Final `Harry Potter` film sets global opening-weekend mark

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," the eighth and final movie of the Harry Potter series, has set a global opening-weekend record.

Warner Bros. Pictures said Monday that the movie took in 475.6 million U.S. dollars worldwide over the weekend, eclipsing "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" in 2009 that opened with 394 million dollars.

Opening at more than 4,000 theaters in the U.S. and Canada Friday, the final Harry Potter film brought in 168.6 million dollars over the weekend, breaking the previous North American mark of 158.4 million dollars earned by "The Dark Knight" in 2008.

"Deathly Hallows Part 2" also topped the Korean box office over the weekend. According to Korean Film Council, the movie sold 1.29 million tickets (50.5 percent) on 813 screens nationwide over the weekend after opening Wednesday, topping the record set by "Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon," which opened on June 29 in more than 1,200 screens.

"Transformers 3" opened in 877 theaters in Korea on its opening weekend but attracted just 637,106 viewers (24.9 percent), falling to second place. The film has had 6.93 million viewers in Korea and is expected to top 7 million this week.

bluedot@donga.com