Who directed the first Harry Potter film?

Chris Columbus, who directed the first two "Harry Potter" film adaptations, has cited the 1985 film "Young Sherlock Holmes", which he wrote, as an influence in his direction for those films. "That was sort of a predecessor to this movie, in a sense", he told the BBC in 2001, "It was about two young boys and a girl in a British boarding school who had to fight a supernatural force." Scenes from "Young Sherlock Holmes" were subsequently used to cast the first Harry Potter film. On 3 January 2010, Irish journalist Declan Lynch (writing in "The Sunday Independent") stated that "there's more than a hint of young Sherlock evident in Harry".

Harry Potter influences and analogues

Writer J. K. Rowling cites several writers as influences in her creation of her bestselling "Harry Potter" series. Writers, journalists and critics have noted that the books also have a number of analogues; a wide range of literature, both classical and modern, which Rowling has not openly cited as influences.

This article is divided into three sections. The first section lists those authors and books which Rowling has suggested as possible influences on "Harry Potter". The second section deals with those books which Rowling has cited as favourites without mentioning possible influences. The third section deals with those analogues which Rowling has not cited either as influences or as favourites but which others have claimed bear comparison with "Harry Potter".

Rowling has never openly credited any single author with inspiration, saying, "I haven't got the faintest idea where my ideas come from, or how my imagination works. I'm just grateful that it does, because it gives me more entertainment than it gives anyone else." However, she has mentioned a number of favourite authors as probable influences in her creation of "Harry Potter". The works are listed roughly in order of publication.

Rowling has said, "I've taken horrible liberties with folklore and mythology, but I'm quite unashamed about that, because British folklore and British mythology is a totally bastard mythology. You know, we've been invaded by people, we've appropriated their gods, we've taken their mythical creatures, and we've soldered them all together to make, what I would say, is one of the richest folklores in the world, because it's so varied. So I feel no compunction about borrowing from that freely, but adding a few things of my own."

When an interviewer said that saving Cedric's body resembled the actions of Hector, Achilles, and Patroclus in the "Iliad", Rowling said, "That's where it came from. That really, really, really moved me when I read that when I was 19. The idea of the desecration of a body, a very ancient idea... I was thinking of that when Harry saved Cedric's body."

A number of commentators have drawn attention to the Biblical themes and references in J. K. Rowling's final "Harry Potter" novel, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". In an August 2007 issue of "Newsweek", Lisa Miller commented that Harry dies and then comes back to life to save humankind, like Christ. She points out the title of the chapter in which this occurs—"King's Cross"—a possible allusion to Christ's cross. Also, she outlines the scene in which Harry is temporarily dead, pointing out that it places Harry in a very heaven-like setting where he talks to a father figure "whose supernatural powers are accompanied by a profound message of love." Jeffrey Weiss adds, in the "Dallas Morning News", that the biblical quotation "And the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:26), featured on the tombstones of Harry's parents, refers to Christ's resurrection. The quotation on Dumbledore's family tomb, "Where your treasure is, your heart will be also", is from Matthew 6:21, and refers to knowing which things in life are of true value.
"They're very British books", Rowling revealed to an Open Book conference in October 2007, "So on a very practical note Harry was going to find biblical quotations on tombstones, [but] I think those two particular quotations he finds on the tombstones at Godric's Hollow, they (…) almost epitomize the whole series."

"Deathly Hallows" begins with a pair of epigraphs, one from Quaker leader William Penn's "More Fruits of Solitude" and one from Aeschylus' "The Libation Bearers". "I really enjoyed choosing those two quotations because one is pagan, of course, and one is from a Christian tradition", Rowling said. "I'd known it was going to be those two passages since 'Chamber' was published. I always knew [that] if I could use them at the beginning of book seven then I'd cued up the ending perfectly. If they were relevant, then I went where I needed to go. They just say it all to me, they really do."

In a July 2007 webchat hosted by her publisher Bloomsbury, Rowling stated that "The Pardoner's Tale" of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" was an inspiration for a folktale retold by Xenophilius Lovegood in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". In the tale, three brothers outwit Death by magicing a bridge to cross a dangerous river. Death, angry at being cheated, offers to give them three gifts, the Deathly Hallows, as a reward for evading him. The first two die as a result of the gifts granted to them, but the third uses his gift wisely and dies in his bed an old man. In "The Pardoner's Tale", three rogues are told that if they look under a tree, they can find a means to defeat Death. Instead they find gold, and, overcome with greed, eventually kill each other to possess it.

Rowling has cited William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" as an influence. In an interview with The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet, when asked, "What if [Voldemort] never heard the prophecy?", she said, "It's the "Macbeth" idea. I absolutely adore "Macbeth". It is possibly my favourite Shakespeare play. And that's the question isn't it? If Macbeth hadn't met the witches, would he have killed Duncan? Would any of it have happened? Is it fated or did he make it happen? I believe he made it happen." On her website, she referred to "Macbeth" again in discussing the prophecy: "the prophecy (like the one the witches make to Macbeth, if anyone has read the play of the same name) becomes the catalyst for a situation that would never have occurred if it had not been made."

Rowling cites Jane Austen as her favourite author and a major influence. Rowling has said: "My attitude to Jane Austen is accurately summed up by that wonderful line from "Cold Comfort Farm": 'One of the disadvantages of almost universal education was that all kinds of people gained a familiarity with one's favourite books. It gave one a curious feeling; like seeing a drunken stranger wrapped in one's dressing gown.'" The "Harry Potter" series is known for its twist endings, and Rowling has stated that, "I have never set up a surprise ending in a Harry Potter book without knowing I can never, and will never, do it anywhere near as well as Austen did in "Emma"."

Rowling frequently mentions E. Nesbit in interview, citing her "very real" child characters. In 2000, she said, "I think I identify with E Nesbit more than any other writer", and described Nesbit's "The Story of the Treasure Seekers" as, "Exhibit A for prohibition of all children's literature by anyone who cannot remember exactly how it felt to be a child."

In a 2007 reading for students in New Orleans, Rowling said that the first book to inspire her was Kenneth Grahame's children's fantasy "The Wind in the Willows", read to her when she had the measles at age 4.

Rowling has also cited the work of Christian essayist and mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers as an influence on her work, saying "There's a theory – this applies to detective novels, and then Harry, which is not
really a detective novel, but it feels like one sometimes – that you should not have romantic intrigue in a detective book. Dorothy L. Sayers, who is queen of the genre said – and then broke her own rule, but said – that there is no place for romance in a detective story except that it can be useful to camouflage other people's motives. That's true; it is a very useful trick. I've used that on Percy and I've used that to a degree on Tonks in this book, as a red herring. But having said that, I disagree inasmuch as mine are very character-driven books, and it's so important, therefore, that we see these characters fall in love, which is a necessary part of life."

Rowling has said she was a fan of the works of C. S. Lewis as a child, and cites the influence of his "The Chronicles of Narnia" on her work: "I found myself thinking about the wardrobe route to Narnia when Harry is told he has to hurl himself at a barrier in King's Cross station – it dissolves and he's on platform Nine and Three-Quarters, and there's the train for Hogwarts."

She is, however, at pains to stress the differences between Narnia and her world: "Narnia is literally a different world", she says, "whereas in the Harry books you go into a world within a world that you can see if you happen to belong. A lot of the humour comes from collisions between the magic and the everyday world. Generally there isn't much humour in the Narnia books, although I adored them when I was a child. I got so caught up I didn't think CS Lewis was especially preachy. Reading them now I find that his subliminal message isn't very subliminal." "New York Times" writer Charles McGrath notes the similarity between Dudley Dursley, the obnoxious son of Harry's neglectful guardians, and Eustace Scrubb, the spoiled brat who torments the main characters until converted by Aslan.

In an interview in "The Scotsman" in 2002, Rowling described Elizabeth Goudge's "The Little White Horse" as having, "perhaps more than any other book... a direct influence on the "Harry Potter" books. The author always included details of what her characters were eating and I remember liking that. You may have noticed that I always list the food being eaten at Hogwarts." Rowling said in "O" that "Goudge was the only [author] whose influence I was conscious of. She always described exactly what the children were eating, and I really liked knowing what they had in their sandwiches."

Rowling also cites the work of T. H. White, a grammar school teacher, and the author of the well-known children's classic saga, "The Once and Future King", which tells the story of King Arthur of Britain, from childhood to grave. Perhaps the best-known book from this saga is "The Sword in the Stone" (the first book) which was made into an animated movie by Walt Disney. Arthur (called Wart) is a small scruffy-haired orphan, who meets the wizard Merlin (who has an owl, Archimedes, and acts, much like Dumbledore, in the manner of an "absent-minded professor") who takes him to a castle to educate him. As writer Phyllis Morris notes, "The parallels between Dumbledore and Merlin do not end with the protection of the hero in danger... In addition to both characters sporting long, flowing beards (and blue eyes,
according to T.H. White), Merlin was King Arthur's mentor and guide, as Dumbledore has been Harry's guide and mentor." Rowling describes Wart as "Harry's spiritual ancestor."

Rowling is also a fan of Paul Gallico, "especially "Manxmouse". That's a great book. Gallico manages the fine line between magic and reality so skilfully, to the point where the most fantastic events feel plausible."

In the "Scotsman" interview, Rowling described civil rights activist Jessica Mitford as "my most influential writer", saying, "I love the way she never outgrew some of her adolescent traits, remaining true to her politics – she was a self-taught socialist – throughout her life." In a review of "Decca—The letters of Jessica Mitford", she went further saying, "Jessica Mitford has been my heroine since I was 14 years old, when I overheard my formidable great-aunt discussing how Mitford had run away at the age of 19 to fight with the Reds in the Spanish Civil War", and claims what inspired her about Mitford was that she was "incurably and instinctively rebellious, brave, adventurous, funny and irreverent, she liked nothing better than a good fight, preferably against a pompous and hypocritical target."

In 1999, while Rowling was on a tour of the United States, a bookseller handed her a copy of "I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith, saying she would love it. The book became one of her all time favourites. Rowling says that, "it is the voice of the narrator, in this case 17-year- old Cassandra Mortmain, which makes a masterpiece out of an old plot."

Also in 1999, Rowling said in interview that she was a great fan of "Grimble" by Clement Freud, saying: "Grimble is one of funniest books I've ever read, and Grimble himself, who is a small boy, is a fabulous character. I'd love to see a "Grimble" film. As far as I know, these last two fine pieces of literature are out of print, so if any publishers ever read this, could you please dust them off and put them back in print so other people can read them?"

On a number of occasions, Rowling has cited her admiration for French novelist Colette.

Rowling said that the death of Charles Darnay in Charles Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities", and the novel's final line, "It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known", had a profound impact on her.

In a 2000 interview with BBC Radio 4, Rowling revealed a deep love of Vladimir Nabokov's controversial book "Lolita", saying, "There just isn't enough time to discuss how a plot that could have been the most worthless pornography becomes, in Nabokov's hands, a great and tragic love story, and I could exhaust my reservoir of superlatives trying to describe the quality of the writing."

In an interview with "", Rowling described Irish author Roddy Doyle as her favourite living writer, saying, "I love all his books. I often talk about him and Jane Austen in the same breath. I think people are slightly mystified by that because superficially they're such different writers. But they both have a very unsentimental approach to human nature. They can be profoundly moving without ever becoming mawkish."

Many of Rowling's named favorites decorate the links section of her personal webpage. The section is designed to look like a bookcase, and includes "I Capture the Castle", "The Little White Horse" and "Manxmouse", Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", "Sense and Sensibility" and "Emma", a book of fairy tales by E. Nesbit, "The Commitments" and "The Van" by Roddy Doyle, two books by Dorothy L. Sayers and a book by Katherine Mansfield.

In January 2006, Rowling was asked by the Royal Society of Literature to nominate her top ten books every child should read. Included in her list were "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl, "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe, "David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens, "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "Animal Farm" by George Orwell, "The Tale of Two Bad Mice" by Beatrix Potter, "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger and "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller.

There are a number of fictional works to which "Harry Potter" has been repeatedly compared in the media. Some of these Rowling has herself mentioned, others have been mentioned by Internet sites, journalists, critics or other authors. The works are listed roughly in order of creation.

John Granger sees "Chamber of Secrets" as similar to a morality play like John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress". He describes the climax, where Harry descends to the Chamber of Secrets to rescue Ginny Weasley as "the clearest Christian allegory of salvation history since Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. … Using only traditional symbols, from the 'Ancient of Days' figure as God the Father to the satanic serpent and Christ-like phoenix ('the Resurrection Bird'), the drama takes us from the fall to eternal life without a hitch."

In 2006, Rowling recommended Emily Brontë's Gothic post-Romantic "Wuthering Heights" as number one of the top ten books every child should read. In her essay, "To Sir With Love" in the book "Mapping the World of Harry Potter", Joyce Millman suggests that Severus Snape, Harry Potter's morally ambiguous potions master, is drawn from a tradition of Byronic heroes such as "Wuthering Heights" Heathcliff and that chapter two of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is reminiscent of the opening of "Wuthering Heights" when Heathcliff is coldly introduced and asks his servant Joseph to bring up wine for him and Lockwood. Snape commands the almost identical line to his servant Wormtail, with Snape described similarly to how Emily Brontë described Heathcliff.

The "Harry Potter" series draws upon a long literary tradition of stories set in boarding schools. This school story genre originated in the Victorian era with "Tom Brown's Schooldays", by Thomas Hughes. "Tom Brown's Schooldays" laid down a basic structure which has been widely imitated, for example in Anthony Buckeridge's 1950s "Jennings" books.

Both "Tom Brown's Schooldays" and "Harry Potter" involve an average eleven-year-old, better at sport than academic study, who is sent to boarding school. Upon arrival, the boy gains a best friend (in Tom's case, East, in Harry's case, Ron Weasley) who helps him adjust to the new environment. They are set upon by an arrogant bully – in Tom Brown's case, Harry Flashman, in Harry's case Draco Malfoy. Stephen Fry, who both narrates the British audio adaptations of the "Harry Potter" novels and has starred in a screen adaptation of "Tom Brown", has commented many times about the similarities between the two books. "Harry Potter – a boy who arrives in this strange school to board for the first time and makes good, solid friends and also enemies who use bullying and unfair tactics", notes Fry, "then is ambiguous about whether or not he is going to be good or bad. His pluck and his endeavour, loyalty, good nature and bravery are the things that carry him through – and that is the story of Tom Brown's "Schooldays"".

