An opening weekend of $90.3 million in North America and $113 million worldwide—what does that even mean?
In 2025, it might not seem like much; these days, plenty of films clear $100 million in a single day. But in 2001? That number was untouchable.
Before this, the all-time North American opening weekend record belonged to Jurassic Park: The Lost World at $72.1 million. Second place was Star Wars: The Phantom Menace with $64.8 million.
And neither of those even managed to cross $100 million worldwide on opening weekend.
That's right—Harry Potter came out and absolutely slaughtered Star Wars and Jurassic Park.
From its very first showing, it took the #1 opening in global box office history.
And when those numbers dropped, Hollywood as a whole—
Well, to be fair, even before the official report, everyone knew it was going to break records.
Two reasons:
First, the Harry Potter books were already a global phenomenon with a massive fan base.
Second, kids spend money at three times the rate of adults. If the kids want to see it, the parents tag along, and that means whole families are funneling ticket sales straight into HP's box office.
Still, nobody expected it to blow past the record by nearly $20 million. Because by the traditional "fan-film multiplier formula," an opening weekend of $113 million worldwide suggested that Sorcerer's Stone was on track to hit the $1 billion mark.
And at that time, there was only one movie in the Billion-Dollar Club:
Titanic.
…That's it.
Yes. That was the entire list.
Even The Lost World and The Phantom Menace hadn't cracked a billion yet. They would only crawl past it later through multiple re-releases.
So when the Billion-Dollar Club had just one lonely member (the sinking boat), the idea that Harry Potter might join it was—
"Oh! My! God! This is honestly the scariest thing I've heard today!"
That night, on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien, the host was already talking about the monster box office.
"Look, I think the Harry Potter novels are really fun," Conan said, "but this movie's box office trajectory is just insane. A billion dollars? Even Spielberg and Lucas didn't manage that! And now Chris Columbus is about to pull it off?"
He grinned, then twisted the knife:
"Makes you wonder—does Spielberg regret turning Harry Potter down?"
"Ha, I don't think so," Tom Cruise chuckled, shaking his head.
Tonight's guest was none other than Tom Cruise—Hollywood's golden boy at the time, fresh off his collaboration with Spielberg on Minority Report.
The timing of the invite wasn't subtle: everyone knew Spielberg had passed on Harry Potter. And Tom had just worked with him.
Publicity gold.
"Sure, directing Harry Potter might've made Spielberg the second director after James Cameron to have a billion-dollar hit," Tom went on, "but Spielberg doesn't need that kind of validation."
"He gave us Jaws—rewrote horror history. He gave us E.T.—pure magic. Jurassic Park, Schindler's List—proof he can do anything. So…"
Tom spread his arms. "Would it have been nice if he'd taken Harry Potter? Sure. But without it, he's lost nothing."
"Oooh, I like your answer," Conan grinned.
"By the way, Tom—you mentioned Jurassic Park and Schindler's List. So tell me—since you've worked with Spielberg—how is he with actors? I mean, he loves to show childlike wonder in his films—Close Encounters, E.T., Jurassic Park, even A.I. this summer. So…"
"Ah, Conan, I know what you're getting at," Tom interrupted with a smile. "You want to know which Harry I prefer, right?"
"Yeah."
Conan's little trap had been sprung.
Tom's "two Harrys" were actually Haley and Harry—Haley Joel Osment, Spielberg's boy from A.I., and Daniel Radcliffe, the Boy Who Lived. Their names—Haley, Harry—sound close enough.
Tom hesitated. "Uh… that's tough to answer. I still want to work with Spielberg again."
Cue canned laughter.
Then Tom raised an eyebrow. "Alright, truthfully? I can't answer, because I haven't seen Harry Potter yet."
"What? No way!" Conan gasped.
"Relax—I'm kidding."
Tom flashed a victorious grin as Conan rolled his eyes. "Of course I've seen it. Chris gave me a ticket for opening night."
"Chris Columbus?"
"Yeah. He must've predicted you'd ask this question, so he bribed me in advance. So if you ask which Harry's better? They're both great."
The audience roared.
"But seriously—I think the movie is excellent. Chris did a wonderful job. The magical world he built blew me away. But honestly…"
Tom leaned forward.
