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Record-breaking crowds at fifth Harry Potter movie: Fans eager for final book release
Among the crowd of teenage muggles --non magic folks -- who gathered outside Brambleton Theater Tuesday night, were eight little witches dressed in pajamas and Hogwarts scarves.
They were just a handful of the thousands who went to the movie's opening night, making "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" the highest grossing film to open midweek.
In between giggles and casting spells on one another, they analyzed the latest piece of a story made into movie that has grown up with them.
“The end was the best,” said birthday girl Shayna Hume, 11, who brought seven of her friends from her sleepover party to the new Fox Cinema's Brambleton Theater to see the opening-night screening of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” The fifth movie version of what is now a seven book series opened as midnight as July 10 became July 11.
The Time Warner film has already outdone expectation, grossing more than $77.4 million in the United States during the first three days in theaters. The cinema company estimates the movie, which cost $150 million to make, will bring in $900 million. That’s about $8 million more than its predecessor, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” The first Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," grossed more than $976 million.
More than 500 –most of who were teenagers-- crowded Brambleton Theater to see the fifth Potter flick on opening night.
The preteen party stood out because of their age and parental escort.
“They’re only 11 once,” said Shayna’s dad, Don Hume, who had to be up early to teach summer school Wednesday morning.
As part of the festivities the eight girls were divided into the four houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, two girls in each house. Each girl wore a scarf –- maroon, navy, gold or forest green -- to signify the house to which she belonged.
The girls played quidditch and fought each other with marshmallows in defense against the dark arts style.
The preteen party was ages 10 to 12. Many of them couldn’t read when the first Potter books came out in 1997. Now Harry is in his seventh year at Hogwarts and the oldest of these girls is entering seventh grade.
Waiting outside the theater, they debated which of the Potter books became the best movie, which was the best book, whom should Harry date. But all of them agreed, this was the best movie.
It will have to be the best to beat out Time Warner's predicted sales for the film. The cinema company estimates the movie, which cost $150 million to make, will bring in $900 million. That’s about $8 million more than its predecessor, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” The first Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," which grossed more than $976 million.
This installment of the Potter saga was the longest, weighing in at a door-stopping 900 pages, but was made into the shortest movie. In the "Order of the Phoenix," Harry faces new villains and the trials and tribulations of normal teenagers with the added pressure of facing the most evil wizard of them all, Lord Voldemort.
Among the new characters is the first female villain of the series, Professor Deloris Umbridge, whose condescending smile is as bad as her bite. As Hogwarts High Inquisitor, Umbridge provides comic relief for a movie that is darker and “scary” -– according to the girls --than its predecessors.
Teenagers Allison Butka, of Ashburn, and Ryan McGuire, of Leesburg, sat a few rows in front of the Hogwarts girls. The 19-year-olds stood out in the sea of high schoolers hanging out at the theater in short shorts, T-shirts or baggy jeans. The girls were two of the few who dressed up for this Potter movie.
“I’m surprised that no one else dressed up,” said Butka.
Harry Potter movies have drawn droves of fans of all types, dressed in hats, cloaks and with wand in hand to the theaters, but not so much here at Brambleton Theater.
“I thought I’d be one of multitudes, so we wouldn’t stand out,” said McGuire.
The theater devoted three screens to the opening night of "Order of the Phoenix," but opened an additional theater to accommodate the crowd.
Butka said she and her friend weren’t Potter “freaks.” They just thought they’d come in costume to see the “Order of the Phoenix” rather than seeing “Transformers” in street cloths.
Both Butka and McGuire said they thought this was the best of the movies.
“He got hunky and talented,” said Butka of actor Daniel Radcliff, who has been criticized for poor acting in his role as Harry Potter.
“Oh my God, I went crazy when the kiss scene happened,” said McGuire. In this movie Harry gets his first kiss and love interest from Cho Chang of Hufflepuff house.
As far as favorite scenes go, most of the birthday party girls thought the ending fight scene among the Voldemort's Death Eaters and Hogwart's Headmaster Albus Dumbledore’s Order of the Phoenix was the best.
Some disagreed.
“I liked when they were taking the [Ordinary Wizarding Levels or O.W.L.s] test and the fireworks went off,” said Shayna. This was one of her best birthdays ever, she said.
Even though the girls had only just seen the fifth of the Potter series on screen; they were all predicting the fate of the hero in the last and seventh book of the series.
“He’s gonna die,” said Shayna, in her green Slytherin scarf.
“He’s not gonna die,” retorted friend Rachael Helman, tugging on her gold Hufflepuff scarf.
The last book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” is on sale at midnight July 20.
Contact the reporter at hhobbs@timespapers.com
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