Fans of author J. R. R. Tolkien have drawn attention to the similarities between his novel "The Lord of the Rings" and the "Harry Potter" series; specifically Tolkien's Wormtongue and Rowling's Wormtail, Tolkien's Shelob and Rowling's Aragog, Tolkien's Gandalf and Rowling's Dumbledore, Tolkien's Nazgûl and Rowling's Dementors, Old Man Willow and the Whomping Willow and the similarities between both authors' antagonists, Tolkien's Dark Lord Sauron and Rowling's Lord Voldemort (both of whom are sometimes within their respective continuities unnamed due to intense fear surrounding their names; both often referred to as 'The Dark Lord'; and both of whom are, during the time when the main action takes place, seeking to recover their lost power after having been considered dead or at least no longer a threat). Several reviews of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" noted that the locket used as a horcrux by Voldemort bore comparison to Tolkien's One Ring, as it negatively affects the personality of the wearer. Rowling maintains that she had not read "The Hobbit" until after she completed the first Harry Potter novel (though she had read "The Lord of the Rings" as a teenager) and that any similarities between her books and Tolkien's are "Fairly superficial. Tolkien created a whole new mythology, which I would never claim to have done. On the other hand, I think I have better jokes." Tolkienian scholar Tom Shippey has maintained that "no modern writer of epic fantasy has managed to escape the mark of Tolkien, no matter how hard many of them have tried".

Many have drawn attention to the similarities between Rowling's works and those of Roald Dahl, particularly in the depiction of the Dursley family, which echoes the nightmarish guardians seen in many of Dahl's books, such as the Wormwoods from "Matilda", Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker from "James and the Giant Peach", and Grandma from "George's Marvellous Medicine". Rowling acknowledges that there are similarities, but believes that at a deeper level, her works are different from those of Dahl; in her words, more "moral".

The Marvel Comics superhero team the "X-Men", created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963, are similar to "Harry Potter" in their examination of prejudice and intolerance. Comic book historian Michael Mallory examined the original premise of the comic, in which teenage mutants study under Professor X to learn how to control their abilities, safe from fearful "Homo sapiens", and also battle less benign mutants like Magneto. He argued, "Think about [the comic] clad in traditional British university robes and pointy hats, castles and trains, and the image that springs to mind is Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizard[ry], with Dumbledore, Voldemort and the class struggle between wizards and muggles." He acknowledged that while the "X-Men" was for the longest time "a phenomenon that was largely contained in the realm of comic book readers as opposed to the wider public [such as Rowling]", he argued "nothing exists in a vacuum, least of all popular culture. Just as the creators of "X-Men" consciously or unconsciously tapped into the creative ether of their time for inspiration, so has the "X-Men" phenomenon had an effect on the books and films that has since followed."

Lloyd Alexander's five-volume Prydain Chronicles, begun in 1964 with "The Book of Three" and concluding in 1968 with "The High King", features a young protagonist, an assistant pig keeper named Taran, who wishes to be a great hero in a world drawn from Welsh mythology. "Entertainment Weekly" cited Lloyd Alexander as a possible influence on Rowling when it named her its 2007 Entertainer of the Year. When Alexander died in 2007, his obituary in "New York Magazine" drew many comparisons between "Harry Potter" and "Prydain" and said that ""The High King" is everything we desperately hope "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will be."

Susan Cooper's "Dark Is Rising" sequence (which commenced with "Over Sea, Under Stone" in 1965 and now more commonly bound in a single volume) have been compared to the "Harry Potter" series. The second novel, also called "The Dark Is Rising", features a young boy named Will Stanton who discovers on his eleventh birthday that he is in fact imbued with magical power; in Will's case, that he is the last of the Old Ones, beings empowered by the Light to battle the Dark. The books open in much the same way, with Will finding that people are telling him strange things and that animals run from him. John Hodge, who wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation, entitled "The Seeker", made substantial changes to the novel's plot and tone to differentiate it from "Harry Potter".

The basic premise of Ursula K. Le Guin's "A Wizard of Earthsea" (Parnassus, 1968), in which a boy with unusual aptitude for magic is recognised, and sent to a special school for wizards, resembles that of "Harry Potter". Ged also receives a scar in his struggle with the shadow which hurts whenever the shadow is near him like Harry Potter's scar when Voldemort is near him. Le Guin has claimed that she doesn't feel Rowling "ripped her off", but that she felt that Rowling's books were overpraised for supposed originality, and that Rowling "could have been more gracious about her predecessors. My incredulity was at the critics who found the first book wonderfully original. She has many virtues, but originality isn't one of them. That hurt."

Many critics have noted that Jill Murphy's "The Worst Witch" series (first published in 1974 by Allison & Busby), is set in a school for girls, "Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches", reminiscent of Hogwarts. The story concerns an awkward pupil at a boarding-school for witches, who faces a scheming rival student. Her professors include a kindly and elderly headmistress and a bullying, raven-haired potions teacher. Murphy has commented on her frustration at constant comparisons between her work and "Harry Potter": "It's irritating … everyone asks the same question and I even get children writing to ask me whether I mind about the Hogwarts school of witchcraft and pointing out similarities. Even worse are reviewers who come across my books, or see the TV series, and, without taking the trouble to find out that it's now over quarter of a century since I wrote my first book, make pointed remarks about 'clever timing' – or say things like 'the Worst Witch stories are not a million miles from J K Rowling's books'. The implications are really quite insulting!"

The "Harry Potter" series shares many similarities with George Lucas's "Star Wars" with respect to main characters, especially heroes and villains, as well as story plotlines. Scholar Deborah Cartmell states that "Harry Potter" story is based as much on "Star Wars" as it is on any other text.
The life of Harry Potter, the main hero of the series, parallels that of Luke Skywalker, who is the main hero of the Original Star Wars trilogy with both characters living dull and ordinary lives until a later age when they are recruited by an older mentor. "Harry Potter" trains to become a wizard at his late childhood and mentored by Albus Dumbledore in facing his destiny and enemy Lord Voldemort; whereas Luke Skywalker trains to become a Jedi at his early adulthood and is mentored by Obi-Wan Kenobi in facing his destiny and enemy Darth Vader (also known as "Lord Vader"). Both characters were also brought at infancy to their foster families directly by their future mentors.

The main villains of both the franchises also share many similarities. Tom Riddle was once also a student of the hero's mentor, Dumbledore at Hogwarts, also studying to be a wizard before he turned evil and transformed into Voldemort. Likewise, Anakin Skywalker was also a student of the hero's mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi with the Jedi Order training to be a Jedi Knight before he turned to the dark side and transformed into Darth Vader.

The mentors of the main heroes also share many parallels. Both also mentored the main villain of their stories before they turned bad and betrayed their respective mentor. Both mentors were also eventually killed when fighting their former students. Albus Dumbledore was betrayed by Tom Riddle before being eventually killed off by him as Lord Voldemort (through Draco Malfoy and Snape). Obi-Wan was betrayed by Anakin Skywalker before eventually being killed off by him as Darth Vader. Both also voluntarily allowed themselves to be killed and advised the hero from beyond the grave.

Both stories have a "Dark Side" the followers of which are the villains of the story as well as their own followers/apprentices.

Both stories also have a prophesied "Chosen One" who will destroy evil. In the "Harry Potter series", it is Harry Potter who is the chosen one who would defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort. In "Star Wars", it is presumed and appears to be Luke Skywalker, but actually revealed to be Anakin Skywalker as proclaimed in the Jedi prophecy who would destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. He does this after being redeemed by his son, Luke Skywalker. More recent theories contrast this and argue that Luke is indeed the chosen one who will bring balance to The Force.

In Diana Wynne Jones' "Charmed Life" (1977), two orphaned children receive magical education while living in a castle. The setting is a world resembling early 1900s Britain, where magic is commonplace. Diana Wynne Jones has stated in answer to a question on her webpage: "I think Ms Rowling did get quite a few of her ideas from my books – though I have never met her, so I have never been able to ask her. My books were written many years before the Harry Potter books ("Charmed Life" was first published in 1977), so any similarities probably come from what she herself read as a child. Once a book is published, out in the world, it is sort of common property, for people to take ideas from and use, and I think this is what happened to my books."

Before the arrival of J. K. Rowling, Britain's bestselling author was comic fantasy writer Terry Pratchett. His "Discworld" books, beginning with "The Colour of Magic" in 1983, satirise and parody common fantasy literature conventions. Pratchett was repeatedly asked if he "got" his idea for his magic college, the Unseen University, from "Harry Potter" Hogwarts, or if the young wizard Ponder Stibbons, who has dark hair and glasses, was inspired by Harry Potter. Both in fact predate Rowling's work by several years; Pratchett jokingly claimed that he did steal them, though "I of course used a time machine." The BBC and other British news agencies emphasised a supposed rivalry between Pratchett and Rowling, but Pratchett said on record that, while he did not put Rowling on a pedestal, he did not consider her a bad writer, nor did he envy her success. Claims of rivalry were due to a letter he wrote to "The Sunday Times", about an article published declaring that fantasy "looks backward to an idealised, romanticised, pseudofeudal world, where knights and ladies morris-dance to Greensleeves". Actually, he was protesting the ineptitude of journalists in that genre, many of whom did not research their work and, in this case, contradicted themselves in the same article.

Science fiction author Orson Scott Card, in a fierce editorial in response to Rowling's copyright lawsuit against the Harry Potter Lexicon, claimed that her assertion that she had had her "words stolen" was rendered moot by the fact that he could draw numerous comparisons between her books and his own 1985 novel "Ender's Game"; in his words,

Chris Columbus, who directed the first two "Harry Potter" film adaptations, has cited the 1985 film "Young Sherlock Holmes", which he wrote, as an influence in his direction for those films. "That was sort of a predecessor to this movie, in a sense", he told the BBC in 2001, "It was about two young boys and a girl in a British boarding school who had to fight a supernatural force." Scenes from "Young Sherlock Holmes" were subsequently used to cast the first Harry Potter film. On 3 January 2010, Irish journalist Declan Lynch (writing in "The Sunday Independent") stated that "there's more than a hint of young Sherlock evident in Harry".

The 1986 Charles Band-produced low-budget horror/fantasy film "Troll", directed by John Carl Buechler and starring Noah Hathaway, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Sonny Bono, features a character named "Harry Potter Jr." In an interview with M. J. Simpson, Band claimed: "I've heard that J. K. Rowling has acknowledged that maybe she saw this low-budget movie and perhaps it inspired her." However, a spokesman for Rowling, responding to the rumors of a planned remake of the film, has denied that Rowling ever saw it before writing her book. Rowling has said on record multiple times that the name "Harry Potter" was derived in part from a childhood friend, Ian Potter, and in part from her favourite male name, Harry. On 13 April 2008, "The Mail on Sunday" wrote a news article claiming that Warner Bros. had begun a legal action against Buechler; however, the story was denied and lawyers for Rowling demanded the article be removed.

On 14 April 2008, John Buechler's partner in the "Troll" remake, Peter Davy, said about "Harry Potter", "In John's opinion, he created the first Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling says the idea just came to her. John doesn't think so. There are a lot of similarities between the theme of her books and the original "Troll". John was shocked when she came out with "Harry Potter"."

Groosham Grange (first published in 1988), a novel by best-selling British author Anthony Horowitz has been cited for its similarities with "Harry Potter"; the plot revolves around David Eliot, a young teenager mistreated by his parents who receive an unexpected call from an isolated boarding school, Groosham Grange, which reveals itself as a school for wizards and witches. Both books feature a teacher who is a ghost, a werewolf character named after the French word for "wolf" (Lupin/Leloup), and passage to the school via railway train. Horowitz, however, while acknowledging the similarities, just thanked Rowling for her contribution to the development of the young adult fiction in the UK.

Fans of the comic book series "The Books of Magic", by Neil Gaiman (first published in 1990 by DC Comics) have cited similarities to the Harry Potter story. These include a dark-haired English boy with glasses, named Timothy Hunter, who discovers his potential as the most powerful wizard of the age upon being approached by magic-wielding individuals, the first of whom makes him a gift of a pet owl. Similarities led the British tabloid paper the "Daily Mirror" to claim Gaiman had made accusations of plagiarism against Rowling, which he went on the record denying, saying the similarities were either coincidence, or drawn from the same fantasy archetypes. "I thought we were both just stealing from T.H. White", he said in an interview, "very straightforward." Dylan Horrocks, writer of the "Books of Magic" spin-off "", has said they should be considered as similar works in the same genre and that both have parallels with earlier schoolboy wizards, like the "2000 AD" character Luke Kirby.

The text adventure game "" (1990) is the first installment of the "Spellcasting" series created by Steve Meretzky during his time at Legend Entertainment. All the three games in the series tell the story of young Ernie Eaglebeak, a bespectacled student at the prestigious Sorcerer University, as he progresses through his studies, learning the arcanes of magic, taking part in student life, occasionally saving the world as he knows it. Each separate game takes place during consecutive school years as well, much like the Harry Potter books.

In 1991, the author Jane Yolen released a book called "Wizard's Hall", to which the Harry Potter series bears a resemblance. The main protagonist, Henry (also called Thornmallow), is a young boy who joins a magical school for young wizards. At the school "he must fulfill an ancient prophecy and help overthrow a powerful, evil wizard." However, Yolen has stated that "I'm pretty sure she never read my book," attributing similarities to commonly-used fantasy tropes. In an interview with the magazine "Newsweek", Yolen said, "I always tell people that if Ms. Rowling would like to cut me a very large check, I would cash it." Yolen stopped reading "Harry Potter" after the third book, and has expressed dislike for the writing style of "Harry Potter", calling it "fantasy fast food".

Eva Ibbotson's "The Secret of Platform 13" (first published in 1994) features a gateway to a magical world located in King's Cross station in London. The protagonist belongs to the magical world but is raised in the normal world by a rich family who neglect him and treat him as a servant, while their fat and unpleasant biological son is pampered and spoiled. Amanda Craig is a journalist who has written about the similarities: "Ibbotson would seem to have at least as good a case for claiming plagiarism as the American author currently suing J. K. Rowling [i.e. Nancy Stouffer], but unlike her, Ibbotson says she would 'like to shake her by the hand. I think we all borrow from each other as writers.'"

In October 1998, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to the first two novels for a seven-figure sum. A film adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was released on 16 November 2001, and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" on 15 November 2002. Both films were directed by Chris Columbus. The film version of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was released on 4 June 2004, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The fourth film, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", was directed by Mike Newell, and released on 18 November 2005. The film of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was released on 11 July 2007. David Yates directed, and Michael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay, having taken over the position from Steve Kloves. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was released on 15 July 2009. David Yates directed again, and Kloves returned to write the script. Warner Bros. filmed the final instalment of the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", in two segments, with part one being released on 19 November 2010 and part two being released on 15 July 2011. Yates directed both films.

J. K. Rowling

Joanne Rowling, ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), writing under the pen names J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, is a British novelist, philanthropist, film producer, television producer and screenwriter, best known for writing the "Harry Potter" fantasy series. The books have won multiple awards, and sold more than 500 million copies, becoming the best-selling book series in history. They have also been the basis for a film series, over which Rowling had overall approval on the scripts and was a producer on the final films in the series.

Born in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, Rowling was working as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International when she conceived the idea for the "Harry Potter" series while on a delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990. The seven-year period that followed saw the death of her mother, birth of her first child, divorce from her first husband and relative poverty until the first novel in the series, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", was published in 1997. There were six sequels, of which the last, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", was released in 2007. Since then, Rowling has written five books for adult readers: "The Casual Vacancy" (2012) and—under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith—the crime fiction novels "The Cuckoo's Calling" (2013), "The Silkworm" (2014), "Career of Evil" (2015), and "Lethal White" (2018).

