MUMBAI: With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 still in the first week of its record-breaking run, the Harry Potter film franchise has now crossed the $7 billion mark worldwide, and counting.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 has earned an astounding $640.2 million worldwide in its initial week, encompassing $214.9 million in North America and $425.3 million at the international box office.

In addition, the success of the movie has propelled Warner Bros. Pictures’ combined 2011 domestic box office past $1 billion for an eleventh consecutive year, which is an industry record.

Warner Bros. Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov said, “It is an extraordinary privilege for everyone at Warner Bros. to share in this piece of cinema history. We are extremely grateful to the Harry Potter fans, who have remained loyal to the movies for more than a decade. We also want to congratulate the amazing roster of actors and filmmakers, whose artistry and talent is evident in every frame of every film. But special thanks must go to the woman whose incomparable imagination literally changed the world, Jo Rowling.”

Warner Bros. Pictures president of worldwide marketing Sue Kroll added, “Each film has inspired us creatively and it has been exciting to watch the evolution through eight remarkable movies. It has truly been the movie event of a generation, as Harry Potter fans who were there from the beginning have been joined by new fans over the years, and their enthusiasm—as well as our own—has never waned.”

Warner Bros. Pictures president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said, “Becoming a $7 billion-plus franchise is a stunning achievement, which is shared by everybody involved in any or all of the Harry Potter films. On the domestic side, the studio is also thrilled to have reached the billion-dollar benchmark for an unprecedented eleventh year in a row. We thank everyone at Warner Bros. whose hard work and dedication have contributed so much to our success.”

The collective Harry Potter films are the highest-grossing franchise of all time, a global record it has held since the success of the sixth film, 2009’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Individually, the worldwide grosses for the previous films stand as:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – $974,755,371
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – $878,979,634
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – $796,688,549
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – $896,911,078
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – $939,885,929
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – $934,416,487
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 – $955,417,476