‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ has record-breaking opening weekend earning $168.6 million

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was big, and kept getting bigger.

According to Reuters, the eighth and final film in the Harry Potter series, also the first Potter film shot in 3D, which broke records for box office earnings at midnight showings on Friday, the highest IMAX opening, and the highest single day earnings with a total of $92.1 million opening day domestically, ended its first weekend earning a record-breaking $168.6 million over three days.

The previous record was held by The Dark Knight, which earned $158.4 million in 2008.

The film adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s beloved series about a boy wizard is already the highest grossing film franchise of all time, earning $6.4 billion in global ticket sales. This weekend, Deathly Hallows Part 2 earned the biggest-ever worldwide opening.

For the fans, the end has been bittersweet because it signifies the end of an era.

"It's, like, the saddest and yet happiest day of my life. I started reading these books when I was eight years old, and played wizards outside and stuff," 18-year-old Megan Long told The Patch. "I see these little kids walking around in their Harry Potter capes and I'm thinking, 'Wow, I've been a fan longer than you've been breathing.'"

"This really is like the end of my childhood. In my family, there were five of us kids and only two books, so we'd fight over who got to read first. When this movie is over, my soul will break,” said another Potter fan.

While Harry Potter dominated this weekend, Transformers: Dark of the Moon came in second with $21.3 million, Horrible Bosses was third with $17.6 million, and Zookeeper and Cars 2 rounded out the top five with $12.3 million and $8.3 million respectively.