Potter fans camp out for premiere
The fifth Potter film is described as the darkest yet
Wednesday, 04, Jul 2007 07:41
The fifth Harry Potter film had its London premiere last night, with the young wizard's magic drawing hundreds of fans to Leicester Square.
Dozens of Potter followers camped out to catch a glimpse of the film's key performers, including main star Daniel Radcliffe.
Speaking to journalists the 17-year-old actor said that the attention he was receiving from eager female fans was "rather wonderful".
Radcliffe was joined by fellow Potter stars Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) for the premiere of their latest film at the Odeon cinema.
J K Rowling, author of the Potter novels on which the movie franchise is based, was also in attendance as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix made its debut.
Leicester Square was decked out in green and gold for the occasion so as to resemble the film's Ministry of Magic, where much of the action in the latest Potter tale takes place.
The movie, dubbed by critics as the darkest Potter film to date, opens at UK cinemas on July 12th.
Its release will be swiftly followed by the publication of the final Potter book, which is due out on July 21st.
With fans eagerly waiting to discover what becomes of the boy wizard, pre-order sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows have already reached 1.6 million according to online retailer Amazon.com.
Last night Rowling revealed that even her own family were unaware how the magical saga ended.
"I'll want to know what the people in my house think of it," said the author, who revealed that finishing the seventh Potter book had been "very, very emotional".