Harry Potter Rakes In $476 Million Worldwide & Crushes Box Office Records

The final installment of the Harry Potter franchise is saying goodbye to Harry and his Wizard friends in style by selling a staggering $476 million in tickets around the world over the weekend. Here are some other records Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 has crushed along the way since its premiere Friday:

  • The biggest-ever midnight premiere gross ($43.5 million) – surpassing the $72.7 million generated by The Twilight Saga: New Moon in 2009. 
  • The biggest-ever single day haul ($92.1 million).
  • The biggest-ever IMAX opening ($15.5 million).
  • The biggest-ever opening three-day total ($168.8 million) – The Dark Knight previously held that record with $158.4 million.

Harry Potter Deathly Hallows 2 Demolishes Box Office Records

Twihards, we lose this one. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 crushed box office records for best midnight debut of a movie and largest opening day, both of which were previously held by Twilight films.

Early estimates have Potter grossing $92.1 million on Friday, absolutely demolishing The Twilight Saga: New Moon’s record of $72.7 million. The film’s midnight screenings accounted for $43.5 million of Potter’s opening day, surpassing The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’s $30 million midnight tally.

Here are estimates for top 5 movies so far this weekend of July 15-16, 2011:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2, $92.1 mil
2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon, $6.3 mil
3. Horrible Bosses, $5.5 mil
4. Zookeeper, $3.9 mil
5. Winnie the Pooh, $2.9 mil

Arnold Schwarzenegger Gets New Movie Role

Anyone predicting an early demise for Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s movie career may be eating crow some time very soon.

Before news broke out about Arnold’s affair, he was to start in the movie, The Last Stand

His movie career was placed on indefinite hiatus and many wondered if Arnold could ever re-ignite that career path. 
But now, it seems that we’re back to where we were pre-scandal and the Last Stand filmmakers still want him for the role. And Arnold has agreed.

The movie is reportedly about “an old-fashioned Western specifically designed for a 63-year-old broken-down guy with a moral decision [and] whether Arnold decides to stand up for his town.” 

Sounds pretty true to life.

Justin Timberlake: “OOPS! My Mom Caught Me In Bed”

Justin Timberlake and his Friends with Benefits co star, Mila Kunis, are usually pretty hush on their private lives and their interview with Elle mag proved no exception.

When asked about dating in Hollywood, Timberlake, who recently split with Jessica Biel but rumored to be on the mends with her, said in the mag, “I’m not equipped to answer that right now.” Kunis was even more coy in her response: “I haven’t dated ever.” Interesting response for the actress who was in a longterm relationship with Macaulay Culkin.

Timberlake may have brought sexy back, but in this issue, he admits to a very non-sexy embarrassing moment early in his life: “I was caught one time. My mom wasn’t cool about it. I was too young to be in bed with a girl, so she was upset.” And Kunis? She has the opposite situation: “I don’t think my parents think I’ve ever had sex.”

Timberlake and Kunis have been working overtime to promote their upcoming movie. They even recently filmed a PSA asking Facebook to add a “Friends With Benefits status”. You can watch that PSA below. 

But in all seriousness, Timberlake says in real life, being friends with benefits is a terrible idea: “It is such a good idea—until it’s a bad idea.”

Kunis agrees, “Ultimately, it ends when someone wants to go and get serious with somebody. More times than not, a person catches feelings and somebody gets hurt.” 

About showing too much of his body in the movie, Timberlake says, “I’ll be honest and say, like, I’m still trying to get into the editing room and cut down on my ass time. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, my mom’s gonna see that!”

Watch the Friends with Benefits PSA below:

Kristen Stewart Gets New Trilogy Movie Role

Kristen Stewart was just named Forbes‘ 5th highest paid actress, making $20 million between May 2010 and May 2011.

But just when it looked like the money well might run dry for the 21-year old actress, Stewart is stepping from one movie saga coming to an end into another one set to begin filming this August.

The actress who became a household name through the Twilight series, just signed on to play an iconic fairy tale character in Snow White and the Huntsman. But that’s not all…the film’s producer, Joe Roth, has now revealed that Huntsman is being conceived as the first film in a new folklore action-adventure movie trilogy.

The series will also star Thor‘s Chris Hemsworth as the title character and Charlize Theron as her wicked royal highness.

Per EWHuntsman will be conjured up as a Lord of the Rings’-style take on the centuries-old tale,” setting the stage for future installments. “It’s meant to be the first in a series of films,” producer Joe Roth told EW. “This story will end, but there will be questions remaining for these three characters.”
So, looks like Stewart will have a flourishing movie career for years to come even after Twilight permanently goes into dark…I am sure same can be said for newcomer Hemsworth who will probably be juggling future Huntsman films with more Thor installments. 