Rowling has lived a "rags to riches" life story, in which she progressed from living on state benefits to being the world's first billionaire author. She lost her billionaire status after giving away much of her earnings to charity, but remains one of the wealthiest people in the world. She is the United Kingdom's bestselling living author, with sales in excess of £238M. The 2016 "Sunday Times Rich List" estimated Rowling's fortune at £600 million, ranking her as the joint 197th richest person in the UK. "Time" named her a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fans. In October 2010, Rowling was named the "Most Influential Woman in Britain" by leading magazine editors. She has supported charities, including Comic Relief, One Parent Families and Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain, and launched her own charity, Lumos.

Although she writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, her name, before her remarriage, was Joanne Rowling. Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers asked that she use two initials rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose "K" (for Kathleen) as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother. She calls herself Jo. Following her remarriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business. During the Leveson Inquiry she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling and her entry in "Who's Who" lists her name also as Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

Rowling was born to Peter James Rowling, a Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer, and Anne Rowling (née Volant), a science technician, on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, northeast of Bristol. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964. They married on 14 March 1965. One of her maternal great-grandfathers, Dugald Campbell, was Scottish, born in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. Her mother's paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was French, and was awarded the Croix de Guerre for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during the First World War. Rowling originally believed he had won the Légion d'honneur during the war, as she said when she received it herself in 2009. She later discovered the truth when featured in an episode of the UK genealogy series "Who Do You Think You Are?", in which she found out it was a different Louis Volant who won the Legion of Honour. When she heard her grandfather's story of bravery and discovered the "croix de guerre" was for "ordinary" soldiers like her grandfather, who had been a waiter, she stated the "croix de guerre" was "better" to her than the Legion of Honour.

Rowling's sister Dianne was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four. As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories which she frequently read to her sister. Aged nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great-aunt gave her a copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, "Hons and Rebels." Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling read all of her books.

Rowling has said that her teenage years were unhappy. Her home life was complicated by her mother's diagnosis with multiple sclerosis and a strained relationship with her father, with whom she is not on speaking terms. Rowling later said that she based the character of Hermione Granger on herself when she was eleven. Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth, owned a turquoise Ford Anglia which she says inspired a flying version that appeared in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". Like many teenagers, she became interested in pop music, listening to the Clash, the Smiths and Siouxsie Sioux and adopted the look of the latter with back-combed hair and black eyeliner, a look that she would still sport when beginning university.

As a child, Rowling attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the "Harry Potter" headmaster Albus Dumbledore. She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother worked in the science department. Steve Eddy, her first secondary school English teacher, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English". Rowling took A-levels in English, French and German, achieving two As and a B and was Head Girl.

In 1982, Rowling took the entrance exams for Oxford University but was not accepted and earned a BA in French and Classics at the University of Exeter. Martin Sorrell, a French professor at Exeter, remembers "a quietly competent student, with a denim jacket and dark hair, who, in academic terms, gave the appearance of doing what was necessary". Rowling recalls doing little work, preferring to read Dickens and Tolkien. After a year of study in Paris, Rowling graduated from Exeter in 1986. In 1988, Rowling wrote a short essay about her time studying Classics titled "What was the Name of that Nymph Again? or Greek and Roman Studies Recalled"; it was published by the University of Exeter's journal "Pegasus".

After working as a researcher and bilingual secretary in London for Amnesty International, Rowling moved with her then boyfriend to Manchester, where she worked at the Chamber of Commerce. In 1990, while she was on a four-hour-delayed train trip from Manchester to London, the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry "came fully formed" into her mind.

When she had reached her Clapham Junction flat, she began to write immediately. In December, Rowling's mother, Anne, died after ten years suffering from multiple sclerosis. Rowling was writing "Harry Potter" at the time and had never told her mother about it. Her mother's death heavily affected Rowling's writing, and she channelled her own feelings of loss by writing about Harry's own feelings of loss in greater detail in the first book.

An advertisement in "The Guardian" led Rowling to move to Porto, Portugal, to teach English as a foreign language. She taught at night and began writing in the day while listening to Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. After 18 months in Porto, she met Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes in a bar and found they shared an interest in Jane Austen. They married on 16 October 1992 and their child, Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes (named after Jessica Mitford), was born on 27 July 1993 in Portugal. Rowling had previously suffered a miscarriage. The couple separated on 17 November 1993. Biographers have suggested that Rowling suffered domestic abuse during her marriage, although the extent is unknown. In December 1993, Rowling and her then infant daughter moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, to be near Rowling's sister with three chapters of what would become "Harry Potter" in her suitcase.

Seven years after graduating from university, Rowling saw herself as a failure. Her marriage had failed, and she was jobless with a dependent child, but she described her failure as liberating and allowing her to focus on writing. During this period, Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression and contemplated suicide. Her illness inspired the characters known as Dementors, soul-sucking creatures introduced in the third book. Rowling signed up for welfare benefits, describing her economic status as being "poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless."

Rowling was left in despair after her estranged husband arrived in Scotland, seeking both her and her daughter. She obtained an Order of Restraint, and Arantes returned to Portugal, with Rowling filing for divorce in August 1994. She began a teacher training course in August 1995 at the Moray House School of Education, at Edinburgh University, after completing her first novel while living on state benefits. She wrote in many cafés, especially Nicolson's Café (owned by her brother-in-law), and the Elephant House, wherever she could get Jessica to fall asleep. In a 2001 BBC interview, Rowling denied the rumour that she wrote in local cafés to escape from her unheated flat, pointing out that it had heating. One of the reasons she wrote in cafés was that taking her baby out for a walk was the best way to make her fall asleep.

In 1995, Rowling finished her manuscript for "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" on an old manual typewriter. Upon the enthusiastic response of Bryony Evens, a reader who had been asked to review the book's first three chapters, the Fulham-based Christopher Little Literary Agency agreed to represent Rowling in her quest for a publisher. The book was submitted to twelve publishing houses, all of which rejected the manuscript. A year later she was finally given the green light (and a £1,500 advance) by editor Barry Cunningham from Bloomsbury, a publishing house in London. The decision to publish Rowling's book owes much to Alice Newton, the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury's chairman, who was given the first chapter to review by her father and immediately demanded the next. Although Bloomsbury agreed to publish the book, Cunningham says that he advised Rowling to get a day job, since she had little chance of making money in children's books. Soon after, in 1997, Rowling received an £8,000 grant from the Scottish Arts Council to enable her to continue writing.

In June 1997, Bloomsbury published "Philosopher's Stone" with an initial print run of 1,000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries. Today, such copies are valued between £16,000 and £25,000. Five months later, the book won its first award, a Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. In February, the novel won the British Book Award for Children's Book of the Year, and later, the Children's Book Award. In early 1998, an auction was held in the United States for the rights to publish the novel, and was won by Scholastic Inc., for US$105,000. Rowling said that she "nearly died" when she heard the news. In October 1998, Scholastic published "Philosopher's Stone" in the US under the title of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", a change Rowling says she now regrets and would have fought if she had been in a better position at the time. Rowling moved from her flat with the money from the Scholastic sale, into 19 Hazelbank Terrace in Edinburgh.

Its sequel, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", was published in July 1998 and again Rowling won the Smarties Prize. In December 1999, the third novel, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", won the Smarties Prize, making Rowling the first person to win the award three times running. She later withdrew the fourth "Harry Potter" novel from contention to allow other books a fair chance. In January 2000, "Prisoner of Azkaban" won the inaugural Whitbread Children's Book of the Year award, though it lost the Book of the Year prize to Seamus Heaney's translation of "Beowulf".

The fourth book, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", was released simultaneously in the UK and the US on 8 July 2000 and broke sales records in both countries. 372,775 copies of the book were sold in its first day in the UK, almost equalling the number "Prisoner of Azkaban" sold during its first year. In the US, the book sold three million copies in its first 48 hours, smashing all records. Rowling said that she had had a crisis while writing the novel and had to rewrite one chapter many times to fix a problem with the plot. Rowling was named Author of the Year in the 2000 British Book Awards.

A wait of three years occurred between the release of "Goblet of Fire" and the fifth "Harry Potter" novel, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". This gap led to press speculation that Rowling had developed writer's block, speculations she denied. Rowling later said that writing the book was a chore, that it could have been shorter, and that she ran out of time and energy as she tried to finish it.

The sixth book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", was released on 16 July 2005. It too broke all sales records, selling nine million copies in its first 24 hours of release. In 2006, "Half-Blood Prince" received the Book of the Year prize at the British Book Awards.

The title of the seventh and final "Harry Potter" book was announced on 21 December 2006 as "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". In February 2007 it was reported that Rowling wrote on a bust in her hotel room at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh that she had finished the seventh book in that room on 11 January 2007. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was released on 21 July 2007 (0:01 BST) and broke its predecessor's record as the fastest-selling book of all time. It sold 11 million copies in the first day of release in the United Kingdom and United States. The book's last chapter was one of the earliest things she wrote in the entire series.
"Harry Potter" is now a global brand worth an estimated US$15 billion, and the last four "Harry Potter" books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history. The series, totalling 4,195 pages, has been translated, in whole or in part, into 65 languages.

The "Harry Potter" books have also gained recognition for sparking an interest in reading among the young at a time when children were thought to be abandoning books for computers and television, although it is reported that despite the huge uptake of the books, adolescent reading has continued to decline.

Warner Bros. took considerable notice of Rowling's desires and thoughts when drafting her contract. One of her principal stipulations was the films be shot in Britain with an all-British cast, which has been generally adhered to. Rowling also demanded that Coca-Cola, the victor in the race to tie in their products to the film series, donate US$18 million to the American charity Reading is Fundamental, as well as several community charity programs.

The first four, sixth, seventh, and eighth films were scripted by Steve Kloves; Rowling assisted him in the writing process, ensuring that his scripts did not contradict future books in the series. She told Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) certain secrets about their characters before they were revealed in the books. Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) asked her if Harry died at any point in the series; Rowling answered him by saying, "You have a death scene", thereby not explicitly answering the question. Director Steven Spielberg was approached to direct the first film, but dropped out. The press has repeatedly claimed that Rowling played a role in his departure, but Rowling stated that she had no say in who directed the films and would not have vetoed Spielberg. Rowling's first choice for the director had been Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, but Warner Bros. wanted a family-friendly film and chose Columbus.

Rowling had gained some creative control on the films, reviewing all the scripts as well as acting as a producer on the final two-part instalment, "Deathly Hallows".

Rowling, producers David Heyman and David Barron, along with directors David Yates, Mike Newell and Alfonso Cuarón collected the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema at the 2011 British Academy Film Awards in honour of the "Harry Potter" film franchise.

In September 2013, Warner Bros. announced an "expanded creative partnership" with Rowling, based on a planned series of films about her character Newt Scamander, author of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". The first film was released in November 2016 and is set roughly 70 years before the events of the main series. In 2016, it was announced that the series would consist of five films. The second, "", was released in November 2018. Rowling scripted and co-produced both films.

In 2004, "Forbes" named Rowling as the first person to become a US-dollar billionaire by writing books, the second-richest female entertainer and the 1,062nd richest person in the world. Rowling disputed the calculations and said she had plenty of money, but was not a billionaire. The 2016 "Sunday Times Rich List" estimated Rowling's fortune at £600 million, ranking her as the joint 197th richest person in the UK. In 2012, "Forbes" removed Rowling from their rich list, claiming that her US$160 million in charitable donations and the high tax rate in the UK meant she was no longer a billionaire. In February 2013 she was assessed as the 13th most powerful woman in the United Kingdom by "Woman's Hour" on BBC Radio 4.

In 2001, Rowling purchased a 19th-century estate house, Killiechassie House, on the banks of the River Tay, near Aberfeldy, in Perth and Kinross. Rowling also owns a £4.5 million Georgian house in Kensington, west London, on a street with 24-hour security.

In 2017, Rowling was worth an estimated £650 million according to the "Sunday Times Rich List". She was named the most highly paid author in the world with earnings of £72 million ($95 million) a year by "Forbes" in 2017.

On 26 December 2001, Rowling married Neil Murray (born 30 June 1971), a Scottish doctor, in a private ceremony at her home, Killiechassie House, near Aberfeldy. Their son, David Gordon Rowling Murray, was born on 24 March 2003. Shortly after Rowling began writing "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", she ceased working on the novel to care for David in his early infancy.

Rowling is a friend of Sarah Brown, wife of former prime minister Gordon Brown, whom she met when they collaborated on a charitable project. When Sarah Brown's son Fraser was born in 2003, Rowling was one of the first to visit her in hospital. Rowling's youngest child, daughter Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray, to whom she dedicated "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", was born on 23 January 2005.

In October 2012, a "New Yorker" magazine article stated that the Rowling family lived in a seventeenth-century Edinburgh house, concealed at the front by tall conifer hedges. Prior to October 2012, Rowling lived near the author Ian Rankin, who later said she was quiet and introspective, and that she seemed in her element with children., the family resides in Scotland.

In July 2011, Rowling parted company with her agent, Christopher Little, moving to a new agency founded by one of his staff, Neil Blair. On 23 February 2012, his agency, the Blair Partnership, announced on its website that Rowling was set to publish a new book targeted at adults. In a press release, Rowling said that her new book would be quite different from Harry Potter. In April 2012, Little, Brown and Company announced that the book was titled "The Casual Vacancy" and would be released on 27 September 2012. Rowling gave several interviews and made appearances to promote "The Casual Vacancy", including at the London Southbank Centre, the Cheltenham Literature Festival, "Charlie Rose" and the Lennoxlove Book Festival. In its first three weeks of release, "The Casual Vacancy" sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

On 3 December 2012, it was announced that the BBC would be adapting "The Casual Vacancy" into a television drama miniseries. Rowling's agent, Neil Blair acted as producer, through his independent production company and with Rick Senat serving as executive producer. Rowling collaborated on the adaptation, serving as an executive producer for the series. The series aired in three parts from 15 February to 1 March 2015.

In 2007, during the Edinburgh Book Festival, author Ian Rankin claimed that his wife spotted Rowling "scribbling away" at a detective novel in a café. Rankin later retracted the story, claiming it was a joke, but the rumour persisted, with a report in 2012 in "The Guardian" speculating that Rowling's next book would be a crime novel. In an interview with Stephen Fry in 2005, Rowling claimed that she would much prefer to write any subsequent books under a pseudonym, but she conceded to Jeremy Paxman in 2003 that if she did, the press would probably "find out in seconds".

In April 2013, Little Brown published "The Cuckoo's Calling", the purported début novel of author Robert Galbraith, whom the publisher described as "a former plainclothes Royal Military Police investigator who had left in 2003 to work in the civilian security industry". The novel, a detective story in which private investigator Cormoran Strike unravels the supposed suicide of a supermodel, sold 1,500 copies in hardback (although the matter was not resolved ; later reports stated that this number is the number of copies that were printed for the first run, while the sales total was closer to 500) and received acclaim from other crime writers and critics—a "Publishers Weekly" review called the book a "stellar debut", while the "Library Journal"s mystery section pronounced the novel "the debut of the month".

