8.49 million pounds!
That's right, the movie "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" grossed 8.49 million pounds on its opening day in 620 British cinemas, which is equivalent to 12 million US dollars.
It might not seem like much~
The "Spider-Man" movie grossed over 40 million US dollars on its opening day in America.
But!
You have to realize, this is the British Isles, a small country!
An opening day box office of 8.49 million pounds is already the top of the daily box office charts for the entire year of 2000!
The Times immediately published an article stating: "Harry Potter's first-day box office of 8.49 million pounds ranks first in the daily box office for 2000. Looking at British film history, it ranks third on the all-time daily box office list, second only to 'The Lion King' released in 1995 and 'Titanic' released in 1998!"
"In terms of daily box office alone, it surpassed 'Star Wars: Episode I' released in 1999, 'Toy Story 2' released in early 2000, and 'The Full Monty' released in 1997..."
The entire article was a song of praise for "Harry Potter."
Similarly, other local British media peers, not wanting to be left out, wrote and published articles one after another.
The Daily Mirror published: "The 'Harry Potter' movie is expected to become the 2000 UK box office champion!"
The Sun published: "With 'Harry Potter' grossing 8.49 million pounds on its first day, its three-day opening weekend box office will surely exceed 20 million pounds. The box office results of these three days alone are enough to rank in the top 5 of this year's UK box office charts."
Top 5 on the charts?
Indeed!
As of December 9th, the top 5 of the 2000 UK box office charts were:
1. "Toy Story 2", 44.3 million pounds;
2. "Gladiator", 31.2 million pounds;
3. "chicken run", 29.5 million pounds;
4. "American Beauty",
21 million pounds;
5. "Billy Elliot", 18.3 million pounds;
Now look at the "Harry Potter" movie. With an opening day box office of 8.49 million pounds, its earnings over the next two days will certainly not be low. It will be an easy feat for the cumulative three-day box office to exceed 20 million pounds.
In just three days, it achieved a high box office that many movies couldn't reach even in half a year!
British media scrambled to report, British moviegoers followed with fervor, and local British film peers fell into a collective silence... everything left many people shocked!
The Hollywood film companies were even more bitter!
"My God, is there no end to this!"
Harvey Weinstein, President of Miramax Films, exclaimed in shock after hearing the news: "First 'Spider-Man' achieves over 900 million dollars in global box office, and now 'Harry Potter' bursts onto the scene? What, is Kyle Page everywhere?!"
Shea, the owner of New Line Cinema, was consumed with jealousy.
Patrick, one of the big three at Summit Entertainment, cried out: "Fortunately, our movie 'The Maple Family' was withdrawn from the UK in time; otherwise, we would have been crushed without a fight."
Barry Meyer of Warner Bros. raised an eyebrow and remarked: "He's struck another gold mine!"
The Hollywood peers were incredibly shaken.
But!
Beyond the shock, more Hollywood film companies sensed the scent of an impending great battle.
"Impressive~"
Gustav, the head of Lionsgate Films, laughed loudly: "I thought this Christmas season would be as boring as previous years, just watching The Big Six of Hollywood battle it out. Heh, but this year is likely to be different~"
"Since 'Harry Potter' achieved such excellent results at its UK premiere, those high-and-mighty guys from The Big Six are probably panicking now!"
In fact, that was exactly the case!
Warner Bros. Pictures had dropped out of the Christmas season competition early due to internal issues, unable to fight for the top spot. However... giants like Disney and Universal had never given up on the fight for number one.
At Paramount Pictures.
"No!"
"Absolutely not, we cannot let Page Pictures gain momentum again..."
"If 'Harry Potter' can have a box office explosion in Britain, it can also have a box office explosion here in America."
"Before, we could suppress Page Pictures through both the media and the theater chains."
"But now?"
"Before long, the greedy theater chains and those fickle media reporters will all flock to Page Pictures. When that time comes, what will we have to stop them?!"
President Sherry Lansing's face was solemn.
The atmosphere in the entire meeting room was so heavy it felt like it could drip water.
At the same time.
At Golden Dawn Entertainment Group.
Kyle also received the box office data immediately—well, to be precise, Kyle received the news earlier than many others.
"Beautifully done!"
Kyle laughed: "It seems Mr. Bill's decision was correct! Truly, an elder in the house is like a treasure. Mr. Bill's decades of Hollywood experience are one of our company's most precious assets."
Alexander, standing nearby, also smiled: "I just received news from Mr. McNickle. Several major mainstream British theater chains will increase the screenings for 'Harry Potter'. It's expected that the number of cinemas showing the movie today will increase from 620 to 800."
An increase of 180 cinemas?
Don't think it's too few!
The 620 cinemas on opening day already accounted for 35% of the UK's total for that day. Now, with 180 more cinemas, the total screening volume has jumped to 47%, nearly half... A few days later.
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" grossed 28.75 million US dollars in the British film market during its opening three-day weekend.
The box office results of these three days alone were enough to make it the 4th highest-grossing film of the year 2000 in the UK, and it was only a few hundred thousand pounds shy of the total box office of the 3rd place film, "chicken run".
It was a hit!
A total hit!
Lately in Britain, if you haven't seen the "Harry Potter" movie, you'd be embarrassed to say you've even stepped out of your house.
At the same time, the movie's explosion in popularity also caused the "Harry Potter" book series to sell massively again. Peripheral products like dolls, keychains, and clothing also sold like wildfire.
Of course, the most popular ones were the young actors starring in the "Harry Potter" movie.
The actor playing Harry Potter—Daniel;
The actor playing Ron Weasley—Rupert Grint;
The actress playing Hermione—Emma Watson;
The three young actors of the Hogwarts Golden Trio were British nationals. Now that the movie was a hit, the three had become household names in Britain. Their popularity was so high that even some A-list superstars couldn't compare at this moment.
The level of hype was appalling!
For days, in the streets and alleys of many British cities, teenagers wearing magic robes, wizard hats, and holding magic wands could be seen everywhere, passing through alleys and crossing streets.