Potter. Harry Potter.

Someone pour James Bond a martini. The boy wizard is on the verge of overtaking 007 as the top-grossing movie franchise of all time, Variety.com reports.

The past five "Harry Potter" movies have grossed a total of $4.48 billion worldwide at the box office. The James Bond movies come in at $5 billion over the course of 22 films, starting with "Dr. No" in 1962.

But Wednesday night's witching-hour Potter screenings will put it on the road to the top of the box office pile. The "Harry Potter" franchise is expected to surpass the British spy thrillers by the end of July.

The film will begin casting its spell on movie-goers at 4,300 theaters in the U.S. tonight, and thousands more in 64 countries and territories across the globe, including every major market.

In New York's five boroughs alone there will be more than 100 sold out midnight shows, and nearly 2,000 screenings are sold out nationwide, Fandango.com reports.

"It's our fastest ticket-seller since 'The Dark Knight,' and 'Harry' may eventually outpace Batman in advance ticket sales," said Rick Butler, chief operating officer of Fandango.

Butler adds that the delay of the movie's release - it was originally slated for last November - has fueled even more interest in the new movie after fans had to wait longer than expected for their Potter fix.