The First Harry Potter Film Turns 25, and It Went Back to Cinemas
The Twenty Fifth Is the Film, Not the Book
The first novel came out in the UK on 26 June 1997, which makes this year its twenty ninth. The twenty fifth everyone is talking about is the film, which opened on 16 November 2001. Korea got it that December, on the fourteenth. So there are two anniversary dates on the calendar this year.
If twenty five years does not land, try this. The kid who saw it in a cinema back then is in their mid thirties now. For a lot of people reading this, the film came out before they were born. The strange part is that the series still picks up new people every single year.
It Went Back Into Cinemas at the End of August
Warner put the first film back in cinemas worldwide from 27 August to 3 September, with showtimes varying by country. A plain re release of an old film would not have made this much noise. This one came with ten minutes of behind the scenes footage that had never played in a theatre before.
There is a reason re releases work so well for this series specifically. Almost everyone has streamed it at home a dozen times, but an entire generation has never seen it on a cinema screen. They are not watching it for the first time, they are watching it in a cinema for the first time, and that is a reason to pay for a ticket.
Why 1 September Became a Fan Holiday
It is not a coincidence that 1 September sits right inside the re release window. In the story that is the day students leave for school, so fans have treated it like a first day of term for years. It is also the day people crowd into King's Cross station in London.
A date from inside the story becoming a real world holiday is rarer than it sounds. Normally the anniversary is a release date, which is a day the makers picked. 1 September is closer to a day the readers picked. That is why it comes back every year, including the years with no official round number attached.
What Is Left This Year, and Next Year
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London ran a twenty fifth anniversary feature from 7 May to 7 September. After that comes a dark arts season from 16 September to 8 November, then a winter one from 14 November through 17 January next year. Even if you are never going to London, it is worth knowing this series still runs as a year round operation.
And the HBO series lands in 2027. The plan is one book per season, so the thing to watch is how much of what the films cut comes back. If the twenty fifth anniversary is the year that closes out the past quarter century, next year starts the same story with a completely different face.
If you just want the mood, there is a wizard house sorting test on DoYouBox. The six houses are ones we invented, with no connection to that school, for copyright reasons. You could also pull your symbol animal first with the inner animal test, or build a magical creature yourself in pixel monster.