India Knight, a novelist and columnist for "The Sunday Times", tweeted on 9 July 2013 that she had been reading "The Cuckoo's Calling" and thought it was good for a début novel. In response, a tweeter called Jude Callegari said that the author was Rowling. Knight queried this but got no further reply. Knight notified Richard Brooks, arts editor of the "Sunday Times", who began his own investigation. After discovering that Rowling and Galbraith had the same agent and editor, he sent the books for linguistic analysis which found similarities, and subsequently contacted Rowling's agent who confirmed it was Rowling's pseudonym. Within days of Rowling being revealed as the author, sales of the book rose by 4,000%, and Little Brown printed another 140,000 copies to meet the increase in demand., a signed copy of the first edition sold for US$4,453 (£2,950), while an unsold signed first-edition copy was being offered for $6,188 (£3,950).

Rowling said that she had enjoyed working under a pseudonym. On her Robert Galbraith website, Rowling explained that she took the name from one of her personal heroes, Robert Kennedy, and a childhood fantasy name she had invented for herself, Ella Galbraith.

Soon after the revelation, Brooks pondered whether Jude Callegari could have been Rowling as part of wider speculation that the entire affair had been a publicity stunt. Some also noted that many of the writers who had initially praised the book, such as Alex Gray or Val McDermid, were within Rowling's circle of acquaintances; both vociferously denied any foreknowledge of Rowling's authorship. Judith "Jude" Callegari was the best friend of the wife of Chris Gossage, a partner within Russells Solicitors, Rowling's legal representatives. Rowling released a statement saying she was disappointed and angry; Russells apologised for the leak, confirming it was not part of a marketing stunt and that "the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he [Gossage] trusted implicitly". Russells made a donation to the Soldiers' Charity on Rowling's behalf and reimbursed her for her legal fees. On 26 November 2013 the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) issued Gossage a written rebuke and £1,000 fine for breaching privacy rules.

On 17 February 2014, Rowling announced that the second Cormoran Strike novel, named "The Silkworm", would be released in June 2014. It sees Strike investigating the disappearance of a writer hated by many of his old friends for insulting them in his new novel.

In 2015, Rowling stated on Galbraith's website that the third Cormoran Strike novel would include "an insane amount of planning, the most I have done for any book I have written so far. I have colour-coded spreadsheets so I can keep a track of where I am going." On 24 April 2015, Rowling announced that work on the third book was completed. Titled "Career of Evil", it was released on 20 October 2015 in the United States, and on 22 October 2015 in the United Kingdom.

In 2017, the BBC released a "Cormoran Strike" television series, starring Tom Burke as Cormoran Strike, it was picked up by HBO for distribution in the United States and Canada.

In March 2017, Rowling revealed the fourth novel's title via Twitter in a game of "Hangman" with her followers. After many failed attempts, followers finally guessed correctly. Rowling confirmed that the next novel's title is "Lethal White". While intended for a 2017 release, Rowling tweeted the book was taking longer than expected and would be the longest book in the series thus far. The book was released 18 September 2018.

Rowling has said it is unlikely she will write any more books in the "Harry Potter" series. In October 2007 she stated that her future work was unlikely to be in the fantasy genre. On 1 October 2010, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Rowling stated a new book on the saga might happen.

In 2007, Rowling stated that she planned to write an encyclopaedia of "Harry Potter"s wizarding world consisting of various unpublished material and notes. Any profits from such a book would be given to charity. During a news conference at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre in 2007, Rowling, when asked how the encyclopaedia was coming along, said, "It's not coming along, and I haven't started writing it. I never said it was the next thing I'd do." At the end of 2007, Rowling said that the encyclopaedia could take up to ten years to complete.

In June 2011, Rowling announced that future "Harry Potter" projects, and all electronic downloads, would be concentrated in a new website, called Pottermore. The site includes 18,000 words of information on characters, places and objects in the "Harry Potter" universe.

In October 2015, Rowling announced via "Pottermore" that a two-part play she had co-authored with playwrights Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", was the "eighth "Harry Potter" story" and that it would focus on the life of Harry Potter's youngest son Albus after the epilogue of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". On 28 October 2015, the first round of tickets went on sale and sold out in several hours.

In 2000, Rowling established the Volant Charitable Trust, which uses its annual budget of £5.1 million to combat poverty and social inequality. The fund also gives to organisations that aid children, one-parent families, and multiple sclerosis research.

Rowling, once a single parent, is now president of the charity Gingerbread (originally One Parent Families), having become their first Ambassador in 2000. Rowling collaborated with Sarah Brown to write a book of children's stories to aid One Parent Families.

In 2001, the UK anti-poverty fundraiser Comic Relief asked three best-selling British authors – cookery writer and TV presenter Delia Smith, "Bridget Jones" creator Helen Fielding, and Rowling – to submit booklets related to their most famous works for publication. Rowling's two booklets, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "Quidditch Through the Ages", are ostensibly facsimiles of books found in the Hogwarts library. Since going on sale in March 2001, the books have raised £15.7 million for the fund. The £10.8 million they have raised outside the UK have been channelled into a newly created International Fund for Children and Young People in Crisis. In 2002, Rowling contributed a foreword to "Magic", an anthology of fiction published by Bloomsbury Publishing, helping to raise money for the National Council for One Parent Families.

In 2005, Rowling and MEP Emma Nicholson founded the Children's High Level Group (now Lumos). In January 2006, Rowling went to Bucharest to highlight the use of caged beds in mental institutions for children. To further support the CHLG, Rowling auctioned one of seven handwritten and illustrated copies of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", a series of fairy tales referred to in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". The book was purchased for £1.95 million by online bookseller Amazon.com on 13 December 2007, becoming the most expensive modern book ever sold at auction. Rowling gave away the remaining six copies to those who have a close connection with the "Harry Potter" books. In 2008, Rowling agreed to publish the book with the proceeds going to Lumos. On 1 June 2010 (International Children's Day), Lumos launched an annual initiative – "Light a Birthday Candle for Lumos". In November 2013, Rowling handed over all earnings from the sale of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", totalling nearly £19 million.

In July 2012, Rowling was featured at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London, where she read a few lines from J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" as part of a tribute to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. An inflatable representation of Lord Voldemort and other children's literary characters accompanied her reading.

Rowling has contributed money and support for research and treatment of multiple sclerosis, from which her mother suffered before her death in 1990. In 2006, Rowling contributed a substantial sum toward the creation of a new Centre for Regenerative Medicine at Edinburgh University, later named the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic. In 2010, she donated a further £10 million to the centre. For reasons unknown, Scotland, Rowling's country of adoption, has the highest rate of multiple sclerosis in the world. In 2003, Rowling took part in a campaign to establish a national standard of care for MS sufferers. In April 2009, she announced that she was withdrawing her support for Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland, citing her inability to resolve an ongoing feud between the organisation's northern and southern branches that had sapped morale and led to several resignations.

In May 2008, bookseller Waterstones asked Rowling and 12 other writers (Lisa Appignanesi, Margaret Atwood, Lauren Child, Sebastian Faulks, Richard Ford, Neil Gaiman, Nick Hornby, Doris Lessing, Michael Rosen, Axel Scheffler, Tom Stoppard and Irvine Welsh) to compose a short piece of their own choosing on a single A5 card, which would then be sold at auction in aid of the charities Dyslexia Action and English PEN. Rowling's contribution was an 800-word "Harry Potter" prequel that concerns Harry's father, James Potter, and godfather, Sirius Black, and takes place three years before Harry was born. The cards were collated and sold for charity in book form in August 2008.

On 1 and 2 August 2006, she read alongside Stephen King and John Irving at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Profits from the event were donated to the Haven Foundation, a charity that aids artists and performers left uninsurable and unable to work, and the medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières. In May 2007, Rowling pledged a donation reported as over £250,000 to a reward fund started by the tabloid "News of the World" for the safe return of a young British girl, Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal. Rowling, along with Nelson Mandela, Al Gore, and Alan Greenspan, wrote an introduction to a collection of Gordon Brown's speeches, the proceeds of which were donated to the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory. After her exposure as the true author of "The Cuckoo's Calling" led to a massive increase in sales, Rowling announced she would donate all her royalties to the Army Benevolent Fund, claiming she had always intended to but never expected the book to be a best-seller.

Rowling is a member of both English PEN and Scottish PEN. She was one of 50 authors to contribute to First Editions, Second Thoughts, a charity auction for English PEN. Each author hand annotated a first-edition copy of one of their books, in Rowling's case, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". The book was the highest-selling lot of the event and fetched £150,000 ($228,600).

Rowling is a supporter of the Shannon Trust, which runs the Toe by Toe Reading Plan and the Shannon Reading Plan in prisons across Britain, helping and giving tutoring to prisoners who cannot read.

Rowling has named communist and civil rights activist Jessica Mitford as her "most influential writer" saying, "Jessica Mitford has been my heroine since I was 14 years old, when I overheard my formidable great-aunt discussing how Mitford had run away at the age of 19 to fight with the Reds in the Spanish Civil War", and claims what inspired her about Mitford was that she was "incurably and instinctively rebellious, brave, adventurous, funny and irreverent, she liked nothing better than a good fight, preferably against a pompous and hypocritical target". Rowling has described Jane Austen as her favourite author, calling "Emma" her favourite book in "O, The Oprah Magazine". As a child, Rowling has said her early influences included "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis, "The Little White Horse" by Elizabeth Goudge, and "Manxmouse" by Paul Gallico.

Rowling is known for her centre-left political views. In September 2008, on the eve of the Labour Party Conference, Rowling announced that she had donated £1 million to the Labour Party, and publicly endorsed Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown over Conservative challenger David Cameron, praising Labour's policies on child poverty. Rowling is a close friend of Sarah Brown, wife of Gordon Brown, whom she met when they collaborated on a charitable project for One Parent Families.

Rowling discussed the 2008 United States presidential election with the Spanish-language newspaper "El País" in February 2008, stating that the election would have a profound effect on the rest of the world. She also said that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would be "extraordinary" in the White House. In the same interview, Rowling identified Robert F. Kennedy as her hero.

In April 2010, Rowling published an article in "The Times", in which she criticised Cameron's plan to encourage married couples to stay together by offering them a £150 annual tax credit: "Nobody who has ever experienced the reality of poverty could say 'it's not the money, it's the message'. When your flat has been broken into, and you cannot afford a locksmith, it is the money. When you are two pence short of a tin of baked beans, and your child is hungry, it is the money. When you find yourself contemplating shoplifting to get nappies, it is the money."

As a resident of Scotland, Rowling was eligible to vote in the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, and campaigned for the "No" vote. She donated £1 million to the Better Together anti-independence campaign (run by her former neighbour Alistair Darling), the largest donation it had received at the time. In a blog post, Rowling explained that an open letter from Scottish medical professionals raised problems with First Minister Alex Salmond's plans for a common research funding. Rowling compared some Scottish Nationalists with the Death Eaters, characters from "Harry Potter" who are scornful of those without pure blood.

On 22 October 2015 a letter was published in "The Guardian" signed by Rowling (along with over 150 other figures from arts and politics) opposing the cultural boycott of Israel, and announcing the creation of a network for dialogue, called Culture for Coexistence. Rowling later explained her position in more detail, saying that although she opposed most of Benjamin Netanyahu's actions she did not think the cultural boycott would bring about the removal of Israel's leader or help improve the situation in Israel and Palestine.

In June 2016, Rowling campaigned for the United Kingdom to stay in the European Union, in the run up to the Referendum to leave the European Union, stating on her website that, "I'm the mongrel product of this European continent and I'm an internationalist. I was raised by a Francophile mother whose family was proud of their part-French heritage... My values are not contained or proscribed by borders. The absence of a visa when I cross the channel has symbolic value to me. I might not be in my house, but I'm still in my hometown." Rowling expressed concern that "racists and bigots" are directing parts of the Leave campaign. In a blog post, she added: "How can a retreat into selfish and insecure individualism be the right response when Europe faces genuine threats, when the bonds that tie us are so powerful, when we have come so far together? How can we hope to conquer the enormous challenges of terrorism and climate change without cooperation and collaboration?"

Rowling has been critical of Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn, accusing Corbyn of tolerating anti-semitic behaviour within the Labour Party.

Over the years, some religious people, particularly Christians, have decried Rowling's books for supposedly promoting witchcraft. Rowling identifies as a Christian. She once said, "I believe in God, not magic." Early on she felt that if readers knew of her Christian beliefs they would be able to predict her plot line.

In 2007, Rowling described having been brought up in the Church of England. She said she was the only one in her family who regularly went to church. As a student she became annoyed at the "smugness of religious people" and worshipped less often. Later, she started to attend a Church of Scotland congregation at the time she was writing "Harry Potter". Her eldest daughter, Jessica, was baptised there.

In a 2006 interview with "Tatler" magazine, Rowling noted that, "like Graham Greene, my faith is sometimes about if my faith will return. It's important to me." She has said that she has struggled with doubt, that she believes in an afterlife, and that her faith plays a part in her books. In a 2012 radio interview, she said that she was a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, a province of the Anglican Communion.

In 2015, following the referendum on same-sex marriage in Ireland, Rowling joked that if Ireland legalised same-sex marriage, Dumbledore and Gandalf could get married there. The Westboro Baptist Church, in response, stated that if the two got married, they would picket. Rowling responded by saying "Alas, the sheer awesomeness of such a union in such a place would blow your tiny bigoted minds out of your thick sloping skulls."

Rowling has had a difficult relationship with the press. She admits to being "thin-skinned" and dislikes the fickle nature of reporting. Rowling disputes her reputation as a recluse who hates to be interviewed.

By 2011, Rowling had taken more than 50 actions against the press. In 2001, the Press Complaints Commission upheld a complaint by Rowling over a series of unauthorised photographs of her with her daughter on the beach in Mauritius published in "OK!" magazine. In 2007, Rowling's young son, David, assisted by Rowling and her husband, lost a court fight to ban publication of a photograph of him. The photo, taken by a photographer using a long-range lens, was subsequently published in a "Sunday Express" article featuring Rowling's family life and motherhood. The judgement was overturned in David's favour in May 2008.

Rowling particularly dislikes the British tabloid the "Daily Mail", which has conducted interviews with her estranged ex-husband. As one journalist noted, "Harry's Uncle Vernon is a grotesque philistine of violent tendencies and remarkably little brain. It is not difficult to guess which newspaper Rowling gives him to read [in "Goblet of Fire"].", she was seeking damages from the "Mail" for libel over an article about her time as a single mother. Some have speculated that Rowling's fraught relationship with the press was the inspiration behind the character Rita Skeeter, a gossipy celebrity journalist who first appears in "Goblet of Fire", but Rowling noted in 2000 that the character predates her rise to fame.

