text: harry potter and the deathly hallows – part 2 harry potter and the deathly hallows – part 2 is a 2011 british - american fantasy film directed by david yates and distributed by warner bros. pictures . it is the second of two cinematic parts based on the novel harry potter and the deathly hallows by j. k. rowling . the film , which is the eighth and final instalment in the harry potter film series , was written by steve kloves and produced by david heyman , david barron , and rowling . it is the sequel to harry potter and the deathly hallows – part 1 . the story continues to follow harry potter 's quest to find and destroy lord voldemort 's horcruxes in order to stop him once and for all . the film stars daniel radcliffe as harry potter , alongside rupert grint and emma watson as harry 's best friends , ron weasley and hermione granger . principal photography began on 19 february 2009 , and was completed on 12 june 2010 , with reshoots taking place in december 2010 , more than ten years after filming started on the first instalment of the series . part 2 was released in 2d , 3 - d and imax cinemas worldwide from 13 – 15 july 2011 , and is the only harry potter film to be released in 3 - d. the film became a financial success and was one of the best - reviewed films of 2011 . the film received praised for its visual effects , cinematography , alexandre desplat 's musical score , the action sequences , david yates ' direction , and the performances , especially alan rickman . at the box office , part 2 claimed the worldwide opening weekend record , earning $ 483 . 2 million , as well as setting opening day and opening weekend records in various countries . as of 2016 , the film is the eighth highest grossing film of all time . it became the highest - grossing film of 2011 , the highest grossing film in the harry potter series , and the ninth film to gross over $ 1 billion . the blu - ray and dvd sets were released on 11 november 2011 in the united states and on 2 december 2011 in the united kingdom . the film was also released in the harry potter : complete 8 - film collection box set on dvd and blu - ray , which included all eight films and new special features . part 1 and part 2 were released as a combo pack on dvd and blu - ray on 11 november 2011 in canada . the film won several awards and was nominated for many more , including three nominations at the academy awards for best art direction , best visual effects , and best makeup and hairstyling . plot lord voldemort retrieves the elder wand from albus dumbledore 's grave . after burying dobby , harry potter asks the goblin griphook to help him , ron , and hermione break into bellatrix lestrange 's vault at gringotts bank , suspecting a horcrux may be there . griphook agrees , in exchange for the sword of gryffindor . ollivander tells harry that two wands taken from malfoy manor belonged to bellatrix and to draco malfoy , but malfoy 's has changed its allegiance to harry . in bellatrix 's vault , harry discovers the horcrux is helga hufflepuff 's cup . he retrieves it , but griphook snatches the sword and abandons the trio , leaving them cornered by security . the three release the dragon guardian and flee on its back . harry sees a vision of voldemort killing goblins , including griphook , and learns voldemort is aware of the theft . harry also realises there is a horcrux at hogwarts somehow connected to rowena ravenclaw . the trio into hogsmeade , where aberforth dumbledore reluctantly instructs the portrait of his deceased younger sister , ariana , to fetch neville longbottom , who leads the trio through a secret passageway into hogwarts . severus snape hears of harry 's return and warns staff and students of punishment for aiding harry . harry confronts snape , who flees after minerva mcgonagall challenges him to a duel . mcgonagall gathers the hogwarts community for battle . at luna lovegood 's insistence , harry speaks to helena ravenclaw 's ghost , who reveals that voldemort performed " dark magic " on her mother 's diadem , which is in the room of requirement . in the chamber of secrets , ron and hermione destroy the horcrux cup with a basilisk fang . in the room of requirement , draco , blaise and gregory goyle attack harry after he finds the diadem , but ron and hermione intervene . goyle casts a curse and , unable to control it , is swallowed up by the flames while harry and his friends save malfoy and . harry stabs the diadem with the basilisk fang and ron kicks it into the room of requirement , where it is destroyed . as voldemort 's army attacks , harry , seeing into voldemort 's mind , realises that voldemort 's snake nagini is the final horcrux . after entering the boathouse , the trio witness voldemort incorrectly telling snape that the elder wand cannot