The box office results for the weekend of November 19th – 21st sees Harry Potter pulling off his best trick thus far. Making piles of cash for Warner Bros. The seventh installment set a new opening weekend record for the franchise. Meanwhile, The Next Three Days is something that Lionsgate is hoping to forget. Here are the studio estimates:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 ($125.1 million)

2. Megamind ($16.1 million)

3. Unstoppable ($13.1 million)

4. Due Date ($9.1 million)

5. The Next Three Days ($6.8 million)

6. Morning Glory ($5.2 million)

7. Skyline ($3.4 million)

8. Red ($2.46 million)

9. For Colored Girls ($2.4 million)

10. Fair Game ($1.4 million)

Analysis

Although this is the seventh Harry Potter flick, the key numbers here are five and six. That’s because Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 had the 5th biggest opening day of all-time ($61.15 million). It also had the 6th biggest opening weekend of all-time. Therefore, it is on pace to break all the franchise records set by its predecessors. And that’s just the domestic figures. Harry Potter flicks usually have a production budget of anywhere between $225-$250 million. When factoring in international totals, Warner Bros. is very confident that this flick will conjure up profits. Word-of-mouth has been the best ever regarding this installment. Critically, the flick is generating favorable reviews. This is a dream scenario for the studio.

Now it may seem crazy to release another flick the same day as Harry Potter, but that didn’t stop Lionsgate from unleashing The Next Three Days. Providing an alternate choice for moviegoers is a common practice and can pay off. Eat, Pray Love successfully used that strategy this past summer amidst all the blockbusters surrounding it . Unfortunately, Next Three Days will not duplicate that scenario. Add in less-than-thrilled reviews from the lovely critics, along with a full plate of Thanksgiving releases coming up in just three days (ironic). This flick will not escape the red ink. Reported production budget is $35 million.

Fair Game managed to sneak into the top ten due to the rollout in new markets. Summit Entertainment is slowly releasing this flick in hopes of garnering some award attention. Right now, the flick is on display in just under 400 theaters domestically. If Summit would like to make back a portion of the $22 million production budget, it would be wise to release this sucker wide. Not sure why they’re holding off, for the majority of critics are onboard with this flick.

Red currently has the longest streak in the top ten with 6 weeks. Domestically, the flick is now up to $83.5 million. With a decent assist from international totals, Summit Entertainment has a nice profitable run with this property.

Flop Alert: As predicted last week, Morning Glory. Although it only dropped 43% from its opening weekend, the flick had a somewhat high production budget of $40 million. By the end of its theatrical run it would be lucky to reach $30 million. Unless a strong DVD and On Demand run happens early next year, the sun has set on this baby. Sleeper Hit: Skyline. It’s definitely not a hit – which is confirmed by its 71% drop from last week – but this critically panned disaster-piece (in more ways than one) will actually reach profitability status. Simply because it only costs the studio $10 million to produce. In the land of Hollywood, if one can double their money, consider that a victory.

This Wednesday, the Thanksgiving Day releases arrive and there seems to be something for everyone with regard to the variety of genres. For those into musical-dramas, Burlesque is here. If one wants to get the adrenaline following, Faster would be their choice. Love and Other Drugs is for fans of the comedic-drama pieces. Finally, Disney chimes in with the animated Tangled.