Harry Potter: A List of Things You Might Not Have Known

Harry Potter, a series of books by J. K. Rowling, adapted to become a series of successful movies a few years back is a name that conjures imagination, evokes praise and criticism. To the religious folk, it's evil incarnate. To the open-minded, the magic of Harry Potter is gold for inspiration.

Here is a list of things you might not have known about the books, the movies and Harry Potter's creator, J. K. Rowling.

1. The original name for the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S.

2. Harry Potter's enemy is Voldemort, a cruel wizard who killed Harry's parents when he was just a baby. Love saved him from being the third victim in that catastrophe.

3. Since the first novel was released in 1997, Harry Potter has gained enormous popularity, and acclaim. The six books to date have sold more than 325 million copies.

4. The 7th and final book in the series will be released on July 21, 2007. The title for this new book is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Publishers announced a record-breaking 12 million copies for the first print run in the US alone. This should give you some perspective as to the extent of Harry Potter's success.

5. The success of her books have made J. K. Rowling the highest earning novelist in history.

6. The movies, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire have become some of the highest grossing motion pictures ever made.

7. J. K. Rowling was on a train from Manchester when she says the idea of Harry Potter just "popped" into her head. She had never before been so thrilled by an idea. She completely her first manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1995. Eight out of nine publishers rejected the story before the agency of Bloomsbury agreed to publish the book.

8. J. K. Rowling's actual first name is Joanne.

9. Harry Potter and the Philopsopher's Stone was first published in July of '97 in the UK and later, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was released in the US in September '98.

10. Word-of-mouth has played a major role in the success of J. K. Rowling's series.

11. J. K. Rowling's other works include a charity comedy relief book entitled, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them with a companion piece called, Quidditch Through the Ages. Talk about milking a concept to its fullest. The royalties for the films alone should guarantee her and her family a comfortable living for many years to come.

12. J. K. Rowling or Joanne Rowling was born on July 31, 1965 in South Gloucestershire, England.

13. The Harry Potter books have brought Rowling a lot of controversy from religious groups over the magic in the books promoting witchcraft to children.

14. Another place Harry Potter has received moral criticism is from feminist circles. The prominent feminist, Christine Schoefer argued that certain characters and themes of the stories are anti-feminist in nature. She sited characters like Hermione Granger and Professor McGonagall, being wimpish women in a world of men. If she would actually watch how these characters are portrayed in the movies, she may retract her previous statements.

15. Warner Bros. bought the rights to the first two novels in October of '98 for a 7 figure sum.

16. The first and second films, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone) and written by Steve Kloves. Next in line to direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was Alfanso Cuaron (Great Expectations, Children of Men) with Steve Kloves still writing the screenplay. Mike Newell (Donnie Brasco, Mona Lisa Smile) was the director of the next Harry Potter adaptation, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Steve Kloves came back yet a fourth time.

Now, with the impending release of the new film, I bet you're wondering who's directing and writing Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix, well, too bad, I'm not telling. All right, I'll give in. Steve Kloves is out sadly, but screenwriter, Michael Goldenberg is in. David Yates is the newest director.

17. They will be releasing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince within the next year. I guess they finally caught on to the fact that the stars of all the films, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Rupert Grint as Ron and Emma Watson as Hermione are getting much too old to be playing young teenagers. They should have did the sequels close to the same way Peter Jackson made his Lord of The Rings trilogy (all at once).

Plot summary

Given the fact that Lord Voldemort has returned, everyone at Hogarts is in danger. Now, Harry, Hermione and Ron must find a way for all wizards and witches at the school to unite and fight the evil lord before he and his henchmen harm anyone.

Cast and crew list of Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix

Directed by David Yates
Produced by David Heyman and David Barron
Novel written by J. K. Rowling
Screenplay written by Michael Goldenberg
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, and Imelda Staunton