serve voldemort until snape dies since he killed its last owner ( dumbledore ) ; he then orders nagini to kill snape , which nagini does . before dying , snape tells harry to take his memories to the pensieve . in the chaos at hogwarts , fred , lupin , and tonks have been killed . harry learns from snape 's memories that snape loved harry 's late mother , lily , but despised his father , james , who had bullied him . following her death , snape worked secretly with dumbledore to protect harry from voldemort because of his love for lily . harry also learns dumbledore 's death at snape 's hands was planned between them , and that the patronus doe he saw in the woods that led him to the sword had been conjured by snape . harry discovers that he himself became a horcrux when voldemort originally failed to kill him and that harry must die to destroy the piece of voldemort 's soul within him . harry then surrenders himself to voldemort in the forbidden forest . voldemort casts the killing curse upon harry , who finds himself in limbo , where dumbledore 's spirit meets him and explains that the part of voldemort within harry was killed by voldemort 's own curse . harry then returns to his body , determined to defeat voldemort once and for all . voldemort announces harry 's apparent death to everyone at hogwarts and demands they all surrender . as neville gives a defiant response and draws the sword of gryffindor from the sorting hat , harry reveals he is still alive . while harry confronts voldemort in a duel throughout the castle , neville decapitates nagini , leaving voldemort mortal , and molly weasley kills bellatrix in the great hall . harry and voldemort 's fight ends with voldemort 's own killing curse rebounding and obliterating him . after the battle , harry explains to ron and hermione that the elder wand had recognised him as its true master because he had disarmed draco , who earlier had disarmed its previous owner , dumbledore , but instead of claiming the elder wand , harry breaks and discards it . nineteen years later , harry , ginny , hermione , and ron proudly watch their own children leave for hogwarts at king 's cross station . cast daniel radcliffe as harry potter rupert grint as ron weasley , one of harry 's best friends . emma watson as hermione granger , one of harry 's best friends . helena bonham carter as bellatrix lestrange , a death eater and sirius black 's cousin and murderer . robbie coltrane as rubeus hagrid , harry 's half - giant friend and a former staff at hogwarts . warwick davis as filius flitwick , the charms master and head of the ravenclaw house at hogwarts ; and griphook , a goblin and former employee at gringotts bank . tom felton as draco malfoy , a death eater and son of lucius and narcissa malfoy ( helen mccrory ) . ralph fiennes as lord voldemort , a twisted , evil , power - hungry powerful wizard , and the founder and supreme leader of the death eaters . michael gambon as albus dumbledore , the late headmaster of hogwarts john hurt as mr. ollivander , a abducted by the death eaters . jason isaacs as lucius malfoy , draco malfoy 's father and a disgraced death eater . kelly macdonald as helena ravenclaw , the ghost of ravenclaw at hogwarts . gary oldman as sirius black , harry 's late godfather . alan rickman as severus snape , former potions and defence against the dark arts teacher and the new headmaster of hogwarts . maggie smith as minerva mcgonagall , the transfiguration teacher and the head of the gryffindor house at hogwarts . david thewlis as remus lupin , a member of the order of the phoenix and a former defence against the dark arts teacher at hogwarts . julie walters as molly weasley , the weasley matriarch casting the roles of several minor characters were recast or replaced for this film . for example , ciarán hinds assumed the role of aberforth dumbledore , albus dumbledore 's brother and bartender of the hog 's head inn . in the book , a significant number of characters who have not appeared since some of the earlier novels , reappear to defend hogwarts in the large , final battle . director david yates said , " i want to get them all back " , referring to his desire to bring back as many actors who have appeared in the franchise as possible for the climactic battle sequence in the film . sean biggerstaff , jim broadbent , gemma jones , miriam , and emma thompson reprise their roles from earlier films briefly during the battle scene . for the final scene in the film which is set nineteen years after the film 's main story , the actors playing the main characters were made to look older through the use of makeup and special effects not once but twice ; the second being after the characters ' aged photos leaked onto the internet . production part 2 was filmed back - to - back