All the Harry Potter movies have been a success financially and critically, making the franchise one of the major Hollywood “tent-poles” akin to James Bond, Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean. The series is noted by audiences for growing visually darker and more mature as each film was released. However, opinions of the films generally divide book fans, with some preferring the more faithful approach of the first two films and others preferring the more stylised character-driven approach of the later films.
Some also feel the series has a “disjointed” feel due to the changes in directors, as well as Michael Gambon’s interpretation of Albus Dumbledore differing from that of Richard Harris. Author J. K. Rowling has been constantly supportive of the films, and evaluated Deathly Hallows as her favourite one in the series. She wrote on her website of the changes in the book-to-film transition, “It is simply impossible to incorporate every one of my storylines into a film that has to be kept under four hours long. Obviously films have restrictions – novels do not have constraints of time and budget; I can create dazzling effects relying on nothing but the interaction of my own and my readers’ imaginations”
Box office
As of 2012, the Harry Potter film franchise is the highest grossing film franchise of all time, with the eight films released grossing over $7.7 billion worldwide. Without adjusting for inflation, this is higher than the first 22 James Bond films and the six films in the Star Wars franchise. Chris Columbus’s Philosopher’s Stone became the highest-grossing Harry Potter film worldwide upon completing its theatrical run in 2002, but it was eventually topped by David Yates’s Deathly Hallows – Part 2, while Alfonso Cuarón’s Prisoner of Azkaban grossed the least.
| Motion Picture | Release date | Revenue | Inflation Adjusted (Worldwide) | Budget | Reference | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | United Kingdom | North America (appx. ticket sales) |
Outside North America | |||||
| Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone | 16 November 2001 | $974,755,371 | £66,096,060 | $317,575,550(55,913,000) | $657,179,821 | $1,227,850,042.88 | $125,000,000 | |
| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 14 November 2002 | $878,979,634 | £54,780,731 | $261,988,482(45,093,000) | $616,991,152 | $1,090,287,929.83 | $100,000,000 | |
| Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | 31 May 2004 | $796,688,549 | £45,615,949 | $249,541,069(40,184,000) | $547,147,480 | $947,462,829.52 | $130,000,000 | |
| Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | 18 November 2005 | $896,911,078 | £48,328,854 | $290,013,036(45,244,000) | $606,898,042 | $1,041,225,686 | $150,000,000 | |
| Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | 11 July 2007 | $939,885,929 | £49,136,969 | $292,004,738(42,443,000) | $647,881,191 | $1,020,828,830.69 | $150,000,000 | |
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | 15 July 2009 | $934,416,487 | £50,713,404 | $301,959,197(40,261,000) | $632,457,290 | $974,201,682.00 | $250,000,000 | |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 | 19 November 2010 | $956,399,711 | £52,364,075 | $295,983,305(37,500,000) | $660,416,406 | $969,707,879.97 | Less than $250 million (official) | |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 | 15 July 2011 | $1,328,111,219 | £73,094,187 | $381,011,219(56,000,000) | $947,100,000 | $1,328,111,219 | ||
| Total | $7,706,147,978 | £440,269,736 | $2,390,076,596 | $5,316,071,382 | $8,271,821,124.29 | $1,155,000,000 | ||