After a painfully long two year wait, the world’s most famous boy wizard returned to Leicester Square for the world premiere of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Witches, wizards and Rupert Grint obsessed fangirls swarmed together in their thousands to celebrate the long delayed release of the sixth movie. Fans started camping out over 30 hours before the premiere to secure a front row spot to meet their beloved heroes and villains. It was hard to spot a muggle anywhere in the square. Unfortunately dark magic worthy of he who shall not be named was most certainly at work on the weather. Mere moments before the cast arrived so did torrential rain and hailstones as big as a golden snitch. An hour of the most appalling weather imaginable proved too much for a small number of distraught fans, who gave up after days of waiting. It’s hard to blame them for being unprepared for such adversity in the middle of July. Those that remained kept their spirits up by singing Monty Python’s whimsical ballad ‘Always look on the bright side of life’. It’s a compelling testament to the devotion of fans that most toughed it out and were still waiting eagerly when the damp stars finally emerged.
The determination of fans was ultimately rewarded, as all of the film’s stars made special efforts to acknowledge their support. A half-drowned Daniel Radcliffe was predictably the main attraction. He’s the boy who lived and the boy everyone wants to meet. However his co-stars Emma Watson, Tom Felton, Evanna Lynch and Alan Rickman were greeted with equal adoration as they signed autographs and posed for pictures with the rain drenched crowds. Those fans were clearly also especially delighted to see that Rupert Grint had made a full recovery from his recent case of swine flu. In spite of the weather, he wore his usual cheeky grin. Some fans even got the rare chance to meet the actual author of their obsession, J.K. Rowling herself.
The films astonishing box office success is unsurprising given that ‘Pottermania‘ shows no sign of diminishing. After the fourth biggest opening day box office of all time, the film took a solid $78 million in its opening weekend in America. The film has brought in over $ 437 million worldwide to date. That’s an awful lot of muggle money for the goblins in the Warner Bros accounts department to play with. It’s also a figure set to rise as the film lingers in cinemas for many weeks to come. It’s hard to imagine what levels of hysteria and riches will greet the release of the final two films. We can only hope that it will at least stay dry...For those who couldn’t make it or who want to relive the experience, enjoy the gallery of pictures and some video links below...
Daniel Radcliffe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeFOQCK8VAc&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeFOQCK8VAc&feature=channel
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