Harry Potter has proved that when it comes to putting bums on seats, wizards make the rest of Hollywood look like muggles.

The opening weekend of the Philosopher's Stone not only broke every box-office record set by Star Wars Episode I, but is already well on the way to sinking Titanic's claim to be the most successful film ever.

Harry Potter took £9.6m in its first three days, having opened on 40% of the screens in the country - a feat never before contemplated. It swamped the second placed film, The Others, which took £1.3m, often enough to top the charts in a normal week.

Star Wars Episode I took £7.3m in its first weekend, but quite quickly tailed off, a pattern which is unlikely to be repeated with Harry Potter.

Its opening is likely to make 2001 the best for British cinemas for nearly 30 years, with 150m tickets likely to have been bought by the end of the year.

The American figures are even more impressive - breaking records again with a three day gross of $90.2m.

Robert Mitchell, of Screen International, which compiles the figures, said: "Everyone expected it to break all records, and it has. The figures are amazing - what more can you say?"

The only pretender on the horizon is The Fellowship Of The Ring, the first part of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, which opens in December - again with a largely British cast.

The Cinema Advertising Association last night predicted that this year would be the best at the British box office since 1972.

Debbie Chalet, the association's president, said: "The first 10 months of this year have seen exceptional box office success and record-breakers."

Ticket sales are up 4% so far on last year, but Harry Potter and The Lord Of The Rings could push the figure much higher.