Harry Potter And The Cursed Child: Over 2M Copies Sold In North America In First 2 Days

American publishing company Scholastic Corporation announced Wednesday that “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child Parts One and Two” sold more than 2 million copies in North America in the first two days of its launch.

The new script book, billed as the eighth book in the Harry Potter franchise, hit bookshelves at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Sunday. Its sales record, however, fails to beat the one set by the seventh book “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” which reportedly sold 8.3 million copies in the U.S. within 24 hours of its 2007 release.

“Eager fans of all ages gathered at midnight parties in bookstores and libraries to get their copies of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, bringing communities together to celebrate the magic of reading and the power of great storytelling,” President of Scholastic Trade Ellie Berger said in a statement. “It’s an incredible start and all the signs are indicating continued strong sales for this exciting release.”

The publisher announced a first printing of 4.5 million copies of the script book written by Jack Thorne based on an original story by Harry Potter series author J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany.

“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is the most preordered book in history, bookseller Barnes & Noble announced on July 26, beating the record set by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

The first seven Harry Potter novels, published by Scholastic in the U.S. between 1998 and 2007, sold over 160 million copies in the U.S. and more than 450 million copies worldwide. The books were distributed in more than 200 territories and have been translated into 79 languages.