Harry Potter Movies

The books of Harry Potter series have been made into films.The four motion pictures released to-date are among the highest grossing film series of all time, with USD$3.5 billion in worldwide receipts, only trailing the James Bond films ($4.3 billion)and the Star Wars films (4.1 billion). As of 2007, the series consists of four motion pictures with the fifth, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, scheduled for United States and United Kingdom release on July 13.

In 1999, Rowling sold the film rights to the first four Harry Potter books to Warner Bros. for a reported £1 million ($1,982,900 U.S. dollars). [4] A reported demand Rowling made was that the principal cast be kept strictly British, nonetheless allowing for the inclusion of many Irish actors such as the late Richard Harris as Dumbledore.

In 2000, the virtually unknown British actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were selected from thousands of auditioning children to play the roles of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, respectively.They have played their characters in the first five films, and on 23 March 2007, Warner Bros. confirmed that all three would return for the sixth and seventh.
Chris Columbus directed the first two films, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Alfonso Cuarón directed the third, and Mike Newell directed the fourth. The fifth, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is finished and was directed by David Yates, who will also direct the sixth Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.