Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 slayed the competition in its weekend debut with a franchise best $125.1 million in US and Canadian cinemas, according to studio estimates today.
Last week's top film, animated comedy Megamind, came in a distant second with $16.2 million, just ahead of runaway train flick "Unstoppable" with $13.1 million.
Given the popularity of the Potter movies about the British boy wizard - six previous films have raked in a total $5.4 billion at global box offices - the other movies had not been expected to work much magic at box offices.
The $125.1 million for Deathly Hallows: Part 1 beat the previous best weekend debut for a Potter film in the United States and Canada, which was $102.7 million for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in November 2005.
Deathly Hallows: Part 1 rode up the box office charts to land at No 6 on the list of all-time best weekend debuts, just behind the $128.1 million from Iron Man 2 earlier this year.
The film, which is based on the final installment of the series of best-selling books by JK Rowling, collected more than $30,000 per cinema in just over 4,100 venues. By contrast, Megamind took in $4,300 per location in nearly 3,800 cinemas.
Coming into the weekend, Potter studio Warner Bros had said it expected Deathly Hallows: Part 1 to break the $100 million barrier, while some box office watchers had speculated it could reach as high as $150 million.
But only two previous movies have broken into that range with Batman film The Dark Knight holding the record for the best-ever debut with $158 million in 2008. Second on that list is Spider Man 3, which collected $151 million on its debut in 2007, according to figures from Hollywood.com Box-Office.
Dan Fellman, head of domestic distribution for Warner Bros, said Deathly Hallows: Part 1 had performed well among all audience groups. He said its core fans, dating back to 2001's initial Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, had not wavered in their support. "What sets this apart is that the audience has aged right along with the movie and the cast," Mr Fellman said.
Rounding out the top five films in the United States and Canada were comedy Due Date in the No 4 spot with $9.1 million, and behind it was the debut of the Russell Crowe drama The Next Three Days with $6.8 million.