"The biggest surprise wasn't Harry. It was Hermione. Hermione Granger."
"What?"
"Why?" Conan asked, intrigued. "Because she's prettier than Rowling wrote her?"
"Yeah," Tom nodded. "She's beautiful. Stunning, actually. But more than that—it's Isabella. That little actress was incredible. I don't know how she pulled it off, but…"
He gestured animatedly. "Let me give you an example. Spoiler alert—cover your ears if you haven't seen it. At the end, after the Wizard's Chess scene, Ron is unconscious. Hermione stays behind to care for him, and she encourages Harry to face Quirrell. She says, with this self-deprecating little laugh, that she's not brilliant, just clever.
And when Isa lowered her head and smiled… it hit me. That was the look of a prodigy revealing her private fears. Because to us, 'top students' are automatically excellent. We never stop to think about the pressure they're under—because to stay excellent, they have to keep running.
Never stop.
I don't know how Chris directed that scene, or how Isa learned to act like that, but it was brilliant. She was born for this."
Tom's voice softened. "Rowling… chose well."
The studio erupted. Conan wagged a finger at Tom in mock shock. The crowd screamed—because everyone knew about Rowling's rift with Spielberg. And here was Tom Cruise, saying Rowling had been right all along.
A direct slap.
Box office numbers are flashy, sure. They drive investment returns, fuel marketing campaigns, give fans bragging rights.
But in the end? What really matters is the film itself.
Box office only tells you how many people saw it.
Quality—direction, acting—that's for the world to debate, one opinion at a time.
And when it came to Harry Potter, people debated everything: Harry, Ron, Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall.
But no matter who they talked about, no one ignored Hermione Granger.
Not just because she was the luminous heroine of the story—but because…
"The most surprising thing about the whole movie was Hermione."
So wrote veteran critic Richard Corliss, who'd been publishing for half a century.
"In the books, I actually disliked her. She always struck me as brilliant but insufferable, tactless, often inconsiderate. Sure, you excuse it because she's a child—but even my seven-year-old grandson thought she was over the line sometimes.
But on screen, everything changed. She's still a bit proud, but now she's… adorable. That's rare."
Corliss admitted he'd been baffled when Warner first released the posters. "This girl Isabella looked least like the character. I thought Rowling had lost her mind.
But after watching the film, I realized—the Hermione on screen was the Hermione Rowling must've truly wanted to write: diligent, precocious, maybe awkward, but never alienating.
Whether that credit goes to the script, the director, or Rowling herself, I can't say. But Isabella's Hermione impressed me deeply."
Another critic, Elvis Mitchell, a close friend of Tarantino, chimed in too:
"I think Sorcerer's Stone is a classic. The Quidditch visuals amazed me, especially the personified Golden Snitch.
But above all—I'm not usually one to judge by looks—but when Isabella came on screen, I had only one thought: a beautiful girl can do no wrong.
Yes, people say she brought Hermione to life. I'd go further: she rescued Rowling's disastrous description.
In the book, Hermione had frizzy brown hair and big buck teeth. A child like that, lecturing you with her nose in the air, is hard to love.
But Isabella? She lifted her delicate face—and everything changed."
"..."
Roger Ebert gave Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone a glowing review, raising not just one but four thumbs up in his column.
Once Harry Potter shot to the top of the all-time box office charts in just three days, talking about HP became the new definition of political correctness for public figures. If you didn't jump on the bandwagon, well… you might as well be a complete fool.
Of course, just jumping on wasn't enough—you had to say something shocking enough to grab attention. Otherwise, your voice would get lost in the noise.
And if you didn't ride the wave at all? Well, even if you stripped naked and ran to the moon, you'd still be ignored—
Uh, unless you somehow managed to fire yourself into the sun with a cannon. That might do it.
But with everyone scrambling to cash in on the Harry Potter phenomenon, Isabella inevitably became the center of attention.
Who could resist? Hermione's character in the movie had been polished and elevated by Chris Columbus until she shone as the brightest star of the trio.
And Isabella was beautiful to boot.
So just how famous was she now?
"Number one on IMDb's STARmeter?"
"Top trending keyword on Yahoo?"
