Film Title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Sorcerer's
Stone in the US)
Distributer: Warner Brothers
Directed by: Chris Collumbus
Produced by: David Heyman
Written by: J.K. Rowling (book), Steve Kloves (screenplay)
Tagline: "Let the Magic Begin", "Journey Beyond Your Imagination",
"The Magic Begins November 16th", "Learning Can Be Magic"
Running time: 2hrs 32mins
Rating: Argentina - Atp; Australia (TV rating) - G; Australia (original
rating) - PG; Brazil - livre; Canada - PG; Finland - K-11;
France - U; Germany - 6; Greece - K-13; Hong Kong - IIA; Ireland
- PG; Netherlands - MG6; New Zealand - PG; Norway - 11; Peru -
PT; Portugal - M/12; Singapore - PG; Spain - T; Sweden (original
rating) - 11; Sweden (re-rating) - 7; Switzerland (canton of
Geneva) - 10; Switzerland (canton of Vaud) - 10; Thailand - PG-7;
UK - PG; US - PG
Release Dates: November 16th 2001 (Canada, Ireland, Malta, Taiwan, UK, US);
November 21st 2001 (Belgium, Philippines), November 22nd 2001
(Germany, Malaysia, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland - German
region); November 23rd 2001 (Austria, Brazil, Chillie, Denmark,
Finland, Norway, South Africa, Sweden); November 29th 2001
(Australia, Argentina, Israel); November 30th 2001 (Columbia,
Greece, Guatemala, Iceland, Mexico, Portugal, Spain); December
1st 2001 (Japan); December 5th 2001 (France); December 6th
2001 (Italy, Peru); December 7th (Panama); December 13th 2001
(Hungary); December 15th 2001 (Kuwait); December 19th 2001
(Indonesia); December 20th 2001 (Hong Kong); December 21st 2001
(Estonia, Lithuania); December 23rd 2001 (Croatia); January
16th (Egypt); January 18th 2002 (Poland); January 23rd 2002
(China); February 1st 2002 (Turkey); February 14th 2002 (Czech
Republic); February 15th 2002 (Bulgaria); March 21st 2002
(Russia); April 12th 2002 (India)
In 1997, film producter David Heyman was on the lookout for potential co-
productions between his own company, Heyday Films, and Warner Brothers. Harry
Potter was recommended to him by one of his executives, Tania Seghatchian. He
quickly moved to buy the rights but it was a further two years before a deal
was finalised, by which time the books were already an unpresidented success.
J.K. was very cautious about giving away the film rights, turning down several
companies before she finally said yes to David. Her main concern was that the
films should be faithful to the books, which many screen adaptations are not.
David, however, agreed with her and promised he would stay true to her material.
There were rumours that Steven Speilburg was going to direct the movie, but
backed out. Whether these rumours are true or not is unknown, especially
since the reason for his backing out changes with every source that tells it.
Some say he simply chose to do A.I. instead, while others say it was because
he and J.K. didn't see eye to eye. He reportedly wanted to have Harry played
by American child actor Haley Joal Osment, when J.K. wanted an unknown British
child. And some sources said he wanted to set the films in an American High
School, though that, judging by the extremity of it, is probably just the
media adding details. The director who did get the job was Chris Columbus,
of Home Alone and Mrs Doubtfire fame. He too agreed that the films should
stay faithful to the books.
J.K. insisted that the cast be entirely British and Irish so as to keep the
integrity of the books. The adult cast turned into a who's who of British
acting, with the likes of Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid, Richard Harris as
Dumbledore, Maggie Smith as McGonagall and Alan Rickman as Snape. The kids,
on the other hand, J.K. wanted to be unknown, particuarly Harry. The search
for someone to play the main part went on for ages without success, until
David went to the theatre with a friend and saw then 10 year-old Daniel
Radcliffe sitting in the seat behind him. It turned out that his friend
knew Daniel's father and the rest is history.
The film was made at Leavesden Studios outside London, as well as various
other locations such as Alnwick Castle and Oxford University, and was
finally released in 2001/2002 (November 16th 2001 for the first countries
that got it). The film's opening weekend broke all box office records,
making a total of £16 million in the UK and $93.5 million in the US. To
date it has made in excess of $950 million worldwide, and earned three
Oscar Nominations for best score, art/set design and costume design.
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