Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) the company the rights to the first four "Harry Potter" books for a reported £1 million (US$1,982,900). A demand Rowling made was that the principal cast be kept strictly British, nonetheless allowing for the inclusion of Irish actors such as Richard Harris as Dumbledore, and for casting of French and Eastern European actors in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" where characters from the book are specified as such. Rowling was hesitant to sell the rights because she "didn't want to give them control over the rest of the story" by selling the rights to the characters, which would
Harry Potter (film series) the film achieved a win for Best Special Visual Effects. , the "Harry Potter" film series is the 3rd highest-grossing film franchise of all time, with the eight films released grossing over $7.7 billion worldwide. Without adjusting for inflation, this is higher than the first 22 "James Bond" films and the six films in the "Star Wars" franchise. Chris Columbus's "Philosopher's Stone" became the highest-grossing "Harry Potter" film worldwide upon completing its theatrical run in 2002, but it was eventually topped by David Yates's "Deathly Hallows – Part 2", while Alfonso Cuarón's "Prisoner of Azkaban" grossed the least. Six films