Harry Potter Movies

Harry Potter, the boy wizard, has captured the heart of millions of readers, both children and adults alike around the world. JK Rowling, the author of this fantasy series that introduces the readers into the magical world of witchcraft, earned millions from this book series. Harry and his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, have become the favorite characters from the time of release of the first book (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) of the successful seven-book series. The rights for the first four books of the series were reportedly sold to Warner Bros by Rowling for one million US$. The movies based on this series have garnered positive reviews and commercial success worldwide. Following is the movie timeline in brief:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was directed by Yates, and it was released on 15 July 2009 with commercial success. He will continue to direct the films (this movie will have two parts) on the last book “Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows” of the Potter series, which are scheduled to be released in November 2010 and July 2011.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was directed by David Yates, the British director, as Mike Newell declined the offer to direct this movie. This film was released on 11 July 2007 in the US, whereas it was released on 12 July 2007 in the UK and Ireland. For this movie, Michael Goldenberg took over the role of screen writer, replacing Steven Kloves.

Since the production of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire had to be initiated before the release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Mike Newell was selected as the director of the fourth movie. This movie was released on 18 November 2005 with the highest opening of all the Potter movies released thus far.

Chris Columbus remained the producer of this movie. Alfonso Cuarón, the Mexican director started his work on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which was released on 31 May 2004. Michael Gambon took over the role of Dumbledore in this movie. Following suit, this movie also opened with record collections at the box office

This production of this movie started shortly (within a week!) after the release of the first movie and the film was released on 15 November 2002. This venture was also directed by Chris Columbus. Richard Harris, who played the role of Dumbledore, passed away on 25 October 2002. As the production of the movie had already been completed, the movie remains unaffected. This movie also gave record opening in both the UK and the US.

After the release of the fourth book “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” in July 2000, the first film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (as titled in the US), which was titled as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the UK, was released on 16 November 2001. The film production began on October 2000 in the UK and ended in July 2001, and it was directed by Chris Columbus. Steven Kloves was the screen writer, and he continued this job for the first four movies. Grossing 90 million$ in US alone, this movie set a record opening worldwide.

Of all the abovementioned directors, Chris Columbus was considered to have the most “faithful” approach to the events in the books. However, a large number of fans still prefer the stylish latter versions. Many felt that the continuity of the series was affected due to the involvement of different directors and the portrayal of the character of Dumbledore by two different actors. However, Rowling considers the recently released Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as the best of all the films.