Cinema Experts

“Dear Mr. Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Soon, you and your schoolmates will join us here, and your education in the magical arts will begin.”
The Harry Potter film series are the fantasy films based on the Harry Potter heptalogy of novels by British author and writer J. K. Rowling.
The five released to-date make up the highest grossing film series (not including inflation) of all time, with USD$4.48 billion in worldwide receipts. The series consists of five motion pictures with the latest installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, released to cinemas on 11 July 2007. In the United States, the revenues for the midnight opening were $12 million and first day revenues beat out Spider Man 2 ($40.4 million) for highest Wednesday opening at $44.2 million.
Warner Brothers holds the film rights to produce adaptations of the two remaining novels, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
In 1999, Rowling sold the film rights to the first four Harry Potter books to Warner Bros. for a reported US$1,982,900. A demand Rowling made was that the principal cast be kept strictly British, nonetheless allowing for the inclusion of many Irish actors such as the late Richard Harris as Dumbledore, and for casting of French and Eastern European actors in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire where characters from the book are specified as such. Rowling was hesitant to sell the rights because she "didn't want to give them control over the rest of the story" by selling the rights to the characters, which would have enabled Warner Bros to make non-author-written sequels.
Although Steven Spielberg initially negotiated to direct the film, he declined the offer. Spielberg wanted the adaptation to be an animated film, with American actor Haley Joel Osment to provide Harry Potter's voice. However, Spielberg contended that, in his opinion, there was every expectation of profit in making the film. In the Rubbish Bin section of her website, Rowling maintains that she has no role in choosing directors for the films, writing "Anyone who thinks I could (or would) have 'veto-ed' him [Spielberg] needs their Quick-Quotes Quill serviced." After Spielberg left, talks began with other directors, including Chris Columbus, Terry Gilliam, Mike Newell, Tim Robbins, Brad Silberling, and Peter Weir. Rowling's first choice was Terry Gilliam. However on March 28, 2000 Columbus was appointed as director of the film, with Warner Bros. citing his work on other family films such as Home Alone and Mrs Doubtfire as influences for their decision.
Steve Kloves was selected to write the screenplay for the film. He described adapting the book as "tough", as it did not "lend itself to adaptation as well as the next two books." Kloves was sent a "raft" of synopses of books proposed as film adaptations, with Harry Potter being the only one that jumped out at him. He went out and bought the book, and became an instant fan. When speaking to Warner Bros. he stated that the film had to be British, and had to be true to the characters. David Heyman was selected to produce the film. Rowling received a large amount of creative control for the film, being made an executive producer, an arrangement that Columbus did not mind.
Chris Columbus directed the first two films, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Alfonso Cuarón directed the third, and Mike Newell directed the fourth. The fifth, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was directed by David Yates, who will also direct the sixth, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Columbus also worked as producer on the first three films.
In 2000, the virtually unknown British actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were selected from thousands of auditioning children to play the roles of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, respectively. They have played their characters in the first five films, and on 23 March 2007, Warner Bros. confirmed that all three would return for the sixth and seventh.
The first four films were scripted by Steve Kloves with the direct assistance of Rowling, though she allowed Kloves what he described as "tremendous elbow room". Thus the plot and tone of each film and its corresponding book are virtually the same with some changes and omissions for purposes of cinematic style and time constraints. Rowling has asked Kloves to keep being faithful to the books.
The fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released by Warner Bros. on July 11, 2007, in English-speaking countries. Ironically, Order of the Phoenix is the shortest film in the series so far, whereas its book counterpart is the longest book in the series.
The sixth, Half-Blood Prince is scheduled for a worldwide release in November, 2008. Production of Deathly Hallows is confirmed, but no date has been set. If the year-and-half gap between each of the movies is maintained, the movie will probably be released around mid-to-late 2010.