 Daniel Radcliffe scales the monumental head of a Salazar Slytherin statue in the Chamber of Secrets |
This page is the starting point for information about and graphics from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, as well as the future movies.
Warner Bros. Pictures bought the rights to Sorcerer's Stone and The Chamber of Secrets for an estimated $700,000. Chris Columbus (Home Alone movies, Bicentennial Man) directed Stone and is now working on Chamber. Steve Kloves (Wonder Boys) has adapted the first two books and is working on the third, The Prisoner of Azkaban.
Warner Bros. has kept its promise to Rowling to keep the series British. The shoots have been exclusively in the United Kingdom. Casts have been almost exclusively of UK actors with extensive stage, film and TV experience.
Shooting on The Sorcerer's Stone began in late September 2000 and ran through April 2001. Some additional filming was done in the summer. The budget was $125-$150 million. The movie was released in the U.S. and the UK on 16 November 2001.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is now in production at Leavesden Studios near London, and other UK locations, through about July 2002. The same cast and most of the principal filmmakers have returned. Movie #2 is slated for release on 15 November 2002.
 UK Poster Click to see large version |
Follow the links below for information on the Harry Potter movies.
THE SORCERER'S STONE
The World Premiere. The stars came out at the Odeon Leicester Square Theatre in London for the film's world premiere. Photos of J.K. Rowling and cast members, as well as a little info on the event.
Overview Page A summary of the movie production, including full cast listing, as is known up to this point. A very general page; see the other links in this section for more detailed stuff.
The First Trailer. On 1 March 2001, Warner Bros., through its official site, released the first preview of Sorcerer's Stone. This page features screen shots from the trailer, with descriptive captions, as well as a mini-script.
The Second Trailer. The second "preview of coming attractions" was released on 28 June 2001. I have made 77 screen shots from this trailer for your enjoyment.
The Third Trailer. Select screenshots from the final Sorcerer's Stone trailer released 2 November 2001. Many of the images in this preview were previously used.
Movie Photos. Production stills from the movie.
Sorcerer's Stone Movie Review Snippets. Read what critics said about the first Harry Potter movie. Excerpts have links to the full reviews.
| The final Sorcerer's Stone movie poster from Warner Bros. was created by the master of hand-painted "one sheets," Drew Struzan. To see a larger version of the poster, click on it. |  |
Media Stuff: You can learn a lot from promotional articles that appeared just before The Sorcerer's Stone's release. For instance:
--Despite several thousand boys auditioning, director Chris Columbus always wanted just one boy to play Harry -- Daniel Radcliffe. His parents' initial refusal to let him try out caused the endless audition of other kids.
--The extensive beards on actors Richard Harris (Dumbledore) and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) were fake and held on with glue. Cotrane said after wearing his, his skin felt like an "old shoe."
--The production company had 16,500 wand boxes handcrafted for Ollivanders.
Learn lots more by taking the links below.
Entertainment Weekly (USA), 14 September 2001.
Vanity Fair (USA), October 2001. The Annie Leibovitz photos that went with this story can be reached via a link further below.
 Japanese Market Poster |
Nickelodeon Magazine (USA), October 2001. Interviews with Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson by the print partner of the American kids' cable network, Nickelodeon.
Sunday Times Magazine (UK), 7 October 2001, main story of an entire package.
Times on makeup and costuming.
Times Robbie Coltrane interview.
Times interviews with Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson.
Times talk with animal trainer Gary Gero on his work days and preparing critters for the film.
Interview with Robbie Coltraine, in Entertainment Weekly, 26 October 2001.
Premiere magazine (USA), November 2001 cover story. The photos by Nigel Parry that accompanied this article can be reached by a link further below.
Radio Times (UK) cover story, November 2001. A BBC publication looks at the Harry thing and has a little Radcliffe chat.
Hello! magazine (UK), November 2001. A so-so story quickly thrown together to cash in on a phenomenon. Weirdly mixes UK and U.S. facts.
 What's with this scar thing? The famous forehead mark is on the right side of Harry's forehead. Warner Bros. says J.K. Rowling told them to put it there! |
"Casting A Spell." Biographies and photos of the all the main Sorcerer's Stone cast members.
The Crew. A list of the full crew for The Sorcerer's Stone. Links will take you to other pages with pictures and biographies of the major behind-the-camera folks.
Location, Location, Location. A collection of photographs showing buildings, architectural pieces, set decorations and objects in the movie. See the Hogwarts Express, Hagrid's hut and the Quidditch Cup here.
Steve Kloves Interview. From Ain't It Cool News, correspondent Quint has an extensive interview with Kloves, the man charged with adapting Rowling's novels for the screen.
Producer David Heyman discusses The Sorcerer's Stone from the set of the movie in a British Academy of Film and Television Arts article.
Book and Movie Differences. An essay explores the changes from the book that have so far been detected in the movie.
Book and Movie Scenes. Continuing with the theme of the previous item, there are screenshots from two clips of the movie, released at the world premiere 4 November 2001 in London. The same scenes from J.K. Rowling's book are printed below each set of screenshots to see the similarities and differences.
--The Letters from No One
--How To Get To Platform 9 3/4
Annie Leibovitz Photo Feature. Vanity Fair magazine devoted much of its October 2001 issue to a spread by Leibovitz, its major contributing photographer. See the images from the 22-page feature on this site.
Nigel Parry Photo Feature. See the other Harry Potter photo portraits taken at the Leavesden Studios, by another famed portrait taker, Nigel Parry. Originally appeared in Premiere magazine.
Production Notes. The official Warner Bros. Production Notes distributed to the mass media on The Sorcerer's Stone, presented in their entirety.
Nominations & Awards. Assorted industry and trade group nominations and awards for the first HP movie.
Strange & Miscellaneous Photos. Internet images of movie activity, some of which are weird; others, just showbiz as usual.
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS
Time to look ahead to the next movie. It will be out on 15 November 2002. Production has begun.
Movie News. Filming reports, random quotes, miscellaneous stuff.
Casting Rumors & Certainties. Both confirmed and rumored actors for roles in the movie.
Movie Crew. List of behind-the-scenes persons, with links to biographies about some.
Aragog, Anglias and Webs, Oh My! First stills and "spy" photos of the Aragog and Forbidden Forest sets. See not one, but three Ford Anglias!
THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
Warner Bros. is working to get this sequel as quickly into production as possible, too. It may even film right after Chamber of Secrets wraps up in 2002 and released in late 2003.
THE GOBLET OF FIRE
A gaze into the crystal ball reveals a book, over 700 pages in the United States. It will probably be made as two movies and released 2004-2006.
The images below are of the USA market "one sheet" poster (Sorcerer's Stone, left) and the UK/International poster (Philosopher's Stone, right). The U.S. poster was released in February; the UK one is courtesy of Dark Horizons. Click on either poster to see an enlarged version.