In September 2011, Rowling was named a "core participant" in the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press, as one of dozens of celebrities who may have been the victim of phone hacking. On 24 November 2011, Rowling gave evidence before the inquiry; although she was not suspected to have been the victim of phone hacking, her testimony included accounts of photographers camping on her doorstep, her fiancé being duped into giving his home address to a journalist masquerading as a tax official, her chasing a journalist a week after giving birth, a journalist leaving a note inside her then-five-year-old daughter's schoolbag, and an attempt by "The Sun" to "blackmail" her into a photo opportunity in exchange for the return of a stolen manuscript. Rowling claimed she had to leave her former home in Merchiston because of press intrusion. In November 2012, Rowling wrote an article for "The Guardian" in reaction to David Cameron's decision not to implement the full recommendations of the Leveson inquiry, saying she felt "duped and angry".

In 2014, Rowling reaffirmed her support for "Hacked Off" and its campaign towards press self-regulation by co-signing with other British celebrities a declaration to "[safeguard] the press from political interference while also giving vital protection to the vulnerable."

Rowling, her publishers, and Time Warner, the owner of the rights to the "Harry Potter" films, have taken numerous legal actions to protect their copyright. The worldwide popularity of the "Harry Potter" series has led to the appearance of a number of locally produced, unauthorised sequels and other derivative works, sparking efforts to ban or contain them.

Another area of legal dispute involves a series of injunctions obtained by Rowling and her publishers to prohibit anyone from reading her books before their official release date. The injunction drew fire from civil liberties and free speech campaigners and sparked debates over the "right to read".

Rowling has received honorary degrees from St Andrews University, the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Exeter (which she attended), the University of Aberdeen, and Harvard University, where she spoke at the 2008 commencement ceremony. In 2009 Rowling was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. In 2002, Rowling became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and in 2011, she became an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

Other awards include:

She was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to literature and philanthropy.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released in the United States and India as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) is a 2001 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on J. K. Rowling's 1997 novel of the same name. The film is the first instalment of the "Harry Potter" film series and was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. Its story follows Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as he discovers that he is a famous wizard and begins his education. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, with Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)

Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the book in 1999 for a reported £1 million ($1.65 million in 1999). Production began in the United Kingdom in 2000, with Chris Columbus being chosen to create the film from a short list of directors that included Steven Spielberg and Rob Reiner. Rowling insisted that the entire cast be British and Irish, and the film was shot at Leavesden Film Studios and historic buildings around the United Kingdom.

The film was released to cinemas in the United Kingdom and United States on 16 November 2001. It became a critical and commercial success, grossing $974.8 million at the box office worldwide. The highest-grossing film of 2001, it is the 37th highest-grossing of all-time (2nd at the time of its release) and the second most successful instalment of the "Harry Potter" series behind "Deathly Hallows – Part 2". The film was nominated for many awards, including Academy Awards for Best Original Score, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. It was followed by seven sequels, beginning with "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" in 2002 and ending with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" in 2011, nearly ten years after the first film's release.

In late 1981, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Rubeus Hagrid, professors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, deliver a recently orphaned infant named Harry Potter to his only remaining relatives, the Dursleys. Ten years later, Harry has been battling a disjointed life with the Dursleys. After inadvertently causing an accident during a family trip to the zoo, Harry begins receiving unsolicited letters by owls. After the Dursleys escape to an island to avoid any more letters, Hagrid re-appears and informs Harry that he is actually a wizard, and has been accepted into Hogwarts against the Dursleys' wishes. After taking Harry to Diagon Alley to buy his supplies for Hogwarts including a wizard uniform, a wand and a pet owl named Hedwig as a birthday present, Hagrid informs him of his past; Harry's parents James and Lily Potter met their demise via a Killing Curse at the hands of the malevolent and all-powerful wizard, Lord Voldemort. Harry, the only survivor in the chaos, thus becomes well-known in the wizarding world as "The Boy Who Lived".

Harry is then taken to King's Cross station to board a train to the school, where he meets three other students: Ron Weasley, whom he quickly befriends; Hermione Granger, an intelligent witch born to muggle parents; and Draco Malfoy, a child from a wealthy wizarding family whom he immediately clashes with. After arriving at school, the students assemble in the Great Hall, where Harry and all the other first-years are sorted by the Sorting Hat between four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Although the Sorting Hat considers placing Harry in Slytherin alongside Draco, he is placed into Gryffindor with Ron and Hermione.

At Hogwarts, Harry begins learning magic spells and discovers more about his past and his parents. After recovering the Remembrall of clumsy Gryffindor student Neville Longbottom, Harry is recruited for Gryffindor's Quidditch team as a Seeker, which is extremely rare for first-year students. While exploring the school one night, Harry and his friends discover a giant three-headed dog named Fluffy in a restricted area of the school. Ron insults Hermione after being embarrassed by her in a charms lesson with Professor Flitwick, causing Hermione to lock herself in the girls' bathroom. She is attacked by a marauding troll but Harry and Ron save her, befriending her in the process.

The children later find out Fluffy is guarding the Philosopher's Stone, an object that can be used to grant its owner immortality. Harry suspects that potions teacher and head of Slytherin House Severus Snape is trying to obtain the stone in order to return Voldemort to physical form. Hagrid accidentally reveals to the trio that Fluffy will fall asleep if played music. Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide that night to try and find the stone before Snape does. They discover an already asleep Fluffy and face a series of safeguards. These include surviving a deadly plant known as Devil's Snare, a room filled with aggressive flying keys that bruise Harry, and a dangerous life-sized game of chess that nearly kills Ron.

After getting past the tasks, Harry discovers that it was Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Quirrell who was trying to claim the stone, and that Snape was actually protecting Harry all along. Quirrell removes his turban and reveals a weak Voldemort living on the back of his head. Through an enchantment placed by Dumbledore, Harry finds himself in possession of the stone. Voldemort attempts to bargain the stone from Harry in exchange for bringing his parents back from the dead, but Harry refuses, causing Quirrell to attack. Harry kills Quirrell by burning his skin and reducing him to dust, after which Voldemort's spirit rises from Quirrell's ashes and passes through Harry, knocking him unconscious.

Harry wakes up in the school's hospital wing with Dumbledore at his side. Dumbledore explains that the stone has been destroyed and that Ron and Hermione are safe. Dumbledore also reveals how Harry was able to defeat Quirrell: when Harry's mother died to save him, her death gave Harry a love-based protection against Voldemort. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are rewarded with house points for their heroic performances, tying them for first place with Slytherin. Dumbledore then awards ten points to Neville, who had attempted to stop his friends, giving Gryffindor enough points to win the House Cup. Harry returns home for the summer, happy to finally have a real home in Hogwarts.

Rowling insisted that the cast be kept British. Susie Figgis was appointed as casting director, working with both Columbus and Rowling in auditioning the lead roles of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Open casting calls were held for the main three roles, with only British children being considered. The principal auditions took place in three parts, with those auditioning having to read a page from the novel, then to improvise a scene of the students' arrival at Hogwarts, and finally to read several pages from the script in front of Columbus. Scenes from Columbus' script for the 1985 film "Young Sherlock Holmes" were also used in auditions. On 11 July 2000, Figgis left the production, complaining that Columbus did not consider any of the thousands of children they had auditioned "worthy". On 8 August 2000, the virtually unknown Daniel Radcliffe and newcomers Rupert Grint and Emma Watson were selected to play Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, respectively.

In 1997, producer David Heyman searched for a children's book that could be adapted into a well-received film. He had planned to produce Diana Wynne Jones' novel "The Ogre Downstairs", but his plans fell through. His staff at Heyday Films then suggested "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", which his assistant believed was "a cool idea." Heyman pitched the idea to Warner Bros. and in 1999, Rowling sold the company the rights to the first four "Harry Potter" books for a reported £1 million (US$1,982,900). A demand Rowling made was that the principal cast be kept strictly British, nonetheless allowing for the inclusion of 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 film, he declined the offer. Spielberg reportedly wanted the adaptation to be an animated film, with American actor Haley Joel Osment to provide Harry Potter's voice, or a film that incorporated elements from subsequent books as well. Spielberg contended that, in his opinion, it was 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." Rowling maintains that she had no role in choosing directors for the films and that "[a]nyone who thinks I could (or would) have'veto-ed' [ sic ] him [Spielberg] needs their Quick-Quotes Quill serviced." Heyman recalled that Spielberg decided to direct "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" instead.

After Spielberg left, talks began with other directors, including: Chris Columbus, Terry Gilliam, Jonathan Demme, Mike Newell, Alan Parker, Wolfgang Petersen, Rob Reiner, Ivan Reitman, Tim Robbins, Brad Silberling, M. Night Shyamalan and Peter Weir. Petersen and Reiner both pulled out of the running in March 2000, and the choice was narrowed down to Silberling, Columbus, Parker and Gilliam. Rowling's first choice director was Terry Gilliam, but Warner Bros. chose Columbus, citing his work on other family films such as "Home Alone" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" as influences for their decision. Columbus pitched his vision of the film for two hours, stating that he wanted the Muggle scenes "to be bleak and dreary" but those set in the wizarding world "to be steeped in color, mood, and detail." He took inspiration from David Lean's adaptations of "Great Expectations" (1946) and "Oliver Twist" (1948), wishing to use "that sort of darkness, that sort of edge, that quality to the cinematography," while being further inspired by the colour designs from "Oliver!" (1968) and "The Godfather" (1972).

Steve Kloves was selected to write the screenplay. He described adapting the book as "tough", as it did not "lend itself to adaptation as well as the next two books." Kloves often received synopses of books proposed as film adaptations from Warner Bros., which he "almost never read", but "Harry Potter" jumped out at him. He went out and bought the book, and became an instant fan of the series. When speaking to Warner Bros., he stated that the film had to be British, and had to be true to the characters. Kloves was nervous when he first met Rowling as he did not want her to think he was going to "[destroy] her baby." Rowling admitted that she "was really ready to hate this Steve Kloves," but recalled her initial meeting with him: "The first time I met him, he said to me, 'You know who my favourite character is?' And I thought, You're gonna say Ron. I know you're gonna say Ron. But he said 'Hermione.' And I just kind of melted." Rowling received a large amount of creative control, an arrangement that Columbus did not mind.

Warner Bros. had initially planned to release the film over 4 July 2001 weekend, making for such a short production window that several proposed directors pulled themselves out of the running. Due to time constraints, the date was put back to 16 November 2001.

Two British film industry officials requested that the film be shot in the United Kingdom, offering their assistance in securing filming locations, the use of Leavesden Film Studios, as well as changing the UK's child labour laws (adding a small number of working hours per week and making the timing of on-set classes more flexible). Warner Bros. accepted their proposal. Filming began on 29 September 2000 at Leavesden Film Studios and concluded on 23 March 2001, with final work being done in July. Principal photography took place on 2 October 2000 at North Yorkshire's Goathland railway station. Canterbury Cathedral and Scotland's Inverailort Castle were both touted as possible locations for Hogwarts; Canterbury rejected Warner Bros. proposal due to concerns about the film's "pagan" theme. Alnwick Castle and Gloucester Cathedral were eventually selected as the principal locations for Hogwarts, with some scenes also being filmed at Harrow School. Other Hogwarts scenes were filmed in Durham Cathedral over a two-week period; these included shots of the corridors and some classroom scenes. Oxford University's Divinity School served as the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, and Duke Humfrey's Library, part of the Bodleian, was used as the Hogwarts Library. Filming for Privet Drive took place on Picket Post Close in Bracknell, Berkshire. Filming in the street took two days instead of the planned single day, so payments to the street's residents were correspondingly increased. For all the subsequent film's scenes set in Privet Drive, filming took place on a constructed set in Leavesden Film Studios, which proved to have been cheaper than filming on location. London's Australia House was selected as the location for Gringotts Wizarding Bank, while Christ Church, Oxford was the location for the Hogwarts trophy room. London Zoo was used as the location for the scene in which Harry accidentally sets a snake on Dudley, with King's Cross Station also being used as the book specifies.
Because the American title was different, all scenes that mention the philosopher's stone by name had to be re-shot, once with the actors saying "philosopher's" and once with "sorcerer's". The children filmed for four hours and then did three hours of schoolwork. They developed a liking for fake facial injuries from the makeup staff. Radcliffe was initially meant to wear green contact lenses as his eyes are blue, and not green like Harry's, but the lenses gave Radcliffe extreme irritation. Upon consultation with Rowling, it was agreed that Harry could have blue eyes.

Judianna Makovsky designed the costumes. She re-designed the Quidditch robes, having initially planned to use those shown on the cover of the American book, but deemed them "a mess." Instead, she dressed the Quidditch players in "preppie sweaters, 19th century fencing breeches and arm guards." Production designer Stuart Craig built the sets at Leavesden Studios, including Hogwarts Great Hall, basing it on many English cathedrals. Although originally asked to use an existing old street to film the Diagon Alley scenes, Craig decided to build his own set, comprising Tudor, Georgian and Queen Anne architecture.

Columbus originally planned to use both animatronics and CGI animation to create the magical creatures, including Fluffy. Nick Dudman, who worked on "", was given the task of creating the needed prosthetics, with Jim Henson's Creature Shop providing creature effects. John Coppinger stated that the magical creatures that needed to be created had to be designed multiple times. The film features nearly 600 special effects shots, involving numerous companies. Industrial Light & Magic created Lord Voldemort's face on the back of Quirrell, Rhythm & Hues animated Norbert (Hagrid's baby dragon); and Sony Pictures Imageworks produced the Quidditch scenes.

John Williams was selected to compose the score. Williams composed the score at his homes in Los Angeles and Tanglewood before recording it in London in September 2001. One of the main themes is entitled "Hedwig's Theme"; Williams retained it for his finished score as "everyone seemed to like it" and therefore it was a recurring theme throughout the series.

Columbus repeatedly checked with Rowling to make sure he was getting minor details correct. Kloves described the film as being "really faithful" to the book. He added dialogue, of which Rowling approved. One of the lines originally included had to be removed after Rowling told him that it would directly contradict an event in the then-unreleased fifth "Harry Potter" novel "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix".

Several minor characters have been removed from the film version, most prominent among them the spectral History of Magic teacher, Professor Binns, and Peeves the poltergeist. The book's first chapter is from the viewpoint of Vernon and Petunia Dursley the day before they are given Harry to look after, highlighting how non-magical people react to magic. The film removes this, beginning with Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid leaving Harry with the Dursleys (although McGonagall tells Dumbledore how she had been watching the Dursleys all day). Harry's less than pleasant times at Mrs. Figg's are cut from the film while the boa constrictor from Brazil in the zoo becomes a Burmese Python in the film. Some conflicts, such as Harry and Draco's encounter with each other in Madam Malkin's robe shop and midnight duel, are not in the film. Some of Nicolas Flamel's role is changed or cut altogether. Norbert is mentioned to have been taken away by Dumbledore in the film; whilst the book sees Harry and Hermione have to take him by hand to Charlie Weasley's friends. Rowling described the scene as "the one part of the book that she felt [could easily] be changed". As a result, the reason for the detention in the Forbidden Forest was changed: In the novel, Harry and Hermione are put in detention for being caught by Filch when leaving the Astronomy Tower after hours, Neville and Malfoy are given detention when caught in the corridor by Professor McGonagall. In the film, Harry, Hermione and Ron receive detention after Malfoy catches them in Hagrid's hut after hours (Malfoy however, is given detention for being out of bed after hours). Firenze the centaur, who is described in the book as being palomino with light blonde hair, is shown to be dark in the film. The Quidditch pitch is altered from a traditional stadium to an open field circled by spectator towers. In the trio's final quest for the Philosopher's Stone, Hermione's test, solving a logic problem about a row of bottles, is omitted.

The first teaser poster was released on 1 December 2000. The first teaser trailer was released via satellite on 2 March 2001 and debuted in cinemas with the release of "See Spot Run". The soundtrack was released on 30 October 2001 in a CD format. A video game based on the film was released on 15 November 2001 by Electronic Arts for several consoles. A port for the game, for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox was released in 2003. Mattel won the rights to produce toys based on the film, to be sold exclusively through Warner Brothers' stores. Hasbro also produced products, including confectionery products based on those from the series. Warner Bros. signed a deal worth US$150 million with Coca-Cola to promote the film, and Lego produced a series of sets based on buildings and scenes from the film, as well as a.

Warner Bros. first released the film on VHS and DVD on 11 February 2002 in the E3 UK 11 May 2002 in the UK and 28 May 2002 in the US. The VHS and DVD (The Special Edition) was re-released in 7 May 2004 An Ultimate Edition was later released exclusively in the US that included a Blu-ray and DVD. The release contains an extended version of the film, with many of the deleted scenes edited back in; additionally, the set includes the existing special features disc, Radcliffe's, Grint's, and Watson's first screen tests, a feature-length special "Creating the World of Harry Potter Part 1: The Magic Begins", and a 48-page hardcover booklet. The extended version has a running time of about 159 minutes, which has previously been shown during certain television airings. Between May and June 2002, the film sold 10million copies, almost 60% of which were DVD sales.

The film had its world premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 4 November 2001, with the cinema arranged to resemble Hogwarts School. The film was greatly received at the box office. In the United States, it made $32.3 million on its opening day, breaking the single day record previously held by "". On the second day of release, the film's gross increased to $33.5 million, breaking the record for biggest single day again. In total, it made $90.3 million during its first weekend, breaking the record for highest-opening weekend of all time that was previously held by "". It held the record until the following May when "Spider-Man" made $114.8 million in its opening weekend. The film held onto the No. 1 spot at the box-office for three consecutive weekends. The film also had the highest grossing 5-day (Wednesday-Sunday) Thanksgiving weekend record of $82.4 million, holding the title for twelve years until both "" and "Frozen" surpassed it with $110.1 million and $94 million respectively. Similar results were achieved across the world. In the United Kingdom, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" broke the record for the highest-opening weekend ever, both including and excluding previews, making £16.3 million with and £9.8 million without previews. The film went on to make £66.1 million in the UK alone, making it the country's second highest-grossing film of all-time (after "Titanic"), until it was surpassed by "Mamma Mia!".

In total, the film earned $974.8 million at the worldwide box office, $317.6 million of that in the US and $657.2 million elsewhere, which made it the second highest-grossing film in history at the time, as well as the year's highest-grossing film., it is the unadjusted thirty-fourth highest-grossing film of all-time and the second highest-grossing "Harry Potter" film to date after "Deathly Hallows – Part 2", which grossed more than $1 billion worldwide. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 55.9 million tickets in the US.

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 80% based on 194 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" adapts its source material faithfully while condensing the novel's overstuffed narrative into an involving – and often downright exciting – big-screen magical caper." On Metacritic the film has a score of 64 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert called "Philosopher's Stone" "a classic," giving the film four out of four stars, and particularly praising the Quidditch scenes' visual effects. Praise was echoed by both "The Telegraph" and "Empire" reviewers, with Alan Morrison of the latter naming it the film's "stand-out sequence". Brian Linder of IGN.com also gave the film a positive review, but concluded that it "isn't perfect, but for me it's a nice supplement to a book series that I love". Although criticising the final half-hour, Jeanne Aufmuth of "Palo Alto Online" stated that the film would "enchant even the most cynical of moviegoers." "USA Today" reviewer Claudia Puig gave the film three out of four stars, especially praising the set design and Robbie Coltrane's portrayal of Hagrid, but criticised John Williams' score and concluded "ultimately many of the book's readers may wish for a more magical incarnation." The sets, design, cinematography, effects and principal cast were all given praise from Kirk Honeycutt of "The Hollywood Reporter", although he deemed John Williams' score "a great clanging, banging music box that simply will not shut up." Todd McCarthy of "Variety" compared the film positively with "Gone with the Wind" and put "The script is faithful, the actors are just right, the sets, costumes, makeup and effects match and sometimes exceed anything one could imagine." Jonathan Foreman of the "New York Post" recalled that the film was "remarkably faithful," to its literary counterpart as well as a "consistently entertaining if overlong adaptation."

Richard Corliss of "Time" magazine, considered the film a "by the numbers adaptation," criticising the pace and the "charisma-free" lead actors. CNN's Paul Tatara found that Columbus and Kloves "are so careful to avoid offending anyone by excising a passage from the book, the so-called narrative is more like a jamboree inside Rowling's head." Nathaniel Rogers of The Film Experience gave the film a negative review and wrote: ""Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone" is as bland as movies can get." Ed Gonzalez of "Slant Magazine" wished that the film had been directed by Tim Burton, finding the cinematography "bland and muggy," and the majority of the film a "solidly dull celebration of dribbling goo." Elvis Mitchell of "The New York Times" was highly negative about the film, saying "[the film] is like a theme park that's a few years past its prime; the rides clatter and groan with metal fatigue every time they take a curve." He also said it suffered from "a lack of imagination" and wooden characters, adding, "The Sorting Hat has more personality than anything else in the movie."

The film received three Academy Award nominations: Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Score for John Williams. The film was also nominated for seven BAFTA Awards. These were Best British Film, Best Supporting Actor for Robbie Coltrane, as well as the awards for Best Costume Design, Production Design, Makeup and Hair, Sound and Visual Effects. The film won a Saturn Award for its costumes, and was nominated for eight more awards. It won other awards from the Casting Society of America and the Costume Designers Guild. It was nominated for the AFI Film Award for its special effects, and the Art Directors Guild Award for its production design. It received the Broadcast Film Critics Award for Best Live Action Family Film and was nominated for Best Child Performance (for Daniel Radcliffe) and Best Composer (John Williams). In 2005 the American Film Institute nominated the film for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.

After Chris Columbus had finished working on "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", he was hired to direct the second film, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". The production started within a week after the release of the first film. Columbus was set to direct all entries in the series, but he did not want to return for the third film, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", claiming he was "burned out". He moved to the position of producer, while Alfonso Cuarón was approached for the role of director. He was initially nervous about directing the instalment since he had not read any of the books or seen the films. After reading the series, he changed his mind and signed on to direct since he had immediately connected to the story.

Harry Potter (film series)

Harry Potter is a British-American film series based on the "Harry Potter" novels by author J. K. Rowling. The series is distributed by Warner Bros. 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 that will 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 had their screenplays written by Steve Kloves. Production took place over ten years, with the main story arc following Harry Potter'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.

Five of the series' eight films are among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" the highest-grossing film in the series and one of 36 films to gross over $1 billion, ranking at number ten. Without inflation adjustment, it is the third highest-grossing film series with $7.7 billion in worldwide receipts.

Late in 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 wanted the adaptation to be an animated film, with American actor Haley Joel Osment providing Harry Potter's voice. 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 [Spielberg] needs 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.

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 television production of "David Copperfield" in which he played the title role's childhood years. Heyman persuaded Radcliffe's parents to allow him to audition for the part of Harry Potter, which involved Radcliffe being filmed. (This screen test footage was released via the first set of Ultimate Editions in 2009.) Rowling was enthusiastic after viewing Radcliffe's filmed test, saying she didn't think there was a better choice for the part of Harry Potter.

Also in 2000, the then unknown British actors Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were selected from thousands of auditioning children to play the roles of Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, respectively. Their only previous acting experience was in school plays. Grint was eleven years old and Watson ten at the time they were cast.

"Los Angeles Times" writer Geoff Boucher, who conducted the above-mentioned interview with Heyman, added that the casting of the three major roles "is especially impressive in hindsight. The trio's selection was arguably one of the best show-business decisions over the past decade... they have shown admirable grace and steadiness in the face of teen superstardom."

Filming of the series began at Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire, England, in September 2000 and ended in December 2010, with post-production on the final film lasting until summer 2011. Leavesden Studios was the main base for filming "Harry Potter", and it opened to the public as a studio tour in 2012 (renamed as Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden).
David Heyman produced all the films in the series with his production company Heyday Films, while David Barron joined the series as an executive producer on "Chamber of Secrets" and "Goblet of Fire". Barron was later appointed producer on the last four films. Chris Columbus was an executive producer on the first two films alongside Mark Radcliffe and Michael Barnathan, but he became a producer on the third film alongside Heyman and Radcliffe. Other executive producers include Tanya Seghatchian and Lionel Wigram. J. K. Rowling, author of the series, was asked to become a producer on "Goblet of Fire" but declined. She subsequently accepted the role on the two-part "Deathly Hallows".

Heyday Films and Columbus' company 1492 Pictures collaborated with Duncan Henderson Productions in 2001, Miracle Productions in 2002, and P of A Productions in 2004. Even though "Prisoner of Azkaban" was the final film produced by 1492 Pictures, Heyday Films continued with the franchise and collaborated with Patalex IV Productions in 2005. The sixth film in the series, "Half-Blood Prince", was the most expensive film to produce.

Warner Bros. split the seventh and final novel in the series, "Deathly Hallows", into two cinematic parts. The two parts were filmed back-to-back from early 2009 to summer 2010, with the completion of reshoots taking place on 21 December 2010; this marked the end of filming "Harry Potter". Heyman stated that "Deathly Hallows" was "shot as one film" but released in two feature-length parts.

Tim Burke, the visual effects supervisor of the series, said of the production on "Harry Potter", "It was this huge family; I think there were over 700 people working at Leavesden, an industry in itself." David Heyman said, "When the first film opened, no way did I think we'd make eight films. That didn't seem feasible until after we'd done the fourth." Nisha Parti, the production consultant on the first film, said that Heyman "made the first film very much the way he felt the studio Warner Bros. wanted to make it." After the film's success, Heyman was given "more freedom".

One of the aims of the filmmakers from the beginning of production was to develop the maturity of the films. Chris Columbus stated, "We realised that these movies would get progressively darker. Again, we didn't know "how" dark but we realised that as the kids get older, the movies get a little edgier and darker." This transpired with the succeeding three directors who would work on the series in the following years, with the films beginning to deal with issues such as death, betrayal, prejudice, and political corruption as the series developed narratively and thematically.

After Chris Columbus had finished working on "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", he was hired to direct the second film, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". The production started within a week after the release of the first film. Columbus was set to direct all entries in the series, but he did not want to return for the third film, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", claiming he was "burned out". He moved to the position of producer, while Alfonso Cuarón was approached for the role of director. He was initially nervous about directing the instalment since he had not read any of the books or seen the films. After reading the series, he changed his mind and signed on to direct since he had immediately connected to the story.

Because Cuarón decided not to direct the fourth instalment, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", a new director had to be selected. Mike Newell was chosen to direct the film, but he declined to direct the next film, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", which was given to David Yates, who also directed "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", becoming the only director to helm more than one film since Chris Columbus.

Chris Columbus said his vision of the first two films was of a "golden storybook, an old-fashioned look", while Alfonso Cuarón changed the visual tone of the series, desaturated the colour palette, and expanded the landscape around Hogwarts. Mike Newell decided to direct the fourth film as a "paranoid thriller", while David Yates wanted to "bring a sense of jeopardy and character to the world". Cuarón, Newell, and Yates have said that their challenge was striking a balance between making the films according to their individual vision, while working within a cinematic world already established by Columbus.

David Heyman commented on the "generosity of the directors" by revealing that "Chris spent time with Alfonso, Alfonso spent time with Mike and Mike spent time with David, showing him an early cut of the film, talking through what it means to be a director and how they went about [making the films]."

David Heyman also said, "I suppose Chris Columbus was the most conservative choice from the studio's point of view. But he expressed real passion." Producer Tanya Seghatchian said they were "more adventurous" in choosing a director for the third film and went straight to Alfonso Cuarón. Mike Newell became the first British director of the series when he was chosen for the fourth film; Newell was considered to direct the first film before he dropped out. David Yates directed the final films after David Heyman thought him capable of handling the edgy, emotional, and political material of the later novels.

All the directors have been supportive of each other. Chris Columbus praised the character development in the films, while Alfonso Cuarón admired the "quiet poetry" of David Yates' films. Mike Newell noted that each director had a different heroism, and David Yates views the first four films "respectfully and enjoy[s] them." Daniel Radcliffe said Yates "took the charm of the films that Chris made and the visual flair of everything that Alfonso did and the thoroughly British, bombastic nature of the film directed by Mike Newell" and added "his own sense" of realism.

Steve Kloves wrote the screenplays for all but the fifth film, which was penned by Michael Goldenberg. Kloves had direct assistance from J.K. Rowling, though she allowed him what he described as "tremendous elbow room". Rowling asked Kloves to remain faithful to the spirit of the books; thus, the plot and tone of each film and its corresponding book are virtually the same, albeit with some changes and omissions for purposes of cinematic style, time, and budget constraints. Michael Goldenberg also received input from Rowling during his adaptation of the fifth novel; Goldenberg was originally considered to adapt the first novel before the studio chose Kloves.

In a 2010 interview, David Heyman briefly explained the book-to-film transition. He commented on Rowling's involvement in the series, stating that she understood that "books and films are different" and was "the best support" a producer could have. Rowling had overall approval on the scripts, which were viewed and discussed by the director and the producers. Heyman also said that Kloves was the "key voice" in the process of adapting the novels and that certain aspects from the books needed to have been excluded from the scripts due to the filmmakers' decision to keep the main focus on Harry's journey as a character, which would ultimately give the films a defined structure. Heyman mentioned that some fans "don't necessarily understand the adaptation process" and that the filmmakers would have loved to "have everything" from the books in the films but noted that it was not possible since they had "neither time nor cinematic structure" to do so. He finished by saying that adapting a novel to the screen is "a really considered process."

Because the films were being made as the novels were being published, the filmmakers had no idea of the story's outcome until the release of the final novel in 2007. Kloves spoke of his relationship with Rowling when adapting the novels by saying, "The thing is about Jo, which is remarkable for someone who had no experience with the filmmaking process, was her intuition. We had a conversation the very first day I met her where she said, 'I know the movies can't be the books... because I know what's coming and it's impossible to fully dramatise on screen what I'm going to write. But I just ask you to be true to the characters; that's all I care about.'" Kloves also said, "I don't know what compelled me to say this [to Rowling], but I said, 'I've just got to warn you my favourite character is not Harry. My favourite character is Hermione.' And I think for some weird reason, from that moment on, she sort of trusted me."