with harry potter and the deathly hallows – part 1 from 19 february 2009 to 12 june 2010 , with reshoots for the epilogue scene taking place at leavesden film studios on 21 december 2010 . director david yates , who shot the film with director of photography eduardo serra , described part 2 as " operatic , colourful and fantasy - oriented " , a " big opera with huge battles . " the idea of splitting the final book into two films came from " creative imperative " and it was suggested by the executive producer lionel wigram . david heyman , initially , responded negatively , but wigram asked , “ no , david . how are we going to do it ? ” . after re - reading the book and discussing it with steve kloves , he agreed with the division . sets in an interview with architectural digest , production designer stuart craig remarked on creating sets for part 2 . of the gringotts wizarding bank , he said , " our banking hall , like any other , is made of marble and big marble columns . and it has great strength . the fact that the goblins are the bankers and tellers at the counter helps that feeling of grandeur and solidity and the big proportions . that was part of the fun of the set : we exaggerated the size of it , we exaggerated the weight of it , and we even exaggerated the shine of the marble . " about the multiplication of treasure in one of the bank 's vaults , he noted , " we made literally thousands of pieces for it and vacuum them to be shiny gold and silver . john richardson , the special effects supervisor , made a floor that was capable of rising on different levels , so there was kind of a physical swelling of the treasure on it . " craig spoke about the battle of hogwarts to art insights magazine , saying that " the great challenge is the destruction of hogwarts . the sun rising behind the smoke ... the massive remains of destroyed walls , the entrance hall , the entrance of the great hall , part of the roof of the great hall completely gone , so yeah . a big challenge there and an enjoyable one really – maybe it helped me and the guys in the art department sort of prepare for the end ... we demolished it before we had to strike it completely . " when asked about the king 's cross scene near the end of the film , craig said , " we experimented a lot , quite honestly . i mean it was quite a protracted process really but we did experiment the sense of it being very burnt out very very kind of white – so we experimented with floors , we experimented with different kind of white covering everything : white paint , white fabric , and the cameraman was involved in how much to expose it , and a series of camera tests were done , so we got there but with a great deal of preparation and research . " visual effects visual effects supervisor tim burke said that " it was such a major job to stage the battle of hogwarts , and we had to do it in different stages of production . we had shots with complex linking camera moves from wide overviews , to flying into windows and interior spaces . so , we took the plunge at the end of 2008 , and started rebuilding the school digitally with double negative . " he went on to say that " it 's taken two years – getting renders out , texturing every facet of the building , constructing interiors to see through windows , building a destruction version of the school . we can design shots with the knowledge that we have this brilliant digital miniature that we can do anything with . with a practical hogwarts , we would have shot it last summer and been so tied down . instead , as david yates finds the flow and structure , we are able to handle new concepts and ideas . " on the quality of 3 - d in film , burke told los angeles times , " i think it 's good , actually . i think people are going to be really pleased . i know everyone 's a little nervous and sceptical of 3 - d these days , but the work has been done very , very well . we 've done over 200 shots in 3 - d and in the visual effects as well , because so much of it is cg , so the results are very , very good . i think everyone 's going to be really impressed with it , actually . " producer david heyman spoke to sfx magazine about the 3 - d conversion , saying that " the way david yates is approaching 3 - d is he 's trying to approach it from a character and story point of view . trying to use the sense of isolation , of separation that sometimes 3 - d gives you , to heighten that at appropriate moments . so we 're approaching it in a storytelling way . " in 2012 , the visual effects in the film were nominated for an oscar . the film also won the bafta award for best special visual effects at the 65th bafta awards in 2012 . music it was confirmed that part 1 composer , alexandre desplat , was set to return for part 2 . in an interview with film music magazine , desplat stated that scoring part 2 is " a great challenge " and that he has " a lot of expectations to fulfill and a great deal of work " ahead of him . in a separate interview , desplat also made note that john williams ' themes will be present in the film " much more than in part one . " the soundtrack for the film was nominated for best score soundtrack for visual media at the 54th annual grammy awards . distribution marketing in march 2011 , the first preview for deathly hallows – part 2 was released revealing new footage and new interviews from the starring cast . the first united states poster was released on 28 march 2011 , with the caption " it all ends 7 . 