The Magical Start of a Franchise: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

On November 16, 2001, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (also called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) was released in theaters. Based on the book of the same name, the movie broke box-office records and won over critics and audiences. It made around $974 million in its original box-office run and, through rereleases, made over $1 billion in total. It was the highest-grossing movie of 2001 and, at one point, the second-highest-grossing movie worldwide, only behind Titanic. The success sparked the Harry Potter movie series, now called the Wizarding World series, which has been one of the biggest and most successful franchises. What did it take to make Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and how did it turn out?

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in 1997, and like many books, it was bound to get adapted into a movie at some point. That same year, producer David Heyman was looking for a children’s novel he could adapt into a movie. One of his assistants recommended Harry Potter. Once he read Philosopher’s Stone, he was sold on the idea. After the novel’s sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was published, Heyman pitched to Warner Bros. to make movies based on the Harry Potter series. Author of the books, J.K. Rowling was hesitant at first, but sold the film rights to the first four novels on the condition that the cast was strictly British and Irish, with exceptions for characters like in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, where characters from other countries were introduced.

There were a lot of candidates for director, including Steven Spielberg, M. Night Shyamalan, Rob Reiner, and Terry Gilliam. Gilliam was Rowling’s first choice, but she didn’t have final say in who was directing. Warner Bros. picked Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire director Chris Columbus due to his experience in working on family movies. Columbus was already a fan of the Harry Potter novels through his daughter. Columbus had written 130-pages worth of screenplay in the weeks leading up to his interview for the job. Columbus presented the screenplay and gave a long speech on how he envisioned a Harry Potter movie. Warner Bros. was won over, and soon Steve Kloves was brought in to write the final screenplay. Rowling had creative control, but Columbus and Kloves didn’t mind. When Columbus got the job, he flew to Scotland to meet with Rowling, and the two of them agreed on the vision of the movie.

Casting the Harry Potter characters was a tough process. As mentioned before, the cast had to be all British and Irish. Columbus and the original casting director, Susie Figgs, didn’t see eye-to-eye, and by July 2000, she left due to her frustration. She claimed many children auditioned, but Columbus didn’t think they were good enough. Before any of the kids were cast, the adult cast was announced. The first two were Alan Rickman as Professor Snape and Richard Harris as Professor Dumbledore. Harris was hesitant to take on the role of Dumbledore due to his health and the multi-film deal, but according to him accepted the role due to his granddaughter threatening to never speak to him again if he didn’t play Dumbledore. Before Rickman was cast as Snape, Tim Roth was the original choice, but he declined to accept a role in Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes.

Not long afterward, Maggie Smith and Robbie Coltrane were announced as Professor McGonagall and Hagrid. Finally, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson were announced to play Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Many kids at the time, including Nicholas Hoult, Liam Aiken, and William Moseley, tried out for Harry. Tom Felton tried out for both Harry and Ron before getting the role of Draco Malfoy. Other cast members who joined included John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick, Julie Walters as Molly Weasley, John Hurt as Olivander, Ian Hart as Professor Quirrell, Warwick Davis as Professor Flitwick, Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom, James and Oliver Phelps as Fred and George Weasley, Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley, and Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley. David Thewlis, who would later play Professor Lupin, auditioned for Quirrell. John Williams was picked to compose the movie’s score. His most notable piece that was used throughout the series and considered the main theme of the series was “Hedwig’s Theme”.

Filming for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone took place from September 2000 to March 2001. Filming was happening in historic sites in the UK, including Alnwick Castle, Leadenhall Market, and Gloucester Cathedral, for Hogwarts scenes and Diagon Alley. The scene where Harry talks to the snake at the zoo was filmed in London Zoo’s Reptile House. The scene where Harry and the Weasleys get to Platform 9 3/4 was filmed at King’s Cross Station. The Gringotts Bank scenes were filmed at Australia House.

There was a lot of pressure to make this movie work. Chris Columbus had said he knew if things like the cast and vision of the movie failed, the franchise would be dead. He had to set the groundwork for this series and sell to audiences that Harry Potter could be a great movie franchise. Even though all the books weren’t written yet (at the time Philosopher’s Stone was in production, the last book to be published was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), JK Rowling had a seven book vision, which meant at least seven movies would likely be made. He wasn’t afraid to push for a higher budget to make the movie look as great as it could. The overall budget was $125 million.

