"Harry Potter" isn't just getting older, he's getting stronger.
The Warner Bros. franchise got off to its best one-day start Friday, grossing an estimated $61.2 million at the domestic box office, according to studio data.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" is on pace to finish the weekend with well over $130 million, which would be far below the $158.4 million three-day-opening record established by "The Dark Knight" in 2008 … but well above any previous three-day start for a "Potter" film.
("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" had the franchise's previous best debut, breaking out to $102.7 million in November 2005.
Only one other film opened wide Friday, with Lionsgate's Paul Haggis-directed "The Next Three Days" not even able to match the bottom side of its entirely soft projections, grossing just $2.2 million.
The film was shot on a budget of just over $30 million, but Lionsgate garnered around $25 million in foreign sales for the caper picture, which stars Russell Crowe as an Average Joe who tries to break his wife (Elizabeth Banks) out of prison.
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Finishing in second place Friday, DreamWorks Animation's "Megamind" grossed $3.7 million, upping its domestic total to $97 million after 15 days of release.
Even by DWA's recent up-and-down standards, that's not good — "How to Train Your Dragon," which started softer, had $115.7 million in domestic revenue over the same timespan last spring.
Here's how the top 10 finished Friday. Report continues below chart:
Despite "Potter's" entirely strong start, the North American box office was off 22 percent from the same weekend last year, with the even stronger $72 million opening powering the comparable 2009 box-office weekend.
But Warner, which is opening "Deathly Hallows 1" in most foreign territories, as well as 4,125 domestic outlets, will take the $61.2 million, no problem.
The film grossed $24 million even before the sun came up in North America Friday, with about 3,700 locations offering midnight presentations.
