Global 2011: 'Harry Potter' - Celebrating the End of a Legendary Movie Franchise

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The legendary "Harry Potter" franchise releases its final movie after almost one decade of capturing the interest and imagination of people around the world. Producing eight successful movies in a span of 10 years is quite an accomplishment. From the iconic performances that catapulted Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), and many other British talents into international stardom to the very long list of filmmaking talents who received varying accolades for their works, the "Harry Potter" movie franchise has much to leave for film historians to chronicle.

The "Harry Potter" movies employed over 2,000 filmmaking talents on and off screen. So far, it has already reaped more than $6.3 billion in worldwide earnings. It also continues to rake in more financial rewards through the home movie market, a number of "Harry Potter" merchandise items, its video game offerings, and many other money-making endeavors.

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/yahoo-contributor-network/harry-potter-facts-and-insights-celebrating-end-legendary-movie-franchise

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Global 2010: Top 10 Trailers of 2010

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The ten most popular videos nabbed nearly 80 million views. Many of the expected flicks featuring imperiled wizards and sparkly vampires and shiny superheroes made the list, but one movie about aging action stars also did remarkably well.

10) Thor

9) Sex and the City 2

8) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

7) Shrek Forever After

6) Toy Story 3

5) Alice In Wonderland

4) The Expendables

3) Iron Man 2

2) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1

1) The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

http://blog.movies.yahoo.com/blog/332-top-10-trailers-of-2010

Global 2010: Is Harry Potter Still Number 1?

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LOS ANGELES - A fairy-tale princess gave young wizard Harry Potter a run for his money at the weekend box office.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" remained the No. 1 movie with $50.3 million over Thanksgiving weekend, closely followed by the animated musical "Tangled" with $49.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The next-to-last "Harry Potter" movie raised its domestic total to $220.4 million after just 10 days in theaters, according to distributor Warner Bros. The film also has taken in $389.2 million overseas, giving it a worldwide total of $609.6 million.

"Tangled" is the latest Disney cartoon musical, with Mandy Moore providing the voice of fairy-tale princess Rapunzel. The movie raised its five-day total to $69 million since opening the day before Thanksgiving.

While "Deathly Hallows" continued to work box-office magic, Disney's "Tangled" far exceeded industry expectations, delivering the second-biggest Thanksgiving debut ever behind "Toy Story 2," which had a $57.4 million opening.

Disney head of distribution Chuck Viane said the studio would have been happy if "Tangled" had matched the $34 million debut of its hit "Enchanted" over Thanksgiving 2007. "Tangled" not only shot past that mark but also challenged "Harry Potter" for the No. 1 spot.

"That was the last thing we were thinking of, but it sure is nice to be even thought of in that situation," Viane said. "'Potter' is such a huge hit. To be that close, it was amazing."

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/harry-potter-leads-holiday-weekend-with-503m-ap

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• 'Harry Potter' outdoes 'Tangled' by a hair (sfgate.com)
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