LOS ANGELES (AP) — Harry Potter has joined the billion-dollar club.
Distributor Warner Bros. said Sunday that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office. It's soon expected to pass Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which is this year's top grossing movie at $1.03 billion.
The last of the eight films about the young wizard is the first in the franchise to reach the billion dollar mark. The previous best global haul was $974.8 million for the original film, 2001's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
With $21.9 million domestically this weekend, Deathly Hallows: Part 2 climbed to a domestic total of $318.5 million. That tops the franchise's previous best of $317.6 million for Sorcerer's Stone.
But factoring in today's higher admission prices, Deathly Hallows: Part 2 has not caught up to Sorcerer's Stone in terms of actual tickets sold.
The 2009 film Avatar holds the record for the biggest worldwide box office haul, grossing $2.8 billion. It's followed by another James Cameron film, Titanic, which brought in $1.8 billion.
