Which Harry Potter Movie Is the Most Popular?

I'm sure we all remember how we felt when we first heard that line. Harry Potter has become an icon since J.K Rowling published the first book in 1997. The story of the messy-haired, spectacle-wearing wizard kid was every kid's escape from the mundane realities of life.

The series became so popular that it was greenlit to have a movie adaptation in 2001. From then onwards, the series' popularity grew even further as millions of fans who may have never read the books got in on the tales of Hogwarts.

The movies and books were critically acclaimed and generated an unprecedented amount of money. Not even Gringotts Bank could have held as much. If we factor in the merchandise sales of toys and games, the Harry Potter series has made around 15 billion Dollars. In addition, the movies have been nominated for countless awards and have made approximately 7 billion dollars worldwide.

The success of the Harry Potter franchise has spawned its own universe, with tales of characters from the same world being made into books, plays, and movie series of their own. While the story of Harry Potter himself may have been finished, there are other characters, such as Dumbledore, who continually makes appearances in the Fantastic Beasts series of movies. But it seems that the appetite of one of the biggest fandoms is still not sated.

Despite the overwhelming success of the franchise as a whole, the debate around which movie is the best is still ongoing. Many fans prefer the light-hearted tone of the earlier films, such as The Sorcerer's Stone and The Chamber of Secrets. Others fans prefer the mature storytelling of The Order of the Phoenix and The Goblet of Fire.

Before we decide which movie is the most popular, we need to consider the metric. Popular in terms of what? In terms of fan favorites, The Prisoner of Azkaban is a favorite among many fans. The film marries the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the future titles with the light moments of the previous ones. It's a great middle-ground and introduces some of the series' best characters, The Marauders.

If we go by box office numbers alone, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 made the most money (1.3 billion dollars worldwide). The film had to pay off ten years of buildup, give satisfying conclusions to the various sub-plots, and feature an ending that feels just right. There was tremendous pressure, and the stakes had never been higher. So perhaps it's clear why everyone wanted to see it first thing when it came out.

Apart from that, The Deathly Hallows also enjoys a Rotten Tomatoes score of 96%, which is the highest in the franchise. Likewise, the Metacritic score is the highest, reaching 85% from 41 reviews. So, it seems it's not only the highest-grossing movie but also the most acclaimed.

Does that make it truly the best Harry Potter Movie? The numbers say so. However, we all have our favorites, and nothing can take that away from you. Each of these movies has something special in them. So ultimately, we all have a favorite we can go and rewatch and feel like an eleven-year-old kid again.