"Harry Potter" at 20: How J.K. Rowling is keeping her boy wizard franchise relevant
Happy birthday, Harry!
Twenty years ago today, the first book in the Harry Potter series was published. Released as "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" in the U.K. and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in the U.S., J.K. Rowling's first release ushered in a literary franchise that would be translated into 68 languages and sell more than 500 million books worldwide.
Rowling toasted the anniversary on Twitter, writing, "Twenty years ago today a world I had lived in alone was suddenly open to others. It's been wonderful. Thank you."
While the franchise is now two decades old, the character of Potter himself would be a bit older. According to details revealed over the course of the series, the Boy Who Lived was born on July 31, 1980 -- which would mean he'd be celebrating his 37th birthday next month.
Even after 20 years -- and a full film adaptation of the series -- it's clear that the Potter franchise isn't going away anytime soon. Here's a look at how Rowling is keeping the Wizarding World alive for fans old and new.
On the screen:
Last year saw the debut of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," the first of a new film series taking place in the Harry Potter world decades before Potter himself was born. The film marked Rowling's debut as a screenwriter. Four more entries are planned, with the next due in theaters in November 2018. Jude Law has signed on to play a young Albus Dumbledore.
Online:
In 2012, Rowling launched Pottermore, an online home for all things Harry Potter. Fans can join, get sorted into Hogwarts houses and develop their own Wizarding World personas. Rowling keeps the site active with news, features and articles as well previously unreleased writings.
On the stage:
While the seventh novel in the Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," was intended to be the end of the boy wizard's story, Rowling continued the saga with a stage play, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," which opened on London's West End in 2016. Written by Jack Thorne from a story he developed with Rowling and John Tiffany, The two-part play won nine Olivier Awards off of 11 nominations. "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" will come to Broadway in April 2018, with tickets set to go on sale this fall.
On the page:
Last summer saw the released of the script for "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," which was greeted with the same midnight bookstore festivities the novels received. The release sold more than 2 million copies in its first two days of release in the U.S. and Canada, and in the U.K. it went on to be the biggest-selling book of 2016. Rowling also released a series of supplementary short story collections as ebooks in September, and she's been busy with non-Potter novels published both under her own name and under her detective fiction pen name, Robert Galbraith.
In the real world:
Universal Studios has opened Wizarding World of Harry Potter attractions in both Florida and Los Angeles, giving fans a chance to visiting Hogwarts and Diagon Alley for themselves.
