History

“Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, Teach us something please, Whether we be old and bald, Or young with scabby knees...”

Seventeen years ago this month, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone hit the screen. Nominated for three Oscars, the film grossed $974.8 million at the box office, becoming the first in a series of blockbusters based on the worldwide bestselling books by J.K. Rowling.

THE PLOT: On his 11th birthday, a boy called Harry Potter learns that he is the orphaned son of two powerful wizards and possesses unique magical powers of his own. He is summoned from his life as an unwanted child to become a student at Hogwarts, an English boarding school for wizards. There, he makes several friends who help him discover the truth about his parents’ mysterious deaths.

A MAGICAL WORLD: Young Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint shot to superstardom as the golden trio, instilling hope in the hearts of muggle children everywhere waiting for their acceptance letters to Hogwarts.

THE NAME: Philosopher’s Stone was changed to the Sorcerer’s Stone for US audiences, out of fear that children might find the word “philosopher” boring. Every scene in which the words Philosopher’s Stone had to be re-shot with the cast saying Sorcerer’s Stone instead.