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You know what the story is here. And it's not Winnie the Pooh

Kim Hollis: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 shattered the opening weekend box office record with a staggering $169.2 million. In your opinion, what is the most impressive aspect of this result?

Tom Houseman: I think by far the most impressive number is how much HP7-2 made from midnight showings. I can't find a list of the highest midnight showing grosses, but I'm sure this one expelliarmussed the doors off their hinges on that record. I was there at midnight - actually, I got there at 8:15 to make sure I got a decent seat - and the theater was insanely packed. If you split the totals between the midnight showings and everything else HP7-2 made on Friday, the midnight number would be the 14th biggest daily total of all time, and the Friday number would be 12th. That's number would kill a bogart because it is Riddikulus!

Kim Hollis: Tom, that previous midnight number was $30 million, so you are absolutely correct that it blew the midnight record out of the water.

Bruce Hall: When you add in international receipts, this is a monumentally expensive film that appears to have recovered its entire production budget in time for WB execs to party their faces off over it Saturday night. Its not surprising so much as it is fascinating to watch ANYTHING suck up cash at that rate. If the mafia really wants to make money they should stop fixing horse races and make movies. These are incredible numbers.

Brett Beach: I think what is most impressive is the synchronicity of the first and last films setting opening weekend box office records and of the last film grossing in 24 hours what the first film made in three days. Coupled with the jaw-droppingly positive valedictory send-offs from most all critics, WB couldn't ask for a more fitting set-off to the franchise.

Edwin Davies: Everything about this result is pretty astonishing, but it's the international numbers that keep making my head spin. The film came within spitting distance of making half a billion dollars in three days, beating On Stranger Tides' record for worldwide opening by $80 million. That's just staggering to me.

Matthew Huntley: Most impressive for me is how Deathly Hallows Part II was able to gross more in its first day than the first Potter film did in its entire first weekend. Granted, the ticket prices are higher, the theater count is higher, there's 3D surcharges and the overall anticipation was greater, but this is still mind-blowing. We all know the name "Harry Potter" comes with humongous expectations at the box-office, but the fact that the eighth and final installment was able to surpass even the most lofty of them makes it an instant phenomenon. It also begs the question, does it stop here? Could there be another series in the works that follows Harry, Ron and Hermione's children? This weekend's numbers suggest that's not entirely out of the question.

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