(Update - February 15, 2017)
Added Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond.
Introduction
Both of these beloved franchises began in non-film mediums. Star Trek was a television show created by Gene Roddenberry (which was more succesful in syndication than during its original run) and which spawned not only movies but additional television series. Harry Potter was a series of best selling novels written by J.K Rowling that took the world by storm with their imagination and timeless storytelling. Let's find out which franchise has been more successful in the world of film!
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Commercial Success 
Score is based on adjusted box office numbers, calculated using domestic box office dollars, average ticket price in release year, U.S. population, and tickets purchased per capita.
Harry Potter leads in total adjusted box office dollars with $2.7B (compared to Star Trek's $2.3B), led by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2 ($385M) and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ($377M). Trek's top grossers are Star Trek: The Motion Picture ($293M) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ($291M).
Harry Potter also has the edge in average adjusted box office with a $300M per film average, compared to Star Trek's $176M average. Star Trek: Nemesis ($45M) and Star Trek: Insurrection ($101M) help drag down the average, while Potter's lowest grossing film was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them at $217M.Edge: Harry Potter
Critical Success Score is based on critics' scores as aggregated on Rotten Tomatoes and user scores from IMDB.
Star Trek's best reviewed films are Star Trek (90%), Star Trek: First Contact (85%), and Star Trek Into Darkness (83%). Harry Potter's highest rated films are Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2 (94%), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (88%), and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (86%).
While Star Trek has solid reviews at the top end, it has much worse reviews at the low end. Star Trek's worst reviewed film is Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (30%) while Harry Potter's lowest rated film is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (75%). Which gives Potter an overall average of 79% and Trek an average of 70%.Edge: Harry Potter
Miscellaneous Score is based on Academy award nominations and wins, number of films, appearances on AFI lists, and inclusions in the National Film Registry.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and Star Trek all received at least 3 Oscar nominations. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2 each managed 3 nominations. There have been 13 Trek movies over 37 years, and 9 Potter movies over 15 years. It is Star Trek's track record of longevity that puts it over the top in this category.
Edge: Star Trek
Final Verdict! Final showdown score is the sum of the three categories' scores.
| Franchise | Score | F | Rtng | CS | BO |
ABO |
BOS | AN | AW | MS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star Trek | 49.33 | 13 | 69.7% | 17.3 | 2293 | 176 | 21.8 | 16 | 1 | 10.3 |
| Harry Potter | 62.63 | 9 | 79.3% | 27.9 | 2702 | 300 | 28.0 | 14 | 0 | 6.8 |
Both franchises are in the top half of the overall franchise rankings and have been very successful overall. Harry Potter cleans up in the two dominant categories (commercial success and critical success), winning this showdown decisively.
Winner: Harry Potter