"81% audience approval rating in exit polls? Dumbledore only scored 78%. Harry and Snape tied at 75%?"
"Wow, wow, wow—that's insane…"
At Warner Bros. headquarters, CEO Barry Meyer couldn't stop grinning.
He'd joined Warner back in '71, become COO in '94. Over three decades, he'd overseen plenty of successes—and plenty of flops. But nothing could compare to Harry Potter.
Well… of course nothing could compare. Projects like Star Wars only came once in a century. And now HP had slaughtered Star Wars? That was destiny.
Marketing can propel a film, sure. But you don't hit #1 in history on marketing alone.
So even Warner had to admit—Sorcerer's Stone's success had an element of luck. But so what?
Money was rolling in. Rivals were eating dust. That was all that mattered.
"Alright," Meyer said at last, closing his report with a chuckle. "What's the plan for promotion moving forward?"
The operations director answered at once: "Boss, as we discussed, we're shifting focus toward the most popular cast members. For example, we'll release some behind-the-scenes clips about Isabella—how she was the only one who could self-direct on set, how she even gave notes to other actors. She's a natural talent."
Before this, Warner hadn't leaned heavily on the actors for promotion. They didn't need to.
But now, with the film released and showered in praise, it was inevitable: let the fan-favorite characters lead the charge.
That's how you build an IP for the long run. When everyone already knows the story, staying faithful to the source is fine—but to truly break out of the fan bubble, you need to give certain characters an enduring spark.
Audiences want to love a character. To see them grow. To watch them shine. That's what keeps them coming back.
Just look at Han Solo in Star Wars, the T-800 in Terminator, Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible, Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, Iron Man in the MCU.
Stories may change. But characters live in the audience's heart. You watch them age, evolve, stumble, triumph—and in truth, you're not there for the movie anymore. You're there because you don't want to say goodbye to your own youth.
It's all part of the formula.
So when David Heyman announced HP would be seven films, there was no question—this would be a long game.
At first, Warner thought Harry himself would be the marketing centerpiece. He was the protagonist, after all. But now…
"If I'm not mistaken," Meyer said, picking up a dossier, "this Isabella was Rowling's personal choice?"
The note about her father's passing, her forced role as family breadwinner, caught his eye for a moment.
"Yes. That was Suzy's final contribution before leaving the production," the director confirmed. "And, as things stand… it may also be her most valuable."
Meyer nodded.
He flipped a few more pages—two additional film contracts already signed.
After a pause, he smiled. "Since Isabella was Rowling's pick, signing her on for seven films should be no problem. Still, until the renewals are official, don't throw too many resources her way. We need to balance things for the rest of the cast."
"Understood," the director said.
This was business, after all. Warner poured money into stars to make more money back. But what if an actor bolted after two films? What if they demanded outrageous raises once they knew their value?
Business was a chessboard—you always had to prepare for the worst, even if the other player never intended it.
Still, even if Meyer wanted to "spread the wealth," nothing could stop the public from loving a breakout character.
Warner released just a few snippets of behind-the-scenes footage—
And fans immediately latched onto Isabella:
"Oh wow, so there were that many off-camera fights?"
"Ron practically shouted at Hermione—he was really mad!"
"Hahaha—and Harry was nodding along in agreement! These three are too adorable!"
"But the cutest is still Hermione—look at that helpless face when the boys gang up on her!"
Warner could only shrug. This wasn't the marketing strategy they'd planned. But what could they say?
When HP broke $130 million in North America in just seven days, and global totals soared past $200 million, none of it mattered. Money came first.
They were thrilled. But others… not so much.
Warner wasn't about to bribe every media outlet under the sun. So naturally, the ones left out started venting their bitterness. What better way to profit off Potter mania than stirring controversy?
And of course, the person they attacked most viciously was Isabella.
Why? Because she was the hottest name.
Meanwhile, the other Big Six studios—Sony, Universal, Fox, Paramount—were left gnashing their teeth. Nothing hurts more than watching your rivals make money.
And Disney? Disney wasn't just metaphorically eating dirt. They were literally choking on it.
Because Disney was the only one foolish enough to release a film head-to-head against Harry Potter.
That film was called—
Monsters, Inc.