Some more record-breaking Potter news in addition to earlier this week. Harry Potter has finally surpassed Star Wars as the Top Grossing Franchise in the United States! The eight Potter films have made $2.223 billion domestically, compared to $2.218 billion for Star Wars. The series has been the top grossing franchise in the world since Half-Blood Prince, but now the total is past the $7 billion mark.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II has made $640.2 million so far (domestically and internationally) making it the third highest grossing film of 2011, but hopefully it can make it to number 1.  It has also reached the 600 million mark in 8 days which is another new record [Transformers 3 took 11 days and Pirates 4 took 12]!

Harper Collins, the publishers of Harry Potter Film Wizardry [Read my review here], will be publishing a comprehensive look at the Harry Potter film series entitled Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey to be released on October 25th 2011. The book will be 528 pages long and will cost $75.00. The cover may be seen below as well as a few details on the book. You can pre-order the book at Barnes and Noble for $49.

Harry Potter: Page to Screen opens the doors to Hogwarts castle and the wizarding world of Harry Potter to reveal the complete behind-the-scenes secrets, techniques, and over-the-top artistry that brought J.K. Rowling’s acclaimed novels to cinematic life. Developed in collaboration with the creative team behind the celebrated movie series, this deluxe, 500-plus page compendium features exclusive stories from the cast and crew, hundreds of never-before-seen photographs and concept illustrations sourced from the closed film sets, and rare memorabilia. As the definitive look at the magic that made cinematic history, Page to Screen is the ultimate collectible, perfect for Muggles everywhere.

[Click the photo of the cover to enlarge it]

We had posted about this book a couple months ago but had to remove the post at the request of WB. But now that there are pre-orders I think it’s okay to post. Thanks to Mugglenet for the tip about pre-orders!

Bonnie Wright is making her film directing debut by releasing a film called Separate We Come, Separate We Go as part of a school project. The film is about the story of a 10-year-old girl who is neglected by her manic depressive mother and runs away. More about the film may be read here.

The film will be part of The LCC Graduate Film project and will be presented in 2012 in the Graduate BAFTAS. The film needs funding by voluntary donations, so to donate to the film visit this page!

Thanks Amortentia!

This coming weekend ABC Family is having a “Potions and Pirates” weekend where they will be showing a bunch of the Harry Potter films along with Pirates of the Caribbean. [They are also showing all three Back to the Future movies on Sunday starting at 7am. Too bad I will be on a beach all weekend] The schedule is as follows:

Saturday:

• 1:30pm/12:30c: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• 4:30pm/3:30c: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Sunday:

• 2:30pm/1:30c: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• 5:30pm/4:30c: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• 9pm/8:00c: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter will be featuring at this year’s Empire Presents BIG SCREEN at The O2 London on SUNDAY 14TH AUGUST 2011. There will be a live showcase featuring cast and crew from the films culminating in a very special announcement in relation to the tour.  You can read the press release about the event on this page.

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter is a behind-the-scenes walking tour scheduled to open in Spring 2012. The unique tour will give visitors the first ever chance to visit the real Harry Potter film sets to learn more about the workings of the breathtaking special effects and the incredible animatronics, as well as experience the sheer scale and incredible detail of the sets used by the cast and crew on all the films

I need to highlight the fact that those who want to attend need to book a Standard or Diamond ticket for Sunday 14^th August by 12pm tomorrow to have a chance to be part of the audience. This means you will need to have a BIG SCREEN ticket by 12:00 (GMT) tomorrow. Seats are limited so you will need to confirm your attendance at the session from 12pm (GMT) ASAP – first come first served. Book at www.empirebigscreen.com

Update: WB have released a video preview for the Tour:

This afternoon we have received the official press release and a couple new photos of Matthew Lewis at the Media Opening for Harry Potter: The Exhibition in Sydney, Australia. The full press release, which includes ticket pricing and more, may be read here and a bunch of photos of Matthew at the event may be seen at Matthew-Lewis.com. (The 2 new photos will be added to that album shortly, I’m waiting for them to send back High Resolution versions.)

Yesterday, Harry Potter film star Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom throughout the film series, was joined by hundreds of Harry Potter fans at the Powerhouse Museum to celebrate Harry Potter: The Exhibition coming to Sydney on 19 November 2011. Providing the audience with a sneak peek of the exhibition, Lewis revealed iconic film props and costumes including the Flying Ford Anglia, the Bloody Baron’s costume and a never-before-seen Death Eater costume.

Tickets are on sale now for Harry Potter: The Exhibition, showing exclusively at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, beginning on 19 November 2011 through to 18 March 2012.