Pottering on

THE message on the poster is stark. IT ALL ENDS 7.15. The clue to the meaning lies in the other code on the poster for a movie that, for once, can live up to the claim of being the most anticipated film of the year – HP7 P2.

This cryptic message has nothing to do with sauce or the end of the world occuring shortly after seven o’clock, but something fans of a certain young wizard would consider much more serious – the day the final episode in the biggest film franchise of them all opens in cinemas worldwide.

Harry Potter, boy wizard, is now a man. Of course, some will see the words It All Ends and think to themselves “Not before time”. Some have resisted JK Rowling’s brilliantly marketed tale which, as the past ten years have rolled by, has seen the books and the films inextricably entwined. They’ve fed off each other. The makers didn’t even know the end of the story when they embarked on the first one, as only three had been published.

There hasn’t really been any trouble with Harry. Publishing has benefited with the Potter books credited with persuading youngsters to read more in these high-tech times, while the movie industry has seen the Potter franchise become bigger than Bond and Star Wars.

As the films were made in Britain – something Harry’s creator JK Rowling stipulated when selling the screen rights – and it’s done our film industry a power of good and secured another studio for this country. The former Rolls-Royce factory at Leavesden, near Watford, in Hertfordshire, became home for the Potter pictures and will continue to be used for movie-making.

Rowling was a single parent living on benefits with her daughter in Edinburgh when she wrote the first Harry Potter book. Now she’s married with two more children and, with more than 450 million copies of her books sold worldwide, has become the first author to earn $1bn from writing.

The young stars of the Potter films – Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint – were at primary school when first cast and have spent their childhood making the films, becoming very rich in the process. An under- 30 rich list suggested Radcliffe leads the pack with £45.7m, followed by Watson’s £20.6m and Grint’s £19m (although he has splashed out on a series of unlikely vehicles – an ice cream van and a hovercraft among them).

Those of us writing about films have seen the trio grow up from excitable (Radcliffe), poised (Watson) and laid-back (Grint) youngsters into responsible young adults. It says much for the Harry Potter machine that they’ve not followed in the footsteps of many child stars by going off the rails amid a life of sex, drink and drugs. Or if they have, they’ve been very good at hiding it, although Radcliffe has recently owned up to drinking a bit too much when he was 18.

My first encounter with them was nearly ten years ago, when the first film, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, was released.

After seeing the film and spending a night in a posh London hotel, film writers from around the world boarded coaches for a mystery trip “somewhere outside London”. We ended up at Knebworth House for a press conference with the stars and the gift of a Harry Potter leather satchel (a sturdy bag that now carries the laptop on which I’m writing this).

Radcliffe, then 12, displayed the exuberant energy in interview that he’s never lost. “It makes me feel very privileged to be playing him. It’s exciting because he has such an interesting life. Cool,” he said.

He played down the “pocket money” he was receiving to play Harry with the comment: “Getting the role was reward enough.”

Watson declared she auditioned “for a bit of fun” when casting scouts visited her school near her home in Oxford. As a fan of the books, Grint – then also 12 – told of submitting an audition tape of himself doing a rap about wanting to be Ron Weasley.

Over the years they’ve been joined on screen by a who’s who of British talent, including Maggie Smith, Julie Waters, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane and Michael Gambon (who took over as Dumbledore after Richard Harris’ death).

There have been further meetings with the star trio as each new film was released and, despite looking different, haven’t changed in their childish enthusiasm for making the films.

No wonder they all cried buckets on the last day of filming the final episode, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2.

Or perhaps it was the thought of leaving the protective invisible coat of the successful franchise and making their own way in the world of acting. Not that they need to work, they could presumably retire and growing old disgracefully on their earnings.

But all three have already ventured outside the world of Potter. Grint has made several non-Ron films, while Watson has modelled, studied in the US and has a couple of films awaiting release.

RADCLIFFE has done most to show he’s more than a one-wand actor. In between studying at Hogwarts, he’s stripped off in Equus on the London and Broadway stage, and starred in the TV film My Boy Jack and in the forthcoming film of The Woman In Black.

He’s currently appearing on Broadway in the musical How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, causing him to miss the final Potter film’s press conference yesterday. Instead, he was shown in a filmed Q&A session before the main conference.

But Warner Bros has “bought him out” of the show so he can walk the record-breaking red carpet – stretching from Trafalgar Square to the cinema in Leicester Square – at the world premiere tonight.

But will that be his final outing as Harry Potter?

Rowling is moving into e-publishing via the website Pottermore, which opens in October.

But the possibilities for spin-offs, sequels, prequels and video games are endless in all media. It’s inconceivable that at some point – not now perhaps but five, ten, 15 years down the line – Harry Potter doesn’t return to cast another magic spell over audiences.

• Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (12A) opens in cinemas on July 15 and will be reviewed in The Northern Echo tomorrow.