Aside from the three lead actors, other notable cast members include Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy, Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, and Dame Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall. Richard Harris, who played the role of Professor Albus Dumbledore, died on 25 October 2002 causing the role to be re-cast for the third instalment, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". David Heyman and director Alfonso Cuarón chose Michael Gambon to portray the character of Dumbledore, which he did for all succeeding films. Notable recurring cast members include Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, Brendan Gleeson as Alastor Moody, Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley, Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley, Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew, David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney, Mark Williams as Arthur Weasley, and Julie Walters as Molly Weasley.

The series has seen many returning crew members from various departments, including Tim Burke, visual effects supervisor; Peter Doyle, digital film colourist; Nick Dudman, make-up and creature effects designer; David Holmes, stunt double; Amanda Knight, make-up artist; Stephenie McMillan, set designer; Greg Powell, stunt coordinator; Jany Temime, costume designer; and Fiona Weir, casting director.

The production designer for all eight films is Stuart Craig. Assisted by Stephenie McMillan, Craig has created iconic sets pieces including the Ministry of Magic, the Chamber of Secrets, Malfoy Manor, and the layout for the CGI Horcrux Cave. Because the novels were being published as the films were being made, Craig was required to rebuild some sets for future films and alter the design of Hogwarts.

He said, "In the early days, every time you saw the exterior of Hogwarts, it was a physical miniature," which was made by craftsmen and occupied a large sound stage. "We ended up with a profile of how Hogwarts looked, a skyline that actually I didn't design, and it wasn't always satisfactory, and as all the novels got written and movies got made there were new requirements [for buildings]. The [Astronomy Tower] definitely wasn't there originally, and so we were able to add that substantial piece. And in the last film, we needed an arena for the battle for Hogwarts – the big courtyard outside doubled in size, and if you look at the first movie it wasn't there at all. There were quite some liberties taken with the continuity of Hogwarts." In the last film, Craig used a digital model instead of a miniature to "embrace the latest technology".

On the method of creating the sets, Craig said he often started by sketching ideas onto a blank sheet of paper. Stephanie McMillan also said that "each film always had plenty of new challenges," citing the changes in visual style between directors and cinematographers as an example, along with the developing story in the novels. Due to J.K. Rowling's descriptions of various settings in the novels, Craig noted his "responsibility was to place it together".

Craig commented on his experience working in the studio environment: "I'm the production designer, but on a big movie like "Harry Potter" I may be responsible for 30 to 35 people; from the supervising art director, and a team of art directors and assistants, to draughtsmen and junior draughtsmen, and then on to model makers, sculptors and scenic artists." He said, "Ten years ago, all the "Harry Potter" drawings were done in pencil. I would take my roughs and plans and sections and give them to a professional architectural illustrator, who would create concept art using pencil and colour wash on watercolour paper." He said the process changed slightly throughout the years due to, what he called, the "digital revolution" of making films.

When filming of the series was completed, some of Craig's sets had to be rebuilt or transported for them to be displayed at the Warner Bros. studio tour.

Six directors of photography worked on the series: John Seale on the first film, Roger Pratt on the second and fourth, Michael Seresin on the third, Sławomir Idziak on the fifth, Bruno Delbonnel on the sixth, and Eduardo Serra on the seventh and eighth. Delbonnel was considered to return for both parts of "Deathly Hallows", but he declined, stating that he was "scared of repeating" himself. Delbonnel's cinematography in "Half-Blood Prince" gained the series its only Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography. As the series progressed, each cinematographer faced the challenge of shooting and lighting older sets (which had been around since the first few films) in unique and different ways. Chris Columbus said the series' vivid colouring decreased as each film was made.

Michael Seresin commented on the change of visual style from the first two films to "Prisoner of Azkaban": "The lighting is moodier, with more shadowing and cross-lighting." Seresin and Alfonso Cuarón moved away from the strongly coloured and brightly lit cinematography of the first two films, with dimmer lighting and a more muted colour palette being utilised for the succeeding five films. After comparing a range of digital cameras with 35 mm film, Bruno Delbonnel decided to shoot the sixth movie, "Half-Blood Prince", on film rather than the increasingly popular digital format. This decision was kept for the two-part "Deathly Hallows" with Eduardo Serra, who said that he preferred to work with film because it was "more technically accurate and dependable".

Because the majority of "Deathly Hallows" takes place in various settings away from Hogwarts, David Yates wanted to "shake things up" by using different photographic techniques such as using hand-held cameras and very wide camera lenses. Eduardo Serra said, "Sometimes we are combining elements shot by the main unit, a second unit, and the visual effects unit. You have to know what is being captured – colours, contrast, et cetera – with mathematical precision." He noted that with Stuart Craig's "amazing sets and the story", the filmmakers could not "stray too far from the look of the previous "Harry Potter" films."

Along with continuous changes in cinematographers, there have been five film editors to work in post-production on the series: Richard Francis-Bruce edited the first instalment, Peter Honess the second, Steven Weisberg the third, Mick Audsley the fourth, and Mark Day films five through eight.

The "Harry Potter" series has had four composers. John Williams scored the first three films: "Philosopher's Stone", "Chamber of Secrets", and "Prisoner of Azkaban". However, the second entry was adapted and conducted by William Ross due to Williams's conflicting commitments. Williams also created "Hedwig's Theme", which is used in every film in the series.

After Williams left the series to pursue other projects, Patrick Doyle scored the fourth entry, "Goblet of Fire", which was directed by Mike Newell, with whom Doyle had worked previously. In 2006, Nicholas Hooper started work on the score to "Order of the Phoenix" by reuniting with director David Yates. Hooper also composed the soundtrack to "Half-Blood Prince" but decided not to return for the final films.

In January 2010, Alexandre Desplat was confirmed to compose the score for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1". The film's orchestration started in the summer with Conrad Pope, the orchestrator on the first three "Harry Potter" films, collaborating with Desplat. Pope commented that the music "reminds one of the old days." Desplat returned to score "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" in 2011.

Director David Yates stated that he wanted John Williams to return to the series for the final installment, but their schedules did not align due to the urgent demand for a rough cut of the film. The final recording sessions of "Harry Potter" took place on 27 May 2011 at Abbey Road Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra, orchestrator Conrad Pope, and composer Alexandre Desplat.

Doyle, Hooper, and Desplat introduced their own personal themes to their respective soundtracks, while keeping a few of John Williams's themes.

There have been many visual effects companies to work on the "Harry Potter" series. Some of these include Rising Sun Pictures, Double Negative, Cinesite, Framestore, and Industrial Light & Magic. The latter three have worked on all the films in the series, while Double Negative and Rising Sun Pictures began their commitments with "Prisoner of Azkaban" and "Goblet of Fire", respectively. Framestore contributed by developing many memorable creatures and sequences to the series. Cinesite was involved in producing both miniature and digital effects for the films. Producer David Barron said that ""Harry Potter" created the UK effects industry as we know it. On the first film, all the complicated visual effects were done on the [US] west coast. But on the second, we took a leap of faith and gave much of what would normally be given to Californian vendors to UK ones. They came up trumps." Tim Burke, the visual effects supervisor, said many studios "are bringing their work to UK effects companies. Every facility is fully booked, and that wasn't the case before "Harry Potter". That's really significant."

On 12 June 2010, filming of the "Deathly Hallows – Part 1" and "Deathly Hallows – Part 2" was completed with actor Warwick Davis stating on his Twitter account, "The end of an Era – today is officially the last day of principal photography on 'Harry Potter' – ever. I feel honoured to be here as the director shouts cut for the very last time. Farewell Harry & Hogwarts, it's been magic!". However, reshoots of the epilogue scene were confirmed to begin in the winter of 2010. The filming was completed on 21 December 2010, marking the official closure of filming the "Harry Potter" franchise. Exactly four years earlier on that day, author J. K. Rowling's official website revealed the title of the final novel in the series – "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".

Harry Potter is an orphaned boy brought up by his unkind Muggle (non-magical) aunt and uncle. At the age of eleven, half-giant Rubeus Hagrid informs him that he is actually a wizard and that his parents were murdered by an evil wizard named Lord Voldemort. Voldemort also attempted to kill one-year-old Harry on the same night, but his killing curse mysteriously rebounded and reduced him to a weak and helpless form. Harry became extremely famous in the Wizarding World as a result. Harry begins his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and learns about magic. During the year, Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger become entangled in the mystery of the Philosopher's Stone which is being kept within the school.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione return to Hogwarts for their second year, which proves to be more challenging than the last. The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, leaving students and ghosts petrified by an unleashed monster. Harry must face up to claims that he is the heir of Salazar Slytherin (founder of the Chamber), learn that he can speak Parseltongue, and also discover the properties of a mysterious diary, only to find himself trapped within the Chamber of Secrets itself.

Harry Potter's third year sees the boy wizard, along with his friends, attending Hogwarts School once again. Professor R. J. Lupin joins the staff as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, while convicted murderer Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban Prison. The Ministry of Magic entrusts the Dementors of Azkaban to guard Hogwarts from Black. Harry learns more about his past and his connection with the escaped prisoner.

During Harry's fourth year, Hogwarts plays host to a legendary event: the Triwizard Tournament. Three European schools participate in the tournament, with three 'champions' representing each school in the deadly tasks. The Goblet of Fire chooses Fleur Delacour, Viktor Krum, and Cedric Diggory to compete against each other. However, curiously, Harry's name is also produced from the Goblet thus making him a fourth champion, which results in a terrifying encounter with a reborn Lord Voldemort.

Harry's fifth year begins with him being attacked by Dementors in Little Whinging. Later, he finds out that the Ministry of Magic is in denial of Lord Voldemort's return. Harry is also beset by disturbing and realistic nightmares, while Professor Umbridge, a representative of Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry becomes aware that Voldemort is after a prophecy which reveals: "neither can live while the other survives". The rebellion involving the students of Hogwarts, secret organisation Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry of Magic, and the Death Eaters begins.

In Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters are increasing their terror upon the Wizarding and Muggle worlds. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore persuades his old friend Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts as a professor as there is a vacancy to fill. There is a more important reason, however, for Slughorn's return. While in a Potions lesson, Harry takes possession of a strangely annotated school textbook, inscribed 'This is the property of the Half-Blood Prince'. Draco Malfoy struggles to carry out a deed presented to him by Voldemort. Meanwhile, Dumbledore and Harry secretly work together to discover the method on how to destroy the Dark Lord once and for all.

After unexpected events at the end of the previous year, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are entrusted with a quest to find and destroy Lord Voldemort's secret to immortality – the Horcruxes. It is supposed to be their final year at Hogwarts, but the collapse of the Ministry of Magic and Voldemort's rise to power prevents them from attending. The trio undergo a long journey with many obstacles in their path including Death Eaters, Snatchers, the mysterious Deathly Hallows, and Harry's connection with the Dark Lord's mind becoming ever stronger.

After destroying one Horcrux and discovering the significance of the three Deathly Hallows, Harry, Ron and Hermione continue to seek the other Horcruxes in an attempt to destroy Voldemort, who has now obtained the powerful Elder Wand. The Dark Lord discovers Harry's hunt for Horcruxes and launches an attack on Hogwarts School, where the trio return for one last stand against the dark forces that threaten the Wizarding and Muggle worlds.

The rights for the first four novels in the series were sold to Warner Bros. for £1,000,000 by J.K. Rowling. After the release of the fourth book in July 2000, the first film, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", was released on 16 November 2001. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $90 million in the United States alone, which set a record opening worldwide. The succeeding three motion picture adaptations followed suit in financial success, while garnering positive reviews from fans and critics. The fifth film, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", was released by Warner Bros. on 11 July 2007 in English-speaking countries, except for the UK and Ireland, which released the movie on 12 July. The sixth, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", was released on 15 July 2009 to critical acclaim and finished its theatrical run ranked as the number two grossing film of 2009 on the worldwide charts.

The final novel, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", was split into two cinematic parts: "Part 1" was released on 19 November 2010, and "Part 2", the conclusion to both the final film and the series, was released on 15 July 2011. "Part 1" was originally scheduled to be released in 3D and 2D, but due to a delay in the 3D conversion process, Warner Bros. released the film only in 2D and IMAX cinemas. However, "Part 2" was released in 2D and 3D cinemas as originally planned.

The television broadcast rights for the series in the United States are currently held by NBCUniversal, which typically airs the films on USA Network and Syfy. The film series has accrued nearly 1.3 billion viewings since its television debut—the highest-watched franchise in television broadcast history.

All the films have been a success financially and critically, making the franchise one of the major Hollywood "tent-poles" akin to "James Bond", "Star Wars", "Indiana Jones" and "Pirates of the Caribbean". The series is noted by audiences for growing visually darker and more mature as each film was released. However, opinions of the films generally divide book fans, with some preferring the more faithful approach of the first two films and others preferring the more stylised character-driven approach of the later films.

Some also feel the series has a "disjointed" feel due to the changes in directors, as well as Michael Gambon's interpretation of Albus Dumbledore differing from that of Richard Harris. Author J. K. Rowling has been constantly supportive of the films, and evaluated "Deathly Hallows" as her favourite one in the series. She wrote on her website of the changes in the book-to-film transition, "It is simply impossible to incorporate every one of my storylines into a film that has to be kept under four hours long. Obviously films have restrictions – novels do not have constraints of time and budget; I can create dazzling effects relying on nothing but the interaction of my own and my readers' imaginations".

At the 64th British Academy Film Awards in February 2011, J. K. Rowling, David Heyman, David Barron, David Yates, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson collected the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema for the series.

In addition, the American Film Institute recognised the entire series with a Special Award at the American Film Institute Awards in 2011. Special awards "are given to outstanding achievements in the moving image that do not fit into AFI's criteria for the other honorees." In its press release, the Institute referred to the films as "a landmark series; eight films that earned the trust of a generation who wished for the beloved books of J.K. Rowling to come to life on the silver screen. The collective wizardry of an epic ensemble gave us the gift of growing older with Harry, Ron and Hermione as the magic of Hogwarts sprung from the films and into the hearts and minds of Muggles around the world."

"Harry Potter" was also recognised by the BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Awards, with David Yates winning the Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing for his four "Harry Potter" films.

Six of the eight films were nominated for a total of 12 Academy Awards.

Some critics, fans, and general audiences have expressed disappointment that the "Harry Potter" series did not win any Oscars for its achievements. However, others have pointed out that certain films in the series had uneven reviews, in contrast to the three films of "The Lord of the Rings", for example, which were all critically acclaimed. This has been partially attributed to the "Harry Potter" franchise going through several directors with their own styles in contrast to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which was filmed in one massive undertaking by the same director, writer, and producer.

Although not successful at the Oscars, the "Harry Potter" series has gained success in many other award ceremonies, including the annual Saturn Awards and Art Directors Guild Awards. The series has also gained a total of 24 nominations at the British Academy Film Awards presented at the annual BAFTAs, winning several, and 5 nominations at the Grammy Awards.

