The Wizarding World franchise is still one of the most popular around with the newest movie, Fantastic Beats: The Secrets of Dumbledore recently released. There's been a lot of expansion of the universe in recent years but Harry Potter movies, in particular, tend to retain their popularity over the Fantastic Beasts series.
While each Harry Potter movie feels distinct from one another, they inevitably get compared as movies making up an entire series. Box office earnings are a clear-cut way of comparing the Harry Potter movies and seeing how they performed when they were first released.
Updated September 13, 2022, by Brad R. Edwards: While the main Harry Potter series came to an end over a decade ago, the Wizarding World franchise continues to maintain its relevancy. With three Fantastic Beasts movies released (and two more rumored to be on the way) and the highly-anticipated Hogwarts Legacy looming large on the horizon, the franchise is somewhat rejuvenated. While the Fantastic Beasts trilogy did not perform quite as well as Warner Bros may have intended, they were still fairly successful at the Box Office.
10 Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore
The third movie in the Wizarding World franchise, The Secrets of Dumbledore was troubled during production due to Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's court case. This led to a disappointing performance at the Box Office, which may end up leading to Warner Bros. scrapping plans for a further two movies.
Production Budget: $200,000,000
Opening Weekend: $42,151,256
Domestic Box Office Earnings: $95,850,844
Worldwide Box Office Earnings: $405,161,334
While a significant portion of the series' fans were happy with the quality of the movie, The Secrets of Dumbledore was a box office disappointment and the lowest-grossing Wizarding World movie to date.
9 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald
The second installment in the Wizarding World franchise, The Crimes of Grindelwald sees much more action from the titular villain and the appearance of a young Dumbledore, something that a lot of Harry Potter fans were very happy about.
Production Budget: $200,000,000
Opening Weekend: $62,163,104
Domestic Box Office Earnings: $159,555,901
Worldwide Box Office Earnings: $654,855,901
While The Crimes of Grindelwald is by no means a bad movie, it perhaps doesn't expand upon the series to a satisfactory level. It failed to match the gross income of any Harry Potter movie.
8 Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban
The third movie in the series and the only one not to feature Voldemort, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is (undeservedly) the lowest-earning movie out of the series. This movie introduced important characters such as Sirius Black and Remus Lupin as well as played with elements such as time travel and showing needlessly dangerous parts of Hogwarts.
Production Budget: $130,000,000
Opening Weekend: $93,687,367
Domestic Box Office Earnings: $249,757,726
Worldwide Box Office Earnings: $789,592,708
Despite being the lowest-earning Harry Potter movie, The Prisoner of Azkaban remains a great viewing experience that feels a lot lighter-hearted than the others.
7 Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
The first movie in the Fantastic Beasts trilogy, Where to Find Them offers a fresh take on the Wizarding World with an adorable protagonist and a reprehensible villain that raises the stakes right from the get-go.
Production Budget: $180,000,000
Opening Weekend: $74,403,387
Domestic Box Office Earnings: $234,037,575
Worldwide Box Office Earnings: $814,044,001
Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them brought the Wizarding World back to the real world, surviving without the legendary cast members that had helped to make the Harry Potter series so successful.
6 Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
The second movie in the series and the one with the lowest production budget, it's surprising that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is so low down on the rankings considering how popular the first movie proved to be. Whether it was through a lack of promotion or just dumb luck, Chamber of Secrets is surprisingly the second-lowest earning Harry Potter movie.
Production Budget: $100,000,000
Opening Weekend: $88,357,488
Domestic Box Office Earnings: $262,424,882
Worldwide Box Office Earnings: $875,454,054
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets introduced Horcruxes, Basilisks, and petrification spells. It delves into things that were previously unknown about Voldemort.
5 Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is widely considered to be one of the best Harry Potter movies, standing as a turning point in the overall narrative as Voldemort returns properly to the Wizarding World. The movie reflects this by taking on a much darker tone and featuring more death than the movies had shown up until this point. It features illegal spells and potions and more Dark Arts action.
Production Budget: $150,000,000
Opening Weekend: $102,685,961
Domestic Box Office Earnings: $290,201,752
Worldwide Box Office Earnings: $886,746,240
It may surprise some fans that The Goblet of Fire is one of the lowest-earning movies in the series, but it could be attributed to many factors.
4 Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince may not have been the most faithful adaptation of the book, but it remains one of the middle-earning movies in the series and was an important part of the overall story. Featuring the death of a very important character, The Half-Blood Prince feels like a penultimate pitstop before the final phase of the story.
Production Budget: $250,000,000
Opening Weekend: $77,108,414
Domestic Box Office Earnings: $302,089,278
Worldwide Box Office Earnings: $929,411,069
This movie features new creatures and spells and even finds time to feature a Quidditch match amidst all of the Harry and Dumbledore stuff. It feels like Harry is truly trusted enough to be taking on Voldemort and delving into the truth behind his parent's death in this movie as well as the worst things Dumbledore has done.
3 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part One
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One is the first part of the two-part epic adaptation of the final book in the Harry Potter series. With Harry, Ron, and Hermione tasked with finding and destroying all of Voldemort's Horcruxes around the country, there are far more duels and pivotal moments than the other Harry Potter movies have. It even shows some of the universe's underappreciated Muggles.
Production Budget: $125,000,000
Opening Weekend: $125,017,372
Domestic Box Office Earnings: $296,131,568
Worldwide Box Office Earnings: $952,601,389
It should come as no surprise to fans of the Wizarding World franchise that The Deathly Hallows, Part One is one of the highest-earning Harry Potter movies at the box office.
2 Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the debut movie in the Harry Potter film series, introducing all the main characters in the Wizarding World series, as well as all the franchise elements that would come to show up again in the sequels.
Production Budget: $125,000,000
Opening Weekend: $90,294,621
Domestic Box Office Earnings: $317,871,467
Worldwide Box Office Earnings: $965,054,122
Despite the movie series' popularity peaking and weaning across all the sequels, it may surprise some fans to learn that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the second highest-earning Harry Potter movie out of the series. It also shows why Helena Bonham Carter's underappreciated movies are worth a watch, based on her impressive performance as Bellatrix in this movie.
1 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part Two
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two is the final Harry Potter movie and sees Harry and his friends fighting Voldemort and his group of Death Eaters in the final battle of the Wizarding World. The Deathly Hallows, Part Two is a faithful adaptation to the book and was well-received by fans and critics alike.
Production Budget: $125,000,000
Opening Weekend: $169,189,427
Domestic Box Office Earnings: $381,193,157
Worldwide Box Office Earnings: $1,328,766,590
It should come as no surprise to people that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two is the highest-earning Harry Potter movie at the box office.