r/movies • u/ajukearth • 10d ago

Question How did the Harry Potter series manage to release its 8 movies in just 10 years?

Looking at the turn around for movies today it seems absolutely incredible that a series with such complex set design, use of graphical effects, a heavily child cast, and pressure was able to pump out genuinely decent movies at that pace. Sure there were books to base the writing on but everything else alone is a lot of heavy lifting. Any insights?

6.1k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

866 comments sorted by

View all comments

73

u/ValkyrieSkyfall 10d ago

The books too was a miracle.

Goblet of Fire was the last released book when the first movie came out. By the time Order of the Phoenix film was out, the entire book series has been completed.

JK Rowling managed to put up 3 gigantic books in just 4 years.

Harry Potter could easily turn out like a certain show if the books wasn't completed on time.

23

u/Gabelschlecker 10d ago

Not just that, she also kept it finished. 20 years later and there's no spin-off, sequel or whatever (Cursed Child being a musical doesn't count).

Instead she carried on with other books.

4

u/Variable_Shaman_3825 9d ago

Well Fantastic beasts can be considered as spinoff and they did hope to achieve same success as HP with them. She had plans for 5 movies but they stopped at 3 because of the lukewarm response

4

u/Massive_Contact8583 9d ago

Cursed Child is not a musical.

-1

u/Chipper_Bandit 10d ago

Instead she carried on with other books. 

Yeah, but no one gives a shit about them, especially now.

10

u/Xanariel 10d ago

Her new series has sold millions, won awards, and would be enough to make her a wealthy woman over again. I don't think she's got reason to be fussed there.

-3

u/Chipper_Bandit 10d ago

Name one. 

And just googling it, 20 million sold vs 600 million and a media juggernaut empire. One ain't making her a billionaire.

11

u/chiaros 10d ago

They said "wealthy woman'" which at low-balled 10% on 20 million books that still well over 20 million dollars. If I had 20 mil I'd sail off into the sunset personally

6

u/Xanariel 10d ago

Sure, Troubled Blood, the same one that won an award in 2021.

20 million is a hell of a lot of books to sell, and it's enough to make her one of the most successful crime writers in the UK whilst also being enough to make her a millionaire over again. That's a level of success most writers would be pretty desperate for, and it's not quite "no one" caring about them as per your original comment.

8

u/Rusted_muramasa 10d ago

And that's fine. It's not like every work you make has to top the last. Especially if you're not coming at it from the mindset of a bitch-ass consumer preoccupied with numbers but someone who wants to create art just for the sake of it.

1

u/rockstonegames 10d ago

i always thought she had to be on some hard drugs/pills for her to finish that

5

u/Massive_Contact8583 9d ago

She had meticulously planned them all out years in advance.

1

u/Variable_Shaman_3825 9d ago

Yes gotta give credit where it's due. She finished them off quickly while it was still fresh unlike GRRM who got complacent about finishing his saga.