Chris Columbus also had to help the child actors, especially since many of them had never acted in a movie before. He had run a few different cameras, not knowing what kind of performance he was going to get from the kids, and would use the cameras to get the best takes from them. He helped shape their acting performances and was patient with them. The kids were grateful for the fun environment he pushed, even if it was more work for him to do. This is important, especially with the kid actors, because if he did the opposite and pushed a toxic environment, it’s possible it would have ruined the experience for these kids. He was so determined to make everything about Philosopher's Stone work that he spent hours with JK Rowling to put together the Quidditch scene alone. The film crew was glad Columbus was the one directing it, as they learned a lot from him.

When it comes to the quality of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, it's an overall great movie and a great start to the series. Columbus sets the tone up perfectly where the audience is introduced to the Wizarding World through Harry. The actors Columbus picked were perfect for these roles. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson feel like a Golden Trio even at a young age. They may not be perfect in every scene, but they play these characters so well and have great chemistry.

Alan Rickman, right away as Professor Snape, controls every scene he’s in. Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid provides the warmth and care of the first person to show kindness to Harry and be his first friend. Richard Harris as Dumbledore perfects the calm, wise, and powerful headmaster, and his scenes explaining to Harry about the Mirror of Erised and why Voldemort couldn’t touch Harry are some of the best line delivery in the movie. Maggie Smith portrays Professor McGonagall perfectly in capturing her firm, strict, but fair personality as a professor and head of Gryffindor House.

The whole set looks terrific. Each setting, whether it’s Diagon Alley, Hogwarts, or the Forbidden Forest, looks accurate. The Forbidden Forest truly feels like a scary forest that students should stay far away from. Hogwarts, from the classrooms to the Gryffindor Common Room, feels like what we would imagine an actual wizarding school would be like if it existed. The visuals, while a few of them look a bit outdated, still look great all these years later. The combined use of visuals with animatronics and practical effects is on full display. John Williams put together an excellent music score that is still one of the best in not just the series, but in cinema.

The movie captures the book’s most iconic moments well. The snake scene at the zoo, while a little different from the book, was overall done well. The scene where Harry and Ron save Hermione from the troll is one of the first action scenes, and it’s done well. The Quidditch scene is both fun and suspenseful, like in the book. The emotional moments, like Harry seeing his parents for the first time in the Mirror of Erised, combined with John Williams’s score during the scene, are among the most beautiful moments in the entire series. The challenges the trio face in getting to the stone are pulled off well, particularly the big Wizard’s Chess. For a family movie, it still pulls off creepy and scary moments like the Forbidden Forest, Fluffy the giant three-headed dog, and Voldemort being revealed to be behind Quirrell’s head.

Not everything is perfect with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Some lines said by the kid actors aren’t pulled off well. It’s not their fault, as they were still learning during the making of this movie, and Columbus still got a lot out of them. A few visual effects didn’t age well. While some of the book-to-movie changes worked, a few didn’t. For example, the scene involving the Devil’s Snare is one of the start changes where writer Steve Kloves made a change where something Ron said or did is changed to make Hermione better. In the book, Ron reminded Hermione she is a witch when she’s panicking where the movie has him panicking and looking helpless. It began a trend in the Harry Potter movie series where Hermione shines over Ron in moments when Ron is supposed to shine or look better. This isn’t all on Chris Columbus and his direction, but more so Kloves, who has admitted Hermione is his favorite character.

Overall, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone pulled off starting the Harry Potter series on a high note. It has a great cast, great plot, great set pieces, fun and thrilling moments, and a great message of friendship. Chris Columbus made one of the more book-accurate Harry Potter movies and showed he understood Harry Potter well. For twenty-five years, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has remained a classic, and its success and greatness led to a decade of success for the Harry Potter movies. Even movie goers who didn’t read the books enjoyed this movie, and it even helped them get into the books.

My final grade for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is an A. The upcoming show for HBO

Max has big shoes to fill.

What are your thoughts on Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone? Let us know in the comments below.