We hate have to say it but the winner is ... Harry Potter.
Breaking Dawn is officially out in theaters but even all that residual buzz couldn't help it topple the Harry Potter movies. The good folks at Trendrr scoured the web and found that Twitter sentiment for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part One has been 41% positive, 7% negative and 52% neutral in the two weeks leading up to its release.
Trendrr found that Twitter sentiment for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 was 70% positive, 7% negative and 23% neutral in the two weeks leading to its release in July.
Those numbers were similar on Facebook where Twilight was 66% positive and 15% negative compared to Harry Potter, which was 72% positive and 7% negative.
The team at NM Incite narrowed in on the social response to Breaking Dawn on the day of its release and found that people were about 38% positive, 24% negative and 34% neutral.
We know what you're thinking, "How can you possibly compare these two blockbuster franchises! That would be like comparing wizards and vampires!"
Well, to you we say, that was an incredibly long, well-thought-out and an apt analogy. Before we get trolled to death, we are not passing judgment on which movies are better nor are we taking sides. Anyone with an Internet connection knows that there is a long-running rivalry between Twilight fans and Harry Potter fans. The two fantasy series have had a friendly feud at the box office, but this competition has often spilled over into name calling and spats in the fan communities.
Some call the Twilight series vapid because of its emphasis on Bella and Edward's relationship. Harry Potter and its author J.K. Rowling have gotten flack for its plain writing style and sometimes stock characters. Regardless on where you land on the spectrum, both series have no doubt had an enormous impact on generations of people. Even if you hate vampires, wizards, werewolves and dragons -- don't we all win if the books encourage more kids to read?