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Sets Box Office Record…Without Megan Fox

Looks like Shia LaBeouf does not need Megan Fox by his side to shatter box office records. Transformers: Dark of the Moon set a 4th of July weekend record with an estimated $97.4 million in ticket sales from Friday to Sunday. Its four-day earnings estimate is at $116.4 million. The movie’s total ticket sales since its Tuesday-night preview opening is a staggering $181.1 million. The previous record for the Independence Day three-day weekend record was set by Spider-Man 2 which brought in $88.2 million.

On the other end of the spectrum was another new release, Selena Gomez‘ Monte Carlo, which fizzled at the box office. The movie made only $8.8 million with a reported budget of $20 million. If sales do not pick up, this will be Gomez’s second straight box-office disappointment after 2010’s Ramona and Beezus.


Here are the top 10 movies for the four-day July 4 weekend:

1. Transformers: Dark of the Moon, $116.4 million, $181.1 million total to date
2. Cars 2, $32.1 million, $123.0 million
3. Bad Teacher, $17.6 million, $63.0 million
4. Larry Crowne, $15.7 million, new release
5. Super 8, $9.5 million, $110.1 million
6. Monte Carlo, $8.8 million, new release
7. Green Lantern, $8.0 million, $103.7 million
8. Mr. Popper’s Penguins, $6.9 million, $51.9 million
9. Bridesmaids, $4.4 million, $153.8 million
10. Midnight in Paris, $4.3 million, $34.5 million

Selena Gomez To Play Charlotte York On Sex & The City Prequel?

Rumors hit recently that a Sex and the City prequel may be in the works. But even if that rumor is becoming more and more confirmed lately, who could ever fill the younger Manolo Blahnik shoes of Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha, or Miranda?

Rumors have also swirled that Blake Lively could play the role of a younger Carrie Bradshaw. But we may also now have a candidate for Charlotte York, the character made famous by Kristin Davis.

Per The Daily CallerCandace Bushnell, the author of SATC, would love to have Selena Gomez take the role. “You know, I don’t know…Casting is like kismet. I’m going to get into trouble for this, but I was looking at some pictures of Selena Gomez today and thinking ‘she’d make a really good young Charlotte.'” Bushnell continued, “She’s so pretty. I was like…gosh, wouldn’t she be great? Am I right or wrong? I’m not good at this. If I say something like that, then the next thing I know, people are like, no!”

Back to the rumor of whether there will be a prequel at all, Candace also told The Daily Caller that she could see either of her two Sex and the City prequels, The Carrie Diaries or Summer and the City, being turned into a movie. “Definitely something on the screen,” Candace said. “Big or small screen.”

What do you think of the Gomez-Davis match up? I think it could work–the two do have a bit of a resemblance already even before movie makeup imposes its magical transformation.

VIDEO: Julia Roberts On Her New Movie, ‘Larry Crowne’

Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks hit the red carpet at the premiere of their new film, Larry Crowne Monday June 27, 2011 at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

Larry Crowne involves a Navy veteran (Hanks) who loses his job at a big-box store. He then enrolls in community college where he falls in love with his jaded professor (Roberts).

Larry Crowne hits theaters July 1.

Watch Roberts in the video interview below:

Cameron Diaz & Justin Timberlake Film “Most Uncomfortable Sex Scene In History.”

Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake dated each other for four years, with their relationship ending in 2007. But the famous ex’s got back together for their joint upcoming movie, Bad Teacherin what director Jake Kasdan labels the “most uncomfortable sex scene in history.”

Diaz who is always a good sport agrees. “Yes, yes. It was just [an] absurdity, a form of hilarity for all of us involved,” she told PEOPLE. “We went to work that day and said, what time do we start being ridiculous? … Eight o’clock? Perfect.”

“I guess the real truth is that they’re good friends … They’re buddies,” Kasdan said. “They got in there and started doing it. And it was so funny, we just couldn’t stop shooting it. And we were doing it almost the whole day. And really crying, laughing at the monitors.”

Can’t wait to see the movie out tomorrow? Here is a trailer:

Ryan Reynolds Wins Weekend Box Office

Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern may have won this weekend’s domestic box office, but it ranked as the weakest opening weekend box office hero so far this year. The film’s debut rang up only $52.7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates, and was outsold by X-Men: First Class (opened at $55.1 million) and Thor ($65.7 million) both of which were released earlier.

Here is the top 10 grossing movies of the weekend, June 17-19, 2011:

  • 1. Green Lantern, $52.7 million, new release
  • 2. Super 8, $21.3 million, $72.8 million to date
  • 3. Mr. Popper’s Penguins, $18.2 million, new release
  • 4. X-Men: First Class, $11.5 million, $119.9 million
  • 5. The Hangover Part II, $9.6 million, $232.7 million
  • 6. Kung Fu Panda 2, $8.7 million, $143.3 million
  • 7. Bridesmaids, $7.5 million, $136.8 million
  • 8. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, $6.2 million, $220.3 million
  • 9. Midnight in Paris, $5.2 million, $21.8 million
  • 10. Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer, $2.2 million, $11.2 million