-
Source: Reuters -
Related
The sixth film in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, opens in theatres on July 15.
It is based on the novel by JK Rowling.
The film is directed by David Yates, who also directed the 2007
blockbuster Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Following are some facts about the Harry Potter films and
the novels they are based on:
The Movies:
The most recent Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix, opened in July 2007 and grossed $US77.1 million in its
first five days, eventually ringing up $US292 million in North
America.
- In Britain the movie grossed over 49 million pounds, making it
the top UK box office performer in 2007.
Warner Bros have distributed five Harry Potter movies, amassing a worldwide box office tally of $US4.5 billion. After Half-Blood Prince, there are two more to come, with the last of the seven Potter books being divided into two movies.
Daniel Radcliffe, who played the central role of Harry
throughout the film series, once again heads the cast in Half-Blood
Prince. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson reprise their roles as young
wizards Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who along with Harry, are
facing new challenges and dangers following Lord Voldemort's
return.
The Novels:
JK Rowling completed the manuscript of her first Harry Potter story, called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in 1995, having written some of it in local cafes in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she was an unemployed mother living on benefits.
After being rejected by a series of publishers, Barry Cunningham, then of Bloomsbury publishers, signed up Rowling and the author and company never looked back. Rowling is known as the world's first billion-dollar author.
She has sold 400 million copies of her Harry Potter series about young wizard Potter, his adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and his battles with the evil Voldemort.
