J K Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, in her biography writes: "…when I was travelling back to London on my own on a crowded train, the idea for Harry Potter simply fell into my head. I had been writing almost continuously since the age of six but I had never been so excited about an idea before." "I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, and all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard became more and more real to me."
And that very evening she started writing Philosopher's Stone. This is how Harry Potter was born. The title of Rowling's sixth book is Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
In 2002, total earnings of Harry Potter stood at $2.9 billion.
In the latest movie: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry is a 17 year old teenager. It is Harry's third year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and he learns that a convicted murderer, Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban prison, and could be coming after him next.
As the top movies ever in the world, Harry Potter: Sorcerer's Stone grossed $976 million and Chamber of Secrets netted $869 million.
In the US alone Prisoner of Azkaban has till July, 2004 earned about $203 million.
Among all-time the top opening days (3-day weekend) in the US, Prisoner of Azkaban stands at 3rd position, after Spider-man and Shrek-2, at $93.387 million.
A Chinese woman passes by a Harry Potter movie billboard
Photograph: Kevin Lee/Getty Images
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