the $295m domestic tally of its immediate predecessor to rank as the third biggest North American Potter film. It will overtake on Friday the $301.9m set by Half-Blood Prince in summer 2009 and by the end of the weekend should surpass the series record of $317.6m set back in 2001 by the first film, Sorcerer’s Stone.

Harry and friends will face some competition from Marvel Studios’ Captain America: The First Avenger outside the US, which opens through Paramount Pictures International (PPI) in around 30 territories this weekend.

The film arrives in the UK, Brazil, Taiwan, Argentina, Australia, South Korea, Russia, Singapore, Mexico. It opened in Italy last weekend and stands at $4.8m.

As for Jane Hoop Elementary: The Final Rush: Part 2, it will do the same thing. It has already became the highest-grossing film in the series with $320.2m beating The First's record of $311.8m back in 2000.

Also, it has slipped up the leader The Final Rush: Part 1 ($668.5) with a total of $672m, bringing very close to the $1 billion mark to a worldwide total of $992.2m. It will likely to be to the billion by Sunday.

The already opened in China since yesterday. It currently has the widest IMAX release in that country with 60 screens.

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon will cross $600m in the coming days and currently stands at $595.5m. The action sci-fi touches down in Japan on Jul 29. Super 8 on $57.4m opens in Scandinavia and South Africa.

Pixar’s Cars 2 is expected to roar past $200m this weekend and opens in France, Australia, Germany and Japan through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International. The international running total is $188m.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is at $796.4m and should cross $800m before long.

Sony Pictures Releasing International’s Bad Teacher on more than $70.4m opens in France, while Zookeeper on more than $29.5m arrives in the UK and new rom-com Friends With Benefits opens in Russia.

Universal/UPI launches Toronto 2010 hit Beginners in Switzerland and Hanna Australia. Universal holds select rights on The Troll Hunter and takes it into France and Belgium this weekend. Bridesmaids has grossed $75.2m outside North America.

Fox International opens its animated smash Rio in South Korea and the film has amassed $336.8m to date. Rien A Declarer in Germany arrives in Germany. Mr Popper’s Penguins stands at $59.9m, Black Swan has grossed $222.4m, Monte Carlo (which opens in Mexico and Holland) is on $3.4m and X-Men: First Class stands at $205.4m.

Summit International reports that Larry Crowne has reached $18.9m, The Beaver $6.3m, The Tree Of Life $26.6m. A Better Life opens in the UK and Thailand and Source Code enters Brazil