'Transformers' Becomes Tenth Billion-Dollar Movie Ever; 'Potter' Hits Another Worldwide Milestone

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Transformers: Dark of the Moon joined Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in the $1 billion worldwide club yesterday. This marked the first time in history that three movies from the same year, much less the same season, all reached that mark, and it spoke volumes about the expanding nature of the foreign market as well as the continued popularity of 3D outside of America. The third Transformers is the tenth movie ever to earn $1 billion worldwide, and it moved past The Dark Knight to rank ninth on the all-time chart. 

Dark of the Moon reached $1 billion on its 37th day in theaters, which was faster than On Stranger Tides (46 days) but much slower than Deathly Hallows Part 2 (19 days), which reached the milestone on Sunday. Its $664.2 million in overseas coin plus close to $340 million in domestic earnings added up to $1.004 billion worldwide. That's leaps and bounds above previous series installments Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which grossed $709.7 million and $836.3 million, respectively. 

By a wide margin, Dark of the Moon's top territory is China with $124.2 million. That's followed by South Korea ($68 million), Russia ($44.6 million), the United Kingdom ($44.1 million) and Australia ($39.4 million). 

Based on its current trajectory, it's safe to assume that Transformers: Dark of the Moon will surpass Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which finished with $1.066 billion in 2006. That will place it in the Top Five all-time behind Avatar, Titanic, Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 also hit a major worldwide milestone yesterday: with $1.038 billion, it passed Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides's $1.033 billion to become the highest-grossing movie of 2011. It now ranks sixth on the all-time chart, and it looks guaranteed to pass The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's $1.119 billion by the end of the weekend to move up to third place. Its foreign-only total rose to $713.2 million, making it the fifth movie ever to earn over $700 million overseas.