Potter Performs Online And Box Office Magic

The movie version of publishing sensation Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone looks set to fulfill high expectations at the box office and online. In the three days following its simultaneous UK/US launch on Friday 16 November, the film is reported to have taken £16m at UK box offices and £68m at US box offices, putting it firmly on course to threaten the records set by Titanic and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and more than justify the £100m+ spent on producing the film.

Online, internet monitors NetValue have reported that 310,000 unique users visited Warner Brothers’ official Harry Potter site during October. The children’s stories are known to appeal to adults as well, as evidenced by the production of “grown-up” versions of the books with adult-looking covers. More evidence came from NetValue’s observation that only 20% of visitors to the website were under 14. Another net-ratings company, Hitwise, has also reported on the sucess of the website, which has reached number one in its Entertainment-Movies chart, attracting 16.8% of all visits in that category.

Warner Bros: www.warnerbros.com

Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive