Harry Potter movies: production costs and global box office revenue 2001-2017
Harry Potter
British author J.K. Rowling made waves in the children’s book industry upon the release of her debut novel ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ in the UK back in 1997 and is now one the most well-known authors in the world. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ books are adored by readers across generations all around the globe, and despite diehard fans having their reservations about the movie adaptations, all the films performed well at the box office.
The first movie was released in 2001, the same year as ‘Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ – another favorite among fantasy film fans. The Harry Potter movie franchise culminated with the eagerly anticipated adaptations of the ‘Deathly Hallows’ book, with the last film being released almost ten years after ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’. As is often the case in the movie industry, the final book was spread over two separate films in order to do justice to its length and detail.
Another common practice in the film industry is to release prequels to already successful movies, creating lengthy billion-dollar franchises. Significant movie franchises with prequels range from ‘Alien’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to ‘X-Men’ and ‘Star Wars’, and the release of ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them’ in 2016 marked the first of five planned Harry Potter prequels. These, along with the original Harry Potter movies, collectively make up fictional universe the Wizarding World, which is one of the highest grossing film franchises of all time.