"HARRY" BEATS "BOND" & "STAR WARS"

The earth seems to have shifted. In days of yore, a franchise needed adult action heroes, science fiction dreams or comic book fantasies to succeed as a franchise.

Now the global leader is a British schoolboy.

Okay, so Harry Potter is not your average schoolboy but he is still young and decent rather than aged and violent. And yet in terms of global box office, his five films has attracted more cash - nearly £5 billion! - than all 22 Bond films combined as well as the six Star Wars films.

In short, the Potter films now add up to the most successful franchise. EVER!

Even allowing for a little inflation, which means the price of a ticket now is a staggering multiple of what it was back when Bond debuted in the sixties, that is quite an accomplishment for a lad, even if he messes in the black arts.

And, of course, there are still two HPs to come. Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince will open on Nov 21, 2008. The seventh and final film, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, is scheduled to open in 2010.

Magic, indeed!

Filed September 11, 2007