Strangely, the box office chatter about possible record-breakers seemingly excluded “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” Well all that is about to change.

The final Potter flick trounced the all-time opening midnight record set by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse ($30 million and change) with a magnificent $43.5 million. This guy was on the seen in Tampa, FL and saw costumed lines forming around 6 p.m. for the highly-anticipated midnight opening at local theaters. Let’s just say it was the perfect storm with a heralded franchise finale, along with 3D ticket prices.

Budgeted at $250 million, attention now turns to the all-time domestic opening weekend record held by 2008′s The Dark Knight ($158 million). To provide some perspective on why this record may fall, the average domestic gross for a Harry Potter installment is around $286 million. Deathly Hallows: Part 2′s midnight romp doubled all of the recent Potter entries. Factor in the rave reviews and this installment may finally dethrone 2001′s Sorcerer Stone ($317.5 million domestic) as the top-grosser in the franchise.

Overseas’ totals put DH:2′s worldwide total at $87 million after only a few hours into its release.

Report by Joe Belcastro