15 " ( referring to its international release date ) . on 27 april 2011 the first theatrical trailer for part 2 was released . the trailer revealed a range of new and old footage . the imax trailer for the film was released with imax screenings of pirates of the caribbean : on stranger tides on 20 may 2011 . during the mtv movie awards on 5 june 2011 , emma watson presented a sneak peek of the film . theatrical release on 2 april 2011 , a test screening of the film was held in chicago , with director david yates , producers david heyman and david barron and editor mark day in attendance . the film had its world premiere on 7 july 2011 ( 2011 - 07 - 07 ) in trafalgar square in london . the united states premiere was held in new york city at lincoln center on 11 july 2011 ( 2011 - 07 - 11 ) . although filmed in 2 - d , the film was converted into 3 - d in post - production and was released in both reald 3d and imax 3d . the film was originally scheduled to open in indonesia on 13 july 2011 . the indonesian government levied a new value added tax on royalties from foreign films in february 2011 , causing three film studios , including warner brothers , to halt the importation of their films , including harry potter and the deathly hallows – part 2 into the country . the film was not released to cinemas in the kingdom of jordan due to recently enforced taxes on films . it had not been premiered in the kingdom as of 13 august 2011 . on 10 june , one month before the film 's release , tickets went on sale . on 16 june 2011 , part 2 received a 12a certificate from the british board of film classification , who note that the film " contains moderate threat , injury detail and language " , becoming the only harry potter film to receive a warning for " injury detail " . at midnight 15 july , part 2 screened in 3 , 800 cinemas . in the united states , it played in 4 , 375 cinemas , 3 , 100 3d cinemas and 274 imax cinemas , the widest release for an imax , 3d and a harry potter film . home media harry potter and the deathly hallows – part 2 was released on 11 november 2011 in the united states in four formats : a one - disc standard dvd , a two - disc standard dvd special edition , a one - disc standard blu - ray , and three - disc blu - ray 2d combo pack ( blu - ray + dvd + digital copy ) . in the united kingdom and ireland , the film was released on 2 december 2011 in three formats : a two - disc standard dvd , a three - disc blu - ray 2d combo pack ( blu - ray + dvd + digital copy ) , and a four - disc blu - ray 3d combo pack ( blu - ray 3d + blu - ray 2d + dvd + digital copy ) . the film set the record for fastest - selling pre - order dvd and blu - ray on amazon.com , just two days into the pre - order period . deathly hallows – part 2 sold 2 . 71 million blu - ray units ( $ 60 . 75 million ) in three days ( friday to sunday ) . it also sold 2 . 83 million dvd units ( $ 42 . 22 million ) during its debut . by 18 july 2012 it had sold 4 . 71 million blu - ray units ( $ 99 . 33 million ) and 6 . 47 million dvd units ( $ 88 . 96 million ) . reception box office harry potter and the deathly hallows – part 2 grossed $ 381 , 011 , 219 in the united states and canada , along with $ 960 , 500 , 000 in other markets , for a worldwide total of $ 1 , 341 , 511 , 219 . in worldwide earnings , it is currently the eighth highest - grossing film , the highest - grossing 2011 film , the highest - grossing film in the harry potter franchise and the highest - grossing children 's book adaptation . part 2 set a worldwide opening - weekend record with $ 483 . 2 million . it set a worldwide imax opening - weekend record with $ 23 . 