The final installment of the series that ate fandom has sold over 8.3 million copies in its first twenty-four hours, reports Reuters.

Scholastic president Lisa Holton said, "The excitement, anticipation, and just plain hysteria that came over the entire country this weekend was a bit like the Beatles' first visit to the U.S.."

"This is the highest single-day sales of any title ever in Borders history," said a representative for the chain in a statement on Sunday.  Over 1.2 million copies of the book have been sold at Borders alone.  Both Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble reported over 1 million pre-orders each.

Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.' head of distribution said, "[The fans] wanted to get that book Saturday, lock themselves in the house and read it, because they didn't want their other friends by Monday telling them who made it and who didn't."