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With only slight exaggera- tion, a Warner Brothers executive summed it up : “Every child in the land is waiting. The expecta- tion is enormous.”
Harry Potter cometh. To the world premiere in London on November 4, and on November 16 to a cinema near you - wherever you live.
For the UK film industry, not currently steeped in happy times, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone is going to be one of those landmark occasions.
For producer David Heyman it has been a roller-coaster ride since that for- tunate day in 1997 when he came across an article on children’s writer JK Rowling: “My assistant Nisha Parti went out to buy the book. I read it from cover to cover and fell in love with it from the first paragraph. It had great humour, did-
n’t talk down to its readers. It was moving and magical.”
At that stage, Heyman, son of veteran producers John Heyman and Norma Heyman, had in mind a relatively small budget, quirky British film.
Four years down the road, with Warner Brothers at least £100 mil-
lion in, Heyman is about to launch a film dynasty with shooting about to begin on Potter 2. Warner Brothers have options on the first four Potter books. The fifth is due to be published next year and JK Rowling has plans for seven.
“I don’t think any of us imagined five years ago that a bespectacled schoolboy whose parents are dead and who lives in a cupboard under the stairs would turn out to be the phe- nomenon he’s become. Over 110 mil- lion Potter books have been sold world wide in 200 countries and 47 lan- guages,” smiles Heyman.
It took JK Rowling a long time to be persuaded to agree to a film. “The vital thing was that it would be true to the book. I have great faith in Warner’s commitment. I don’t want the plot to
change very much at all. The crucial thing is that the characters won’t be led off in inappro- priate directions “ she says.
Heyman and director Chris
Columbus have made sure of that. Heyman recalls: “Joanne has been wonderfully sup- portive throughout. We talked practical- ly every day during the early filming.”
In an interview with Vanity Fair,
Columbus (Mrs
Doubtfire, Home Alone) says, “it is cer- tainly the best thing I’ve ever done. I was passionate about the material and I think the reason Warner Brothers decid- ed to go with me was because I was willing to remain faithful to the books.”
Production designer Stuart Craig (Oscars for Gandhi, Dangerous Liaisons, The English Patient) has also worked hand-in-glove with Rowling. “She was very, very precise.
She had really, really, really worked it out. “
Now the rush is on with Columbus and his mainly British craft and screen talent re-assembled to capture on film their 12 year old star Daniel Radcliffe before his voice breaks.
“Harry Potter Chiefs Race To Beat Nature” trumpeted the Daily Mail adding, “a booming voice, teenage acne and stubble would not fit the image.”
Indeed not. Even wizards grow up and this one is already well estab- lished at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - and well on his way to becoming an international Quidditch star.
Soitisbackto
Leavesden Studios,
Hertfordshire and
the cathedrals of
Gloucester and
Durham for a cast
and crew that reads
like an honours list:
Richard Harris,
Dame Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, John Cleese, Alan Rickman, Julie Walters,
Richard Griffiths, Ian Hart, Fiona Shaw, Zoe Wanamaker, writer Steve Kloves (The Fabulous Baker Boys, Wonder Boys) director of photography John Seale (The English Patient, The Perfect Storm) casting director Susie Figgis, costume designer Judianna Makovsky, editor Richard
Francis-Bruce.
Heyman lavishes praise on his
team: “I have never known a crew of individuals of this calibre show such a level of enthusiasm and passion. Real passion. I walked onto the set with a huge smile on my face every day. The buzz of excitement for this production
has been infectious. “
And as the Warner Brothers public-
ity machine ratchets up the hype, the drip feed strategy has paid dividends. With military precision over the past 12 months, they have guarded the product jealously. A snippet of info here, a web- site trailer there. Exclusives with every- one from The National Trust magazine to Vanity Fair.
Even Steven Spielberg - who turned down
the movie say- ing “for me it would have been just like shooting ducks in a barrel; just like withdraw- ing a billion dollars and
putting it into your personal bank account. There’s no challenge in that” - predicts that Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone (Sorcerer’s Stone in the US) will be an enormous hit - whether the critics like it or not.
For David Heyman, one suspects, the only critics who really matter are JKR and that powerful expectant army... every child in the land. ■
WILDABOUTHARRY
WILDABOUTHARRY
The world is set to go Potter mad all over again with the arrival of JK Rowling’s creation on the big screen. John Morrell reports
Arts And Crafts
23
Photos: Daniel Radcliffe stars in Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone; above top right: Director Chris Columbus with Producer David Heyman