Captain America shoots down Harry Potter

The superhero movie triumphed at the US and Canadian box-offices with 65.8 million in weekend ticket sales as the audience for the final Harry Potter film shrunk by 72 per cent.

Superhero movie Captain America: The First Avenger triumphed at the U.S. and Canadian box-offices with 65.8 million in weekend ticket sales as the magic faded from the final Harry Potter films record-breaking debut.

The strong opening for Captain America topped expectations in its battle against the hugely successful Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows 8211; Part 2,which saw its massive opening-weekend audience from last week shrink by 72 per cent.

The final installment in the popular Potter series took in 48.1 million over its second weekend in domestic U.S. and Canadian theatres,plus 121.3 million internationally,distributor Warner Bros. said on Sunday.

Romantic comedy Friends With Benefits starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis,took the No. 3 spot over three days with 18.5 million domestically,a solid start for a film that cost about 34 million to produce,according to Sony Pictures studio.

Captain America drew a 64 per cent male audience to the film set in the 1940s,about a scrawny,bullied orphan transformed into a muscular superhero thanks to a serum developed by the government. He is the latest Marvel comic book character to hit the big screen before the superheroes join forces in next years film The Avengers.

The success against the Harry Potter finale was well beyond what anybody was expecting, said Don Harris,executive vice president of distribution for Paramount Pictures,which released Captain America. The film drew positive reviews and had a retro look to it that appealed to moviegoers even after a summer filled with superhero flicks,he said.

For the eighth and final Harry Potter movie in the series about a British boy wizard battling against evil,sales dropped sharply,as expected,after avid fans had rushed to see the movie when it debuted. The film broke records around the world including best opening weekend ever in the domestic and international markets.

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The films total ticket sales now stand at 274.2 million in domestic theatres and 560.4 million internationally,for a combined total of 834.6 million.

Other top films for the weekend were big-budget Hollywood film Transformers: Dark Of The Moon at No. 4 with 12 million,and adult-oriented comedy Horrible Bosses at No. 5 with 11.7 million.

Captain America and Transformers: Dark Of The Moon were released by Paramount Pictures,a unit of Viacom Inc. Warner Bros.,a unit of Time Warner Inc,distributed Deathly Hallows 8211; Part 2 and Horrible Bosses. Friends With Benefits is from Screen Gems,a unit of Sony Corp.