2 million . in worldwide earnings , it is the fastest film to reach $ 400 million ( 5 days ) , $ 500 million ( 6 days ) , $ 600 million ( 8 days ) , $ 700 million ( 10 days ) , $ 800 million ( 12 days ) , $ 900 million ( 15 days ) , and $ 1 billion ( 19 days , tied with avatar and marvel 's the avengers ) . on 31 july 2011 ( its 19th day of release ) , it became the ninth film in cinematic history and the second in 2011 to surpass the $ 1 - billion mark . united states and canada in north america , it is the twenty - fifth highest - grossing film , the highest grossing 2011 film , the highest - grossing harry potter film , the highest - grossing children 's book adaptation , the highest - grossing fantasy / live action film and the eleventh highest - grossing 3 - d film . box office mojo estimates that the film sold more than 40 million tickets . it set new records in advance ticket sales with $ 32 million , in its midnight opening with $ 43 . 5 million and in its imax midnight opening with $ 2 million . it grossed $ 91 . 1 million on its opening friday , setting a friday - gross record as well as single- and opening - day records . it also set an opening - weekend record with $ 169 . 2 million , an imax opening - weekend record of $ 15 . 2 million and opening - weekend record for a 3 - d film . although 3 - d enhanced the film 's earning potential , only 43 % of the opening gross came from 3 - d venues . this means only $ 72 . 8 million of the opening - weekend grosses originated from 3 - d showings , the second - largest number at the time . it also scored the largest 3 - day and 4 - day gross , the sixth highest - grossing opening week ( friday to thursday ) with $ 226 . 2 million , and even the seventh - largest 7 - day gross . it fell precipitously by 84 % on its second friday and by 72 % during its second weekend overall , grossing $ 47 . 4 million , which is the largest second - weekend drop for any film that opened to more than $ 90 million . still , it managed to become the fastest - grossing film in the franchise and also achieved the second - largest ten - day gross ever at the time ( now eighth ) . in its third weekend , the movie surpassed harry potter and the philosopher 's stone to become the highest - grossing film of the franchise in north america . other markets outside north america , harry potter and the deathly hallows – part 2 is the third highest - grossing film , the highest - grossing 2011 film , the highest - grossing warner bros. film and the highest - grossing harry potter film . on its opening day , deathly hallows – part 2 grossed $ 43 . 6 million from 26 countries , placing it 86 % ahead of deathly hallows – part 1 and 49 % higher than half - blood prince . from wednesday until sunday , on its 5 - day opening weekend , it set an opening - weekend record outside north america by earning $ 314 million . the average 3d share of deathly hallows – part 2 was 60 % , which was lower than the 3d share for transformers : dark of the moon ( 70 % ) and on stranger tides ( 66 % ) . on its second weekend , it held to the top spot , but fell precipitously by 62 % to $ 120 . 2 million despite minor competition . this amount is about the same as what on stranger tides made from its second weekend ( $ 124 . 3 million ) . deathly hallows – part 2 was in first place at the box office outside north america for four consecutive weekends . in the united kingdom , ireland and malta it brought in a record $ 14 . 8 million on its first day . on its opening weekend it earned £ 23 , 753 , 171 in the united kingdom , marking the second largest opening weekend in 2011 . its performance did not surpass that of harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban in 2004 , which eared £ 23 , 882 , 688 on its opening weekend . in united states dollars , its opening weekend was an all - time record $ 38 . 3 million , ahead of harry potter and the order of the phoenix ( $ 33 . 5 million ) . the film also achieved the largest single - day gross on its first saturday and the largest opening week with $ 57 . 6 million . the film made a total of £ 73 . 1 million ( $ 117 . 2 million ) at the united kingdom box office , marking the fifth highest - grossing film . it also is the highest - grossing film of 2011 and highest - grossing harry potter film . deathly hallows – part 2 also set opening - day records in mexico ( $ 6 . 1 million ) , australia ( $ 7 . 5 million ) , france and the maghreb region ( $ 7 . 1 million ) , italy ( $ 4 . 6 million ) , sweden ( $ 2 . 1 million ) , norway ( $ 1 . 8 million ) , denmark ( $ 1 . 6 million ) , the netherlands ( $ 1 . 7 million ) , belgium ( $ 1 . 4 million ) , the czech republic ( $ 2 . 0 million ) , argentina ( $ 961 , 000 ) , finland ( $ 749 , 000 ) and hong kong ( $ 808 , 000 ) . it also established new harry potter opening - day records in japan ( $ 5 . 7 million ) , brazil ( $ 4 . 4 million ) , russia and the cis ( $ 4 . 2 million ) , spain ( $ 3 . 3 million ) and poland ( $ 1 . 25 million ) . deathly hallows – part 2 set opening weekend records in india with ₹ 15 ( $ 3 . 41 million ) , australia with $ 19 . 6 million , new zealand with $ 2 . 46 million , brazil with $ 11 . million , scandinavia with $ 18 . 5 million , mexico with $ 15 . 