Harry Potter mania swept across the globe as the penultimate film in the series plundered an estimated $205m from 19,200 screens in 54 countries and 91 markets.

Factoring in the $125.1m North American launch, the global force produced an industry record $330.1m opening weekend. Roughly $4.2m of the overseas tally came from 101 IMAX screens, which combined with the $12.4m domestic haul from 239 sites for a record IMAX global launch of $16.6m.

Approximately 26.8m international viewers turned out to see Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and propelled box office to new heights in many parts of the world.

The film set the biggest three-day launch of all time in the UK on $29.4m (£18.3m) from 1,852 screens, while Saturday’s £6.6m take is the biggest single day ever.

Harry and friends grossed $22.6m (€16.6m) from 1,450 screens in Germany and $14.8m (A$15m) from 610 in Australia for the biggest franchise launch and the second biggest industry opening weekend.

Japan generated $14m (¥1.2bn) from 885, Russia $12.9m (Rbl 400m) from 1,133 screens for the biggest Warner Bros launch ever and Italy generated $11m (€8.1m) from 935 screens for the franchise’s biggest three-day launch.

The film took $10.2m (Ps 125m) in Mexico from 1,833 screens for Warner Bros’ second biggest launch that was a mere 3% behind Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince. China drew $10.6m (Rmb 70.6m) from 3,100 screens and Warner Bros reported the second biggest debut in the franchise in Spain on $7.9m (€5.8m) from 968 screens. Brazil generated $7.7m (R13.2m).

“We are thrilled by the enthusiastic response of international audiences.” President of international distribution Veronika Kwan-Rubinek said. “It’s a testament to the extraordinary vision of J K Rowling, the talents of the film-makers, cast and everyone involved in the production and to the hard work of our distribution and marketing teams around the world.”

Due Date added $9.4m from 3,468 screens and stands at $62.2m.

There were a number of other films in release over the weekend.

  • Resident Evil: Afterlife grossed $9.4m in China from 3,090 screens in a stunning number two debut that gave DeathlyHallows a scare and raised the international running total to $228.8m through Sony Pictures Releasing International. The Social Network grossed $5.8m from 2,485 in 55 for $85.4m and opened in South Korea on $1.8m from 279. Eat Pray Love grossed $1.1m from 1,100 in 57 for $121m. Easy A and The Other Guys stand at $12.2m and $48.4m, respectively.
  • Fox International’s Unstoppable added $7.5m from 4,002 screens for $32m and opened in France on $1m from 430. Knight & Day crossed the $185m mark and stands at $27.1m in Japan. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is on $77.6m.
  • Lionsgate’s Saw 3D carved out a further $6.9m from 1,934 screens and stands at $57.2m. The horror film opened at the weekend in Italy and South Korea, among others. Individual territory results were unavailable at time of writing. Paul Haggis’ thriller The Next Three Days with Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks launched day-and-date with the US and took $1.4m from CIS and several other Eastern European markets.
  • Summit International’s Red is active in 46 territories and took $6.7m from 2,740 sites for $63.2m. Among the new launches were France, where the action film took $2.4m from 289 locations.
  • Universal/ UPI’s Despicable Me added $4.7m from 3,000 venues in 40 territories for an excellent $278.3m. France was the top holdover on $1m from 500 for $29.3m after seven. The UK stands at $30.2m. Julia’s Eyes has grossed $7.5m in Spain after four weekends and The Kids Are All Right stands at $2.7m from three Universal markets.
  • Paramount / PPI’s Jackass 3D added $4.1m from 1,676 sites in 24 territories for $39m. Paranormal Activity 2grossed $3m from 2,277 locations in 39 markets for $80m. DreamWorks Animation’s Megamind added $1.3m from 694 for an early $30.2m.