"Philosopher's Stone" achieved seven BAFTA Award nominations, including Best British Film and Best Supporting Actor for Robbie Coltrane. The film was also nominated for eight Saturn Awards and won for its costumes design. It was also nominated at the Art Directors Guild Awards for its production design and received the Broadcast Film Critics Award for Best Live Action Family Film along with gaining two other nominations.

"Chamber of Secrets" won the award for Best Live Action Family Film in the Phoenix Film Critics Society. It was nominated for seven Saturn Awards, including Best Director and Best Fantasy Film. The film was nominated for four BAFTA Awards and a Grammy Award for John Williams's score. "Prisoner of Azkaban" won an Audience Award, as well as Best Feature Film, at the BAFTA Awards. The film also won a BMI Film Music award along with being nominated at the Grammy Awards, Visual Effect Society Awards, and the Amanda Awards. "Goblet of Fire" won a BAFTA award for Best Production Design as well as being nominated at the Saturn Awards, Critic's Choice Awards, and the Visual Effects Society Awards.

"Order of the Phoenix" picked up three awards at the inaugural ITV National Movie Awards. At the Empire Awards, David Yates won Best Director. Composer Nicholas Hooper received a nomination for a World Soundtrack Discovery Award. The film was nominated at the BAFTA Awards, but did not win for Best Production Design or Best Special Visual Effects. "Half-Blood Prince" was nominated for BAFTA Awards in Production Design and Visual Effects, and it was in the longlists for several other categories, including Best Supporting Actor for Alan Rickman. Amongst other nominations and wins, the film also achieved Best Family Movie at the National Movie Awards as well as Best Live Action Family Film at the Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards, along with being nominated for Best Motion Picture at the Satellite Awards.

"Deathly Hallows – Part 1" gained two nominations at the BAFTA Awards for Best Make-Up and Hair and Best Visual Effects, along with receiving nominations for the same categories at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards. Eduardo Serra's cinematography and Stuart Craig's production design were also nominated in various award ceremonies, and David Yates attained his second win at the Empire Awards, this time for Best Fantasy Film. He also obtained another Best Director nomination at the annual Saturn Awards, which also saw the film gain a Best Fantasy Film nomination. "Deathly Hallows – Part 2" was released to critical acclaim, gaining a mix of audience awards. Part 2 of "Deathly Hallows" was also recognised at the Saturn Awards as well as the BAFTA Awards, where the film achieved a win for Best Special Visual Effects.

, the "Harry Potter" film series is the 3rd highest-grossing film franchise of all time, with the eight films released grossing over $7.7 billion worldwide. Without adjusting for inflation, this is higher than the first 22 "James Bond" films and the six films in the "Star Wars" franchise. Chris Columbus's "Philosopher's Stone" became the highest-grossing "Harry Potter" film worldwide upon completing its theatrical run in 2002, but it was eventually topped by David Yates's "Deathly Hallows – Part 2", while Alfonso Cuarón's "Prisoner of Azkaban" grossed the least.

Six films in the "Harry Potter" franchise — "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", Parts 1 & 2 — have to date grossed around $216 million in IMAX theaters worldwide.

The "Harry Potter" films and their success have been retrospectively considered to have had a significant impact on the film industry. They are cited as having helped redefine the Hollywood blockbuster in the 21st century by initiating a shift toward established media franchises forming the basis of successful films. In the wake of the final film's release, Claudia Puig of "USA Today" wrote that the films "inspired every major studio to try to capture [its] alchemic formula, spawning a range of copycats and wannabes" and "also have shown Hollywood how to make a glossy blockbuster with an eye toward keeping costs down." A 2009 article from "The Economist" argued that the films were "in the vanguard" of adaptations of established properties being the modern film franchise model, citing "The Lord of the Rings", "Spider-Man" and "The Dark Knight Trilogy" as examples of successful film series that followed "Harry Potter"s suit. YouTube hosts many fan films, ranging from amateur productions to full-length films.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 2002 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on J. K. Rowling's 1998 novel of the same name. The film is a sequel to the 2001 film "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and the second instalment in the "Harry Potter" film series. It was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. Its story follows Harry Potter's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the Heir of Salazar Slytherin opens the Chamber of Secrets, unleashing a monster that petrifies the school's denizens. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, with Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger and is also the last film to feature Richard Harris as Professor Albus Dumbledore, due to his death that same year.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)

The film was released in theatres in the United Kingdom and the United States on 15 November 2002. It became a critical and commercial success, grossing $879 million at the box office worldwide. It was the second highest-grossing film of 2002 behind "". The movie was nominated for many awards including the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Special Visual Effects. It was followed by six sequels, beginning with "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" in 2004 and ending with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" in 2011, nearly ten years after the first film's release.

Harry Potter spends the summer with The Dursleys without receiving letters from his Hogwarts friends. In his room, Harry meets Dobby, a house-elf who warns him of a peril that will take shape if he returns to Hogwarts. Dobby reveals that he intercepted his friends' letters, and destroys a cake in order to prevent his return to school. The Dursleys lock Harry up, but Ron Weasley and his older twin brothers, Fred and George, rescue him in their father's flying car.

While purchasing school supplies, Harry and the Weasley family encounter Rubeus Hagrid and Hermione Granger. They attend a book-signing by celebrity wizard Gilderoy Lockhart, who announces that he will be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. During a small confrontation with Draco Malfoy, Harry meets Malfoy's father, Lucius, who discreetly slips a book into Ginny Weasley's belongings, which only Harry sees, but he mentions this to no one. When Harry and Ron are blocked from entering Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, they fly to Hogwarts in the flying car. They crash into the Whomping Willow upon arrival, and Ron's wand is damaged. Both boys narrowly avoid expulsion when Professor McGonagall gives them detention.

During the detention, Harry hears strange voices and later finds caretaker Argus Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, petrified, along with a message written in blood announcing the "Chamber of Secrets has been opened". McGonagall explains that one of Hogwarts' founders, Salazar Slytherin, supposedly constructed a secret Chamber. He placed a monster inside that only his Heir can control, capable of purging the school of impure-blooded wizards and witches. Harry and Ron suspect Malfoy as the Heir, so Hermione suggests they question him while disguised using polyjuice potion. They utilise a disused bathroom haunted by a ghost, Moaning Myrtle, as their makeshift laboratory to brew the potion.

When Harry communicates with a snake, the school believes he is the Heir. On Christmas Day, Harry and Ron learn that Malfoy is not the Heir, but he mentions that a girl died when the Chamber was last opened fifty years ago. Harry finds an enchanted diary owned by former Hogwarts student Tom Riddle, which contains a flashback fifty years prior where Riddle accused Hagrid, then a student, of opening the Chamber. When the diary is stolen and Hermione is petrified, Harry and Ron question Hagrid. Professor Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge, and Lucius come to take Hagrid to Azkaban, but he discreetly tells the boys to "follow the spiders". In the Forbidden Forest, Harry and Ron meet Hagrid's giant pet spider, Aragog, who reveals of Hagrid's innocence and provides them a small clue about the Chamber's monster.

A book page in Hermione's hand identifies the monster as a basilisk, a giant serpent that instantly kills those that make direct eye contact with it; the petrified victims only saw it indirectly. The school staff learn that Ginny was taken into the Chamber, and convince Lockhart to save her. Harry and Ron find Lockhart, exposed as a fraud, planning to flee; knowing Myrtle was the girl the Basilisk killed, they take him to the bathroom and find the Chamber's entrance. Once inside, Lockhart uses Ron's damaged wand against them, but it backfires, wipes his memory, and causes a cave-in.

Harry enters the Chamber alone and finds Ginny unconscious, guarded by Riddle. Riddle reveals that he used the diary to manipulate Ginny and reopen the Chamber. When Riddle creates the anagram for his future new identity, "I am Lord Voldemort", Harry realises that Riddle himself is Slytherin's heir and Voldemort's true identity. After Harry expresses support for Dumbledore, Fawkes flies in with the Sorting Hat, causing Riddle to summon the Basilisk. Fawkes blinds the Basilisk, allowing Harry to look at it directly without being killed or petrified. The Sorting Hat eventually produces the Sword of Gryffindor, with which Harry battles and slays the Basilisk, though he is injured by one of its fangs.

Harry defeats Riddle and revives Ginny by stabbing the diary with a basilisk fang. Fawkes's tears heal him, and he returns to Hogwarts with his friends and a baffled Lockhart. Dumbledore praises them and orders Hagrid's release. Dumbledore shows Harry the sword he wielded was Godric Gryffindor's own sword, and says he is different from Voldemort because he chose Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. Harry accuses Lucius, Dobby's master, of planting the diary in Ginny's cauldron, and tricks him into freeing Dobby. The Basilisk's victims are healed, Hermione reunites with Harry and Ron, and Hagrid is released from Azkaban. In a post-credits scene, Lockhart is seen in a straitjacket, having published a new book: "Who Am I?".Although Chris Columbus returned to direct, Frank Oz said in an interview with "The A.V. Club" that he was asked to direct this film but he had no interest in it.

Production designer Stuart Craig returned for the sequel to design new elements previously not seen in the first film. These included the Burrow (the Weasleys' house), Dumbledore's office (which houses the Sorting Hat, The Sword of Gryffindor and Dumbledore's desk), Borgin and Burkes, and the Chamber of Secrets. Mr. Weasley's flying car was created from a 1962 Ford Anglia 105E.

Principal photography for "Chamber of Secrets" began on 19 November 2001, just three days after the wide release of the first film. The first three weeks of shooting consisted mostly of second-unit work on special effects, primarily the flying car scene. First-unit photography then began in Surrey, England, at Number Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, for scenes taking place at the Dursleys' home. Filming continued on location at the Isle of Man and in several places in Great Britain; Leavesden Film Studios in London made several scenes for Hogwarts. Other locations were shot in England, including a Hogwarts Express set in King's Cross railway station Platform 9¾. The famous cloisters of England's Gloucester Cathedral were used as the setting for Hogwarts School.

Originally, a scene in which Lucius Malfoy is confronted in Dumbledore's office ended sooner but the final exchange was ad-libbed. Jason Isaacs felt his character would've said something after being humiliated, and Columbus asked him to try. According to Isaacs, he improvised, "Let us hope Mr. Potter will always be around to save the day." Isaacs was impressed by Daniel Radcliffe's maturation as an actor based on his own improvised line, "Don't worry. I will be."

University of Cambridge linguistics professor Francis Nolan was hired to construct the Parseltongue language for the scenes where Harry Potter was talking to snakes.

Principal photography wrapped in the summer of 2002, while the film spent until early October in post-production. In a change of cinematography from the first instalment, director Chris Columbus opted to handheld cameras for "Chamber of Secrets" to allow more freedom in movement.

Due to the events that take place in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", the film's sound effects were much more expansive than in the previous instalment. Sound designer and co-supervising sound editor Randy Thom returned for the sequel using Pro Tools to complete the job, which included initial conceptions done at Skywalker Sound in California and primary work done at Shepperton Studios in England.

John Williams, who composed the previous film's score, returned to score "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". Scoring the film proved to be a difficult task. Williams had just completed scoring "" and "Minority Report" when work was to begin on "Catch Me If You Can". Because of this, William Ross was brought in to arrange themes from the "Philosopher's Stone" into the new material that Williams was composing whenever he had the chance. The soundtrack was released on 12 November 2002.

Footage for the film began appearing online in the summer of 2002, with a teaser trailer debuting in cinemas with the release of "Scooby-Doo". A video game based on the film was released in early November 2002 by Electronic Arts for several consoles, including GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The film also continued the merchandising success set by its predecessor, with the reports of shortages on Lego's "Chamber of Secrets" tie-ins.

The film premiered in the UK on 3 November 2002 and in the United States and Canada on 14 November 2002 before its wide release on 15 November, one year after the "Philosopher's Stone".

The film was originally released in the UK, US and Canada on 11 April 2003 on both VHS tape and in a two-disc special edition DVD digipack, which included extended and deleted scenes and interviews. On 11 December 2007, the film's Blu-ray version was released. An Ultimate Edition of the film was released on 8 December 2009, featuring new footage, TV spots, an extended version of the film with deleted scenes edited in, and a feature-length special "Creating the World of Harry Potter Part 2: Characters". The film's extended version has a running time of about 174 minutes, which has previously been shown during certain television airings.

The film broke multiple records upon its opening. In the US and Canada, the film opened to an $88.4 million opening weekend at 3,682 cinemas, the third largest opening at the time, behind "Spider-Man" and "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". It was also No. 1 at the box office for two non-consecutive weekends. In the United Kingdom, the film broke all opening records that were previously held by "Philosopher's Stone". It made £18.9 million during its opening including previews and £10.9 million excluding previews. It went on to make £54.8 million in the UK; at the time, the fifth biggest tally of all time in the region.

The film made a total of $879 million worldwide, which made it the fifth highest-grossing film ever at the time. It was 2002's second highest-grossing film worldwide behind "" and the fourth highest-grossing film in the US and Canada that year with $262 million behind "Spider-Man", "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers", and "". However, it was the year's number one film at the non-American box office, making $617 million compared to "The Two Towers"' $584.5 million.

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 82% based on 230 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Though perhaps more enchanting for younger audiences, "Chamber of Secrets" is nevertheless both darker and livelier than its predecessor, expanding and improving upon the first film's universe." On Metacritic the film has a score of 63 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale. It is the highest rated "Harry Potter" film at CinemaScore.

Roger Ebert called "The Chamber of Secrets" "a phenomenal film" and gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, especially praising the set design. "Entertainment Weekly" commended the film for being better and darker than its predecessor: "And among the things this "Harry Potter" does very well indeed is deepen the darker, more frightening atmosphere for audiences. This is as it should be: Harry's story is supposed to get darker". Richard Roeper praised the directing and the film's faithfulness to the book, saying: "Chris Columbus, the director, does a real wonderful job of being faithful to the story but also taking it into a cinematic era". "Variety" also said the film was excessively long, but praised it for being darker and more dramatic, saying that its confidence and intermittent flair to give it a life of its own apart from the books was something "The Philosopher's Stone" never achieved. A. O. Scott from "The New York Times" said: "instead of feeling stirred you may feel battered and worn down, but not, in the end, too terribly disappointed".

Peter Travers from "Rolling Stone" condemned the film for being over-long and too faithful to the book: "Once again, director Chris Columbus takes a hat-in-hand approach to Rowling that stifles creativity and allows the film to drag on for nearly three hours". Kenneth Turan from the "Los Angeles Times" called the film a cliché which is "deja vu all over again, it's likely that whatever you thought of the first production – pro or con – you'll likely think of this one".

The film was nominated for three BAFTA Awards. These were for Best Production Design, Sound, and Achievement in Visual Effects. The film was nominated for two awards at the inaugural Visual Effects Society Awards in the categories of "Best Character Animation in a Live Action Motion Picture" and "Best Compositing in a Motion Picture".
The film was also nominated for six Saturn Awards in 2003 and in 2004 for its DVD release.