9 million and many other latin american and european countries . critical response review aggregation website rotten tomatoes surveyed 308 reviews and concluded 96 % of them were positive with an average score of 8 . 3 / 10 . the site describes the film as " thrilling , powerfully acted , and visually dazzling , deathly hallows part ii brings the harry potter franchise to a satisfying – and suitably magical – conclusion . " on metacritic , which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 based on individual reviews , the film achieved an average of 87 based on 41 reviews , signifying " universal acclaim " . the film received a score of 93 from professional critics at the broadcast film critics association ; it is the organisation 's highest - rated harry potter film . audiences surveyed by cinemascore gave the film a grade on average . philip womack in the daily telegraph commented , " this is monumental cinema , awash with gorgeous tones , and carrying an ultimate message that will resonate with every viewer , young or old : there is darkness in all of us , but we can overcome it . " he further expressed that david yates " transmutes [ the book ] into a genuinely terrifying spectacle . " another review was released on the same day from evening standard , who rated the film 4 out of 5 and stated " millions of children , parents , and those who should know better won 't need reminding what a horcrux is – and director david yates does not let them down . in fact , in some ways , he helps make up for the shortcomings of the final book . " the daily express remarked that the film showcases " a terrifying showdown that easily equals lord of the rings or star wars in terms of a dramatic and memorable battle between good and evil . " roger ebert of the chicago sun - times gave the film 3 1 ⁄ 2 out of 4 stars and said , " the finale conjures up enough awe and solemnity to serve as an appropriate finale and a dramatic contrast to the lighthearted ( relative ) innocence of harry potter and the sorcerer 's stone all those magical years ago . " mark kermode from the bbc said that the film is a " pretty solid and ambitious adaptation of a very complex book " , but he criticised the post - converted 3d . christy lemire of the associated press gave the film 3 1 ⁄ 2 out of 4 stars and said " while deathly hallows : part 2 offers long - promised answers , it also dares to pose some eternal questions , and it 'll stay with you after the final chapter has closed . " richard roeper , also from the chicago sun - times , gave the film an a + rating and said that " this is a masterful and worthy final chapter in one of the best franchises ever put to film . " in one of the few negative reviews , brian gibson of vue weekly described the film as " deadly dull " and a " visual overstatement " . other reviews criticised the decision to split the novel into two cinematic parts , with ben mortimer of the daily telegraph writing " deathly hallows – part 2 isn 't a film . it 's half a film ... it 's going to feel somewhat emotionless . " other critics wrote of the film 's runtime ; alonso duralde from the wrap said , " if there 's one substantial flaw to the film , it 's that this cavalcade of people and places and objects can barely fit in the 130 - minute running time . " rebecca from the oxford student gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote , " at the end of [ the film ] there is nothing that stays with you once you 've left the cinema . " accolades the film garnered a number of accolades and nominations . harry potter and the deathly hallows – part 2 was nominated for best art direction , best makeup , and best visual effects at the 84th academy awards . at the 65th bafta awards , the film won the best visual effects award , and was nominated in the best sound , best production design and best make - up and hair categories . the film was nominated for best score soundtrack for visual media at the 54th annual grammy awards in 2012 . it won a screen actors guild award for outstanding performance by a stunt ensemble in a motion picture . the film scored 10 nominations at the annual saturn awards , winning for best fantasy film . in the 2011 scream awards , the film received a total of 14 nominations , and won in the best scream - play , best fantasy actor ( daniel radcliffe ) , best villain ( ralph fiennes ) , best f / x , and holy sh * t scene of the year categories . franchise expansion / spin - offs a new trilogy set before the series is currently in development with the first film , fantastic beasts and where to find them , being released november 18 , 2016 . j.k. rowling , creator / author of the harry potter book series , will be closely involved with the new trilogy ; and was the screenwriter for the first film .