Magic was in the air Thursday night as hundreds of fans gathered at the Cobb Hollywood 16 Cinema in Tuscaloosa for the midnight premiere of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.”
Potter watchers showed up hours early for the film’s release and snaked all the way around the back of the theater, which was completely sold out for the event.
With midnight premieres becoming increasingly popular for movies with a large fan base such as Harry Potter, the chance to come together with friends and fellow fanatics only added to the allure of the late-night showing.
“This is the first midnight premiere I’ve ever been to,” said Courtney Stinson, a freshman majoring in English. Stinson is an avid Potter fan, and even went all-out for her debut midnight event, dressed as a Golden Snitch with a gold cape and glittering makeup.
In fact, the building seemed like a cornucopia of Potter characters and Hogwarts students decked out in robes, scarves and ties. Some notable characters to show up included Albus Dumbledore, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rubeus Hagrid, Draco Malfoy and, of course, Harry Potter himself. There was even talk of a Rita Skeeter snooping around with her Quick-Quotes Quill doing interviews.
The movie broke the record for highest-grossing opening day for the franchise by earning $61.2 million on Friday, topping last year’s “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” by about $3 million. This makes it the fifth-highest opening day ever. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” comes in at No. 1 with $72.7 million.
It seems that the Potter series’ passionate fans has not been disappointed by the latest installment, which has earned 8.4 out of 10 stars online at the Internet Movie Database, imdb.com.
“I already knew what was going to happen,” said Stinson, who read all the Potter books growing up, “but just seeing it makes it so much more exciting.”
Stinson attended the premiere with friends, some of whom were dressed as Death Eaters, including the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange.
Dusty Hawkin, a freshman majoring in history, said he also enjoyed seeing the book brought to life on the big screen.
“I think my favorite part was seeing Draco Malfoy being such a pansy,” he said. “It kind of sucks [that] we have to wait to see the rest.”
The final installment in the Harry Potter series, “Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” will apparate into theaters in July 2011 and conclude J.K. Rowling’s story of The Boy Who Lived.
“It will be interesting to see what’s next and how they wrap everything up,” Stinson said.
Of course, Harry Potter’s worldwide appeal reaches more than just college students. Plenty of high school students, adults and a few children attended the midnight premiere as well.
Anna Stepchuck, a student at County High School, dyed her hair purple and attended the premiere as Nymphadora Tonks, a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Stepchuck said she thought the book-to-film translation was very well done.
The film stays mostly true to the book, which in the case of “Deathly Hallows” means some more adult themes than earlier Harry Potter adaptations. The film is rated PG-13 for some violence, language and brief sensuality.
“The only problem I had with it was all the violence,” Stepchuck said. “I’m bad with blood, and I thought it was a little gory.”
Many Potter fans at the premiere have said they will be seeing the film multiple times before it leaves the big screen, and will be anxiously awaiting the series’ final chapter next summer.
