Harry Potter movies cast the biggest spell for Warner Bros

The eight Harry Potter movies have earned more than $7 billion (£4.29 billion) at the box office, Warner Bros said today, cementing their place as the biggest-grossing series ever.

Although the total does not take into account inflation, and attendance figures have generally declined throughout the series according to some analyses, the franchise has been a major success for the Hollywood studio.

Dan Fellman, Warner Bros Pictures' president of domestic distribution, called the tally a "stunning achievement".

Warner made all eight of the Harry Potter movies, which are closely based on the seven novels by JK Rowling.

The studio decided to split the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, into two movies. It is the first of the boy wizard stories to be available in 3-D.

The end of the franchise raises questions about what might take its place at Warner, and in Hollywood generally, although a senior Warner executive has said the studio would rely partly on its DC Comics unit to fill the void. Fellman said in a statement that Warner had also reached the $1 billion box-office mark in North America for the 11th year in succession.