But the Star Wars fans are Known and expected to do conventions. Put the 8th Harry Potter Movie against the last Star Wars movie. Not much inflation since then, about the same about of hype...Harry Potter has already made almost as much as Revenge of the Sith's entire theatrical run. And in just 7 days. Just sayin'
Uh, theres a load of inflation in ticket prices since 2005.
This is the list to familiarize yourself with
http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm
Keep in mind one thing. Unadjusted gross, the highest performing Potter movie made $317m. The lowest performing Star Wars movie made $380m.
As far as your line about it making the same amount of money, well thats not even close. Its not even halfway yet. And with the way movies drop off after the first two weeks now, it might never get there. If you're talking worldwide, thats a different story, but its still $300m less, without inflation.
You have to look at the adjusted chart if you want to be fair, whether its domestic or worldwide. I mean, look at the new Pirates. Its the 6th highest grossing movie OF ALL TIME - simply because it has 3D ticket prices attached to most of the seats. Same with Avatar (#1), really.
But beyond that - Star Wars has grossed BILLIONS of dollars in other merchandise besides movies and books. Potter doesn't have as much in the way of collectibles and things of that nature. If you're strictly talking money, Star Wars is estimated to have doubled its movies with the other items it sells. The movies have made $6b (roughly), everything else, another $10-12b. Potter can't touch that. Is it possible? I suppose it is, but only if Rowling allows it, and allows others to write stories about Harry.
Others label Potter a fad. I don't think its that. I just think the Potterverse isn't fleshed out enough to support a longstanding (and growing) fanbase. The movies are done, the books are done. Without new Harry-based material, the franchise is basically over.
Star Wars, because of the EU, will never be over. Look at the frothing at the mouth by Star Wars fans and gamers alike for the new Star Wars MMO. Or the various blogs all over that are going crazy over an app that all it does is let you preview the Blu Ray special features. I can go on and on. It simply come down to whether or not Harry's story is done. If it is, then the Potter franchise and universe is, as well.
Isn't a midnight showing of Potter like one giant convention? And how does it really matter about a convention anyway?! I didn't bring it up. Most people make fun of that (I don't). So it's fine. Star Wars can take that crown.
No, a midnight showing would be a movie. A convention is much different. As for 'most people making fun of it'. Hmm, thats interesting. So D23, BlizzCon, E3, CES, ComicCon, Celebration are made fun of by most people? Really? Is that why they are some of the most covered (especially the electronics and gaming ones) events around?