Harry Potter films

''Harry Potter'' is a film series based on the eponymous novels by J. K. Rowling. The series is produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and consists of eight fantasy films, beginning with ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (2001) and culminating with ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2'' (2011). A spin-off prequel series, planned to consist of five films, started with '' Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' (2016), marking the beginning of the Wizarding World shared media franchise.

The series was mainly produced by David Heyman, and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson as the three leading characters: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Four directors worked on the series: Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, and David Yates. Michael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay for '' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' (2007), while the remaining films' screenplays were written by Steve Kloves. Production took place over ten years, with the main story arc following Harry's quest to overcome his arch-enemy Lord Voldemort.

'' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'', the seventh and final novel in the series, was adapted into two feature-length parts. '' Part 1'' was released in November 2010, and '' Part 2'' was released in July 2011.

''Philosopher's Stone'' and ''Deathly Hallows – Part 2'' are among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time—at 48th- and 15th-highest, respectively—with both grossing over $1 billion. It is the fourth-highest-grossing film series, with $7.7 billion in worldwide receipts.

Origins

In late 1997, film producer David Heyman's London offices received a copy of the first book in what would become Rowling's series of seven ''Harry Potter'' novels. The book, ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', was relegated to a low-priority bookshelf, where it was discovered by a secretary who read it and gave it to Heyman with a positive review. Consequently, Heyman, who had originally disliked "the rubbish title", read the book himself. Highly impressed by Rowling's work, he began the process that led to one of the most successful cinematic franchises of all time.

Heyman's enthusiasm led to Rowling's 1999 sale of the film rights for the first four ''Harry Potter'' books to Warner Bros. for a reported £1 million (US$2,000,000). A demand Rowling made was that the principal cast be kept strictly British, allowing nevertheless for the inclusion of many Irish actors, such as Richard Harris as Dumbledore, and for casting of French and Eastern European actors in '' Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' where characters from the book are specified as such. Rowling was hesitant to sell the rights because she "didn't want to give them control over the rest of the story" by selling the rights to the characters, which would have enabled Warner Bros. to make non-author-written sequels.

Although Steven Spielberg initially negotiated to direct the first film, he declined the offer. Spielberg contended that, in his opinion, there was every expectation of profit in making the film. He claims that making money would have been like "shooting ducks in a barrel. It's just a slam dunk. It's just like withdrawing a billion dollars and putting it into your personal bank accounts. There's no challenge." In the "Rubbish Bin" section of her website, Rowling maintains that she had no role in choosing directors for the films, writing "Anyone who thinks I could (or would) have 'veto-ed' him pielbergneeds their Quick-Quotes Quill serviced."

After Spielberg left, conversations began with other directors, including Chris Columbus, Jonathan Demme, Terry Gilliam, Mike Newell, Alan Parker, Wolfgang Petersen, Rob Reiner, Tim Robbins, Brad Silberling, and Peter Weir. Petersen and Reiner both pulled out of the running in March 2000. It was then narrowed down to Columbus, Gilliam, Parker, and Silberling. Rowling's first choice was Terry Gilliam. However, on 28 March 2000 Columbus was appointed as director of the film, with Warner Bros. citing his work on other family films such as ''Home Alone'' and ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' as influences for their decision.

Steve Kloves was selected to write the screenplay for the first film. He described adapting the book as "tough" since it did not "lend itself to adaptation as well as the next two books". Kloves was sent a "raft" of synopses of books proposed as film adaptations, with ''Harry Potter'' being the only one that jumped out at him. He went out and bought the book, becoming an instant fan. When speaking to Warner Bros. he stated that the film had to be British and true to the characters. David Heyman was confirmed to produce the film. Rowling received a large amount of creative control for the film, an arrangement that Columbus did not mind.

Warner Bros. had initially planned to release the first film over the 4 July 2001 weekend, making for such a short production window that several of the originally proposed directors had withdrawn themselves from contention. Eventually, due to time constraints, the date was put back to 16 November 2001.

Casting the roles of Harry, Ron, and Hermione

In 2000, after a seven-month search, lead actor Daniel Radcliffe was discovered by producer David Heyman and writer Steve Kloves seated just behind them in a theatre. In Heyman's own words, "There sitting behind me was this boy with these big blue eyes. It was Dan Radcliffe. I remember my first impressions: He was curious and funny and so energetic. There was real generosity too, and sweetness. But at the same time he was really voracious and with hunger for knowledge of whatever kind."

Radcliffe had already established himself as an actor in the 1999 BBC
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