Can you believe it’s been 20 years since the Boy Who Lived arrived Stateside? 20 years since our bespectacled hero left Privet Drive for the wondrous world of Hogwarts?
It’s incredible, really, as the Harry Potter franchise has gone on to become a bona fide juggernaut across all platforms – be it movies, music or even video games. By 2018, the magical series is already two films deep into the Fantastic Beasts prequel saga, with The Crimes of Grindelwald expected to pick up where things left off this November.
And while the future of Potter appears incredibly bright, franchise mastermind J.K. Rowling took a moment to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone being published in North America, and raised a glass to her fellow Potterheads located in the US of A.
Via Twitter:
Harry Potter was first published in the US 20 years ago today, so
I’m sending lots of love to American Potterheads, who’ve given me some of the most memorable moments of my Potter-related life!@Scholastic #HarryPotter20 ?? ⚡️❤️— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 5, 2018
As any Potter fan will tell you, the original title of the book was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which debuted for those in the United Kingdom on June 26th, 1997. It wasn’t until the following year that the Boy Who Lived traveled across the pond, and the rest is history.
Meanwhile, J.K. Rowling continues to be a creative driving force within Warner’s wizarding world, considering she penned the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Much like its predecessor, it’ll be rooted in the 1920s, with young Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) expected to journey to the Paris in an attempt to bring the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald to justice. To make matters worse, Johnny Depp’s crazed lunatic has a complicated history with one Albus Dumbledore…
Look for The Crimes of Grindelwald to zap into theaters on November 16th, when we’ll see what fall’s most-anticipated movie has to offer.
