Sales of children’s books soared when the first Harry Potter novel appeared on the shelves. And now cinemas are anticipating that the film will do the same for box office returns. The Odeon chain of movie theatres in Britain has decided to devote almost half of its screens to Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone when it opens on November 16.
A spokeswoman for the company said that they have already had 20,000 ticket enquiries from fans – and they have not even started taking bookings. “It could be a world (record) breaker,” she said. “We have dedicated 225 of our 599 screens to it. That is more than for Titanic.”
The £85 million film has its world premiere in London on Sunday night and is expected to pay its way several times over. “It is entirely possible that this will become the biggest grossing film ever,” speculated film journalist Marshall Julius.
But the Harry Potter phenomenon and its merchandise drive has already started earning its keep – and not only by fair means, but by foul ones, too. Props from the movie, which stars newcomer Daniel Radcliffe as the boy wizard, were stolen from the film sets, despite strict security and are now being sold on the internet.
The movie’s producer, David Heyman, said: “Things like wands and wizards’ hats were finding their way onto eBay, the auction website, at vast prices. After I saw what they were going for, I felt like taking some of them myself,” he joked. But not all of the props have been stolen. Two wooden carved wands that were used in the film were donated to a cancer charity by author JK Rowling and auctioned to mystery buyers.On Friday, check out the HELLO! website for our Harry Potter special, with features on the making of the movie, a look at the books, and a mini-profile on author JK Rowling.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
