'Harry Potter' sets midnight box office record with $43.5M

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'Harry Potter' sets midnight box office record with $43.5M

The Associated Press Published Friday, July 15, 2011 1:29PM EDT Last Updated Saturday, May 19, 2012 5:22AM EDT

Daniel Radcliffe in Warner Bros. Pictures' 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2'

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LOS ANGELES - Harry Potter still has that magic touch -- even before dawn.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," the final film in the successful Warner Bros. boy wizard franchise, conjured up $43.5 million from midnight shows Friday, according to studio estimates.

It beat the previous midnight record set last summer by "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," which earned around $30 million for its midnight screenings.

With the addition of 3-D, "Part 2" could end the franchise's spellbinding 10-year story with a total weekend debut approaching $150 million. That would surpass the $125 million opening last November of the first "Deathly Hallows" installment.

The current debut weekend record is $158 million set by "The Dark Knight" in 2008.