The name is Potter, Harry Potter. The adventures of the boy wizard have become the top-grossing franchise in movie history, Hollywood studio Warner Brothers announced yesterday, with earnings topping $4.47bn (£2.2bn) around the world. This is $30m (£14.8m) more than James Bond, the previous holder of the franchise record, with $4.44bn (£2.2bn).
The record results come as the latest movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, released this summer, continues to conjure piles of cash worldwide. The fifth instalment in the franchise has earned $653m (£322m) so far and is still playing in several countries, including the UK, Japan and Germany.
Potter's feat is even more impressive when you consider that there are, to date, only five movies about the boy wizard, with the first filmed as recently as 2001, whereas Bond has had 22 outings in 45 years. According to Warner Brothers, Harry Potter overtook 007 earlier this month. "It is amazing to think what heights the franchise could reach by the end of the decade," a gleeful Dan Fellman, Warners' US distribution president, told The Hollywood Reporter.
The third most lucrative franchise in movie history is still Star Wars, with $4.23bn (£2.08bn) at the worldwide box-office.
But it's not over for James Bond just yet: while Harry, Hermione and Ron will feature in just two more films, 007 has recently been given a new lease of life with the arrival of Daniel Craig as the suave spy in Casino Royale, which holds the record for the highest-grossing Bond film.