Harry Potter

The series

:To read a complete synopsis of the first six books, see the at Wikibooks, Wikipedia's sibling project.

Related Topics:
Synopsis - Wikibooks

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• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States)
• *Story time: 1981, 1991 to 1992
• *Release: June 26, 1997 (UK); September 1, 1998 (U.S.)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• *Story time: 1992 to 1993
• *Release: July 2, 1998 (UK); June 2, 1999 (U.S.)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• *Story time: 1993 to 1994
• *Release: July 8, 1999 (UK); September 8, 1999 (U.S.)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• *Story time: 1994 to 1995
• *Release: July 8, 2000 (UK/U.S.)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• *Story time: 1995 to 1996
• *Release: June 21, 2003 (worldwide)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• *Story time: 1996 to 1997
• *Release: July 16, 2005 (worldwide)
• *Story time: 1997 to 1998
• *Release: Unconfirmed

The books have become popular enough that bookshops worldwide now hold simultaneous "release parties" on the day Harry Potter books are released, since the earliest time the books can be sold at retail is 12:01 am GMT (or the equivalent local time at the point of sale).

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The Harry Potter books have been translated into many languages (see List of titles of Harry Potter books in other languages and Harry Potter in translation series). For the English language, there exists an adapted American English version of each book, with lexical changes like "football" to "soccer," "video recorder" to "VCR," or "do his nut" becoming "go ballistic" or "rubbish bin" "to trash can."

Related Topics:
List of titles of Harry Potter books in other languages - Harry Potter in translation series

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2001 saw the publication of two slim spin off volumes called Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander and Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp. These were supposedly reproductions of two Hogwarts textbooks owned by Harry, complete with notes scribbled in the margins by Harry and his friends. These books were written by J. K. Rowling with proceeds going to Comic Relief.

Related Topics:
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Newt Scamander - Quidditch Through the Ages - Kennilworthy Whisp - Comic Relief

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Regarding the existence of Harry Potter novels beyond the seventh, Rowling has said that she might write an eighth book some day. If she does, she intends it to be a sort of encyclopaedia of the wizarding world, containing concepts and snippets of information that were not relevant enough to the novels' plot to be included in them. She has also said that she will not write any sort of "prequel" to the novels since by the time the series ends all the necessary back story will have been revealed.

Related Topics:
Wizarding world - Prequel

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Book Sales (U.S. Edition)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

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• Hardcover: 6.1 million
• Paperback: 10.9 million
• Total: 17 million

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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• Hardcover: 7.3 million
• Paperback: 7.5 million
• Total: 14.7 million

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

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• Hardcover: 7.6 million
• Paperback: 5.2 million
• Total: 12.8 million

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

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• Hardcover: 8.9 million
• Paperback: 3.4 million
• Total: 12.3 million

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

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• Hardcover: 5 million in first 24 hours, initial printing 8.5 million copies. 12.2 million
• Paperback: 1.5 million
• Total: 13.7 million

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

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• Hardcover: 6.9 million in first 24 hours. Initial printing 10.8 million copies with a 2.7 million reprint.
• Paperback: (not yet released)
• Total: 13.5 million

The films

:For details of which actor plays which character in the various movies, see the Harry Potter cast article.

Related Topics:
Actor - Harry Potter cast

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• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States)
• *Release: November 16, 2001
• *Director: Chris Columbus
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• *Release: November 15, 2002
• *Director: Chris Columbus
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• *Release: UK: May 31, USA: 2004June 4,
• *Director: Alfonso Cuarón
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• *Release: Philippines: November 16, Malaysia: November 17 UK, US and other countries: 2005 November 18,
• *Director: Mike Newell
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• *Release: Expected Spring 2007 (June)
• *Director: David Yates
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• *Release: Expected Autumn 2008 (November)
• *Director: Unknown

The first three films ranked 1st http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2001&p=.htm, 2nd http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2002&p=.htm, and 2nd http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2004&p=.htm respectively in world wide box office grosses for their years of release. They grossed a total of over $2.6 billion worldwide. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/

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