FiveThirtyEight: Harry Potter is of the most consequential cultural phenomena in the history of pop culture. It catapulted several 12-year-olds into international stardom.1 It made an indelible mark on the history of the international box office by proving that franchises could be longer than trilogies and still be highly rated international box-office smashes. It launched a franchise — the stock-juicing, legacy-setting, empire-building fuel that keeps a studio relevant these days — for Warner Brothers. It is singlehandedly responsible for people across the Eastern Seaboard saying, “Let’s go to Orlando’s Islands of Adventure.” It paid dozens of British actors’ rents for a decade.
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This got me all fired up to go see Fantastic Beasts. Last week I was talking to someone about it and I said "I know 12 year old Sarah would hate me for this but I kind of don't care". I lied. I care a lot. I forgot how important these movies were not just for me as an individual but to an entire generation of people. I am glad to see that it is moving into this next generation so seamlessly because I know most people from the ages of 25 to 15 right now see Harry Potter as one of the defining cultural phenomenons of their lives. I guess I should be less surprised that the movies employed so many British actors because there are eight movies and so many damn characters. I once read an an article that was just all 300 of the important Harry Potter characters and their relationships to each other (I did not have much of a social life in 7th grade) and it was overwhelming. The Harry Potter franchise has done more than just give children and adults a shot to their imagination and an incredible read, it has kept an industry booming, and broken almost every record there is. I can't imagine we see something else so universally impact full any time soon.
It is mind numbingly incredible just how many big name actors actually worked on the Harry Potter franchise. Even in bit parts. John Hurt as Ollivander? I had no idea. I knew that Harry Potter was lucrative, but I was absolutely naive to the fact that this saga had that kind of monetary pulling power. And to see how the list of highest grossing actors shift when the Harry Potter earning are removed is incredible. This movie series truly changed the face of the business, and is responsible for a kind of elevation that likely will not be seen again by this generation. I am interested to see if this holds true for Fantastic Beasts. I could see this going one of two ways: this movie will either meet with massive success - both as a cultural phenomenon and a monetary triumph - or it will simply fall far below the mark that was set so high by its predecessors, as audiences get fed up with the feeling the Rowling is after their money now, rather than their hearts and minds.
Wow, I was just so engrossed by this article I forgot I'm on a time crunch to finish my comments here.
Anyway, this is amazing. First of all, what an interesting research project. I am impressed with the author's search into British actors and what percentage of people who have been in different numbers of movies show up in the Harry Potter films. 25% of British actors who have been than more than five films ALSO appear in the Harry Potter series. How awesome is that. I also appreciate that the article brought up just how industry-changing Harry Potter has been. I mean truly, what else is there like it? There has never been a series so universally loved, so widespread, and so successful. Seven books, eight movies, a play, two theme parks, an interactive website, and now another movie series on the way. It's truly incredible how far this story reaches, and as a lover of Harry Potter since age 6, I can't say I'm disappointed. I love that the series that captured my heart throughout my whole childhood is still being made relevant over and over again. I got to work at Universal Studios and enter the Wizarding World every single day. It was like living in a dream. I got to read new material in the form of Cursed Child a few months ago. Later today I am going to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Not to mention the fact that I re-read the whole series earlier this semester. I think the wide reach of the Harry Potter series is truly wonderful for everyone who has worked on it, but I also love it for the fact that it doesn't have to just be a part of my childhood, I can carry it with me as long as I'd like.
Harry Potter was such a cultural phenomenon that I should hope it could keep quite a few actor’s rents afloat. If it didn’t then there was definitely something wrong in the writing of the contracts. While it is interesting to see the stark contrasts between what an actor was paid while filming Harry Potter, vs what their gross earnings were without. Harry Potter provided a more lavish lifestyle, and that is something that they will always be grateful for I’m sure. You can definitely earn more money in a franchise rather than an individual film depending on your role. Some people have taken advantage of that situation. Others, maybe not so much. While this shows the earnings of some, it doesn’t show the spending habits, which could mean that some actors might be more down on their luck than others. Poor planning and budgeting of finances would be the result of that.
We all knew harry Potter was special, but I don't know if we all knew exactly how powerful it was. Looking that the chart that the author has so kindly provided, I'm reminded of exactly how large the Harry Potter franchise is. Reading the books growing up, I had no clue that the scrappy black-haired protagonist whose exploits I loved to follow would be responsible for a wildly successful theme park in Orlando, a stand-alone dramatic interpretation, or a spin-off movie, let alone the literally thousands of items of licensed (and unlicensed) merch, sold everywhere from gift shops to exclusive fan pages. The fact that the Harry Potter franchise is so powerful, and has such clout over the earning potential of its actors is something almost a little scary. Also notable is the fact that "a full 25 percent of actors who have appeared in 5 or more British films have been in Harry Potter films." I don't know If that was an intentional move on the part of the casting director, but numbers like that are certainly something to write an article on.
Now, an article I'd be equally interested, if not more interested to see would be this exact same thing, but with CMU alum and Quentin Tarantino movies, or something of the like.
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