Update: 'Deathly Hallows' breaks records; 'OotP' drops a notch
July 23, 2007 at 10:21 AM ET
Geri
HPANA
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As excepted the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows broke records this weekend with Scholastic reporting that 8.3 million copies were sold in the first 24 hours in the U.S., while UK publisher Bloomsbury sold 2.6 million copies in the same time period.
In a statement on Sunday Scholastic president Lisa Holton said:
The excitement, anticipation, and just plain hysteria that came over the entire country this weekend was a bit like the Beatles' first visit to the US.
This weekend kids and adults alike are sitting on buses, in the park, on airplanes and in restaurants reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The conversations the readers have been waiting to have for 10 years have just begun.
UPDATE: Results worldwide indicate that 72 million copies of the book were sold over the weekend.
The fifth movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix fell a notch to the number 2 spot in weekend sales. The drop was anticipated because of the release of the seventh book with Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.' head of distribution commenting:
They wanted to get that book Saturday, lock themselves in the house and read it, because they didn't want their other friends by Monday telling them who made it and who didn't.
Order of the Phoenix took in an estimated $32.2 million over the weekend for a $207.5 million total in 12 days in the U.S and over $558.8 million worldwide, which is slightly ahead of the last picture, Goblet of Fire, after 12 days.