The Student News Site of North Carolina A&T State University

The A&T Register

The Student News Site of North Carolina A&T State University

The A&T Register

The Student News Site of North Carolina A&T State University

The A&T Register

Twilight vs. Harry Potter, which franchise is #1?

Both franchises have made tremendous amounts of money in books,

movies and memorabilia sales. But the main question is which

franchise is worth the most money?

Some wonder if “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” coming out Friday, will gain a high viewing from its fans like those of the Harry Potter franchise. Both franchises have made tremendous amounts of money in books, movies and memorabilia sales. But the main question is which franchise is worth the most money?

When the Twilight franchise first started, Harry Potter was already in the ranks as one of the most profitable franchises in movie history. So the support groups of both series formed teams of #TeamHarryPotter and #TeamTwilight that reached worldwide acknowledgement.

According to money.co.uk, book sales sold in the millions with “Harry Potter” having 400 million copies sold worldwide as “Twilight” gathered up 100 million copies of its four books. Three of them spent a total of 143 consecutive weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List. “Harry Potter in the Goblet of Fire,” used up 9,000 FedEx trucks to deliver the books to stores worldwide. Leading into Potter’s sixth novel, “Half Blood Prince,” it sold 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours of its release as “Breaking Dawn” sold 1.3 million copies. As far as books, “Harry Potter” dominated the shelves with three times the amount of books sold and continued growing as more were released.

All books for both series were turned into movies and box offices were unbelievably selling out days in advance to the release. To date the “Twilight Saga” has grossed $1.7 billion worldwide over the first three-motion pictures- “Twilight,” “New Moon” and “Eclipse.” On the other side, Potter grossed $6.3 billion worldwide from the series’ seven films.

“Harry Potter” has attracted a new trend with universities as the game that Harry Potter plays, Quidditch; fans started their own Quidditch World Series leagues at the University of Florida and Yale. Twilight lacks real life games because the movie surrounds the love of a girl and a vampire, not necessarily a game to play. Each series has created its own presence in fans hearts and they support their respected ‘teams.’

“I’m attracted to the suspense and love in the movies and books,” said junior journalism and mass communications major from Philadelphia, Ashley Scotland. “I’m a big Twihard.”

On the other hand Harry Potter fans have no attraction to the love story. “Twilight does not appeal to me,” said Whitney Powell, a senior management information systems major form Washington. “I grew up with Harry Potter so I feel more related to.”

But when teams form, there are always individuals who do not care at all for either series. “I never read a Twilight book and I ended up falling asleep during the first Harry Potter film and I never returned to watch another,” said sophomore psychology major from Waldorf, MD, T’Keyah Gray.

Both have developed into two of the most profitable series and with the Potter franchise coming to a close in July 2011 with its final film, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” the series closed out with a $1.134 billion making it the third highest-grossing film in cinema history according to Forbes.com. Now that Potter has completed, “Twilight” continues with its upcoming fourth film. The final book of the Twilight series has been broken up into two parts just like the final Harry Potter book. Anticipation of the ending of Bella and Edward’s love has already accounted for 93 percent of advance sales at Fandango.com, an online ticket vendor.

As the franchises continue to collect revenue from DVD sales, the two are still creating memorabilia for fans. At this point, the competition between them will go on until Twilight closes next year after the release of “Breaking Dawn Part 2.” But for now, let the argument of who is better continue. Winner (thus far): HARRY POTTER.

[email protected] and follow him on Twitter @_erikveal

 

  • Erik Veal, Online Editor
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