The End of Harry Potter - But Pottermania Is Still Alive
With the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part II the adventures of the boy wizard and his friends come to an end. Since 1997 seven books and eight movies have captured the attention of millions of youngsters and adults around the world.
The story may have come to an end but Harry Potter and friends are still with us. Joanne Rowling, the author of the books, is shifting to the Internet. Pottermore is a new website in which Rowling wants to publish new material and give fans insights into the lives of the characters. Potter fans hope that Rowling might continue writing and come up with a character that is as likeable as the boy wizard .
The fastest selling book series of the past has broken all records. More than 400 million copies of Harry Potter have been sold in 67 languages around the world. When Rowling finished her first manuscript she hardly found a publisher who was interested. Since then she has earned about $1.5 billion . From 2001, when the first film was released , until the present, movie goers have paid a total of $6 billion at the box office .
The success of Harry Potter is a mixture of many elements. The boy wizard and his friends live in both a real and magical world. Rowling combines the real life of England with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. More than once they meet evil characters and find ways to defeat them. For many youngsters Harry Potter is a boy they grew up with and a character they identified with.
In a world full of multimedia and the Internet getting youngsters to read is no small task . But Rowling has achieved nothing less. She hopes that young people who grew up reading Harry Potter will pass the books on to the next generation.
For the main actors of the Potter films - Daniel Radcliff, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint – stardom has come faster than normal. Their feelings are mixed. Daniel Radcliff is relieved that the series is over, whereas Emma Watson describes her feelings as bittersweet .
Not everyone sees Harry Potter in a positive light. Some critics say that the later books and films have become increasingly darker and more evil .
Nevertheless , even though the Harry Potter story has come to a close, Pottermania lives on. Magic wands , Potter clothes and other Hogwarts items are sold at a value of millions of dollars every year. In Orlando, Florida a new wizardry theme park opened in 2010.
From: http://www.english-online.at/news-articles/entertainment/end-of-harry-potter.htm
