They don’t teach this at Hogwarts.
Over the course of eight films, Harry Potter has gone toe-to-toe with the dark lord Voldemort, but come Friday at 7 p.m. PT, even the bespectacled wizard's strongest spells may be no match for the weekend-long Carmageddon.
That’s when L.A.'s well-traveled 405 will shut down for a set of roadway improvements that just happen to coincide with the opening of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” the last installment in the mega-grossing fantasy franchise.
Also read: Final 'Harry Potter' Brings Its A-Game From Start to Finish (Review)
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's advice to Angelenos: Just stay home.
As for theater owners and executives contacted by TheWrap, they're concerned about the fallout -- but remain hopeful that the Potter brand is sparkling enough to be Carmageddon-proof.
“The only effect will be negative, I’m sure, but i don't know what it will be,” Regency Theatres President Lyndon Golin told TheWrap. “The good thing is that people in areas around the 405 might see the movies as an option if they don’t want to venture out too far.”
It’s unlikely that the overall box office will be down so significantly that Harry will be left crying in his butter beer. Ticket sales for the Thursday midnight and 3 a.m. shows remain brisk, with the bulk of the late-night showings already sold out.
Exhibitors cautioned that it’s still premature, but pre-sales do drop off sharply on Saturday and Sunday, after the freeway closes. That, however, could be more attributable to the fact that true Potter-philes are more likely to see the film on its first day of release, leaving subsequent screenings to a less passionate crowd.
Also read: TheWrap's 5-Step Guide to Surviving Carmageddon
“The true Harry Potter fans are going to see the film either Thursday at midnight or Friday day or night, just as soon as the film opens,” Harry Medved, head of publicity for online ticket seller Fandango, told TheWrap. “The people going on Saturday are curious to check it out, but they are not die-hard fans or they may be fans going for repeat viewings.”
Thanks to its passionate fan base, "Deathly Hallows: Part 2" is expected to be the second biggest advance-ticket seller in Fandango’s history.
Warner Bros., which is releasing the film, declined to comment, but analysts still expect that the film will gross between $140 and $150 million opening weekend, making it easily the biggest of the year. Early tracking is far outpacing "The Hangover Part II" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," meaning it will likely be the largest debut in series history. However, it will likely fall short of “The Dark Knight's" $158.4 million record-holding premiere weekend.
Despite those positive signs, there’s some precedent to think that a cataclysmic event in one of the country’s major media market’s could have a significant impact on the "Potter" sequel's box office performance.
