He is the most famous young wizard in the world: a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt and small round glasses are enough to recognize the silhouette of Harry Potter. The fantastic universe invented by JK Rowling may have been on bookstore shelves since 1997 and invaded cinemas in 2001, but it seems to continue to fascinate the crowds. Latest example: in June 2022, a copy of the first edition ofHarry Potter at the Sorcerer’s Stone was put up for auction by Christie’s, with a starting price of $250,000… A modest sum compared to the turnover of the saga at the cinema, whose films generated more than $9 billion in box-office receipts. global office.
In France, on the side of books, more than 28 million copies have been sold, and certain volumes are still regularly placed among the ten best-selling titles in the youth departments. It is enough to attend an event around the universe of the young wizard or to take a tour of the Harry Potter Studios in London to see that among the fans, there are young, even very young: wizarding capes in the colors of their favorite house and magic wands, ten-year-old schoolchildren rub shoulders with thirty-somethings. The passion for Hogwarts and its customs is on display everywhere, from the clothing collections to the specialty shops that are springing up like mushrooms. But how to explain the longevity and resounding success of Harry Potter, more than twenty years after its release?
A franchise driven by fans
For Julie Escurignan, teacher-researcher and head of the master’s degree in cultural and creative industries management at EMLV, if Harry Potter has had such success, it is first of all because its story is an initiatory tale that becomes timeless thanks to to a magical, easily amiable universe. “It takes young people in a moment of changeover between childhood and adolescence, with one book per year. It’s a story that grows with the reader, and which serves to form socially and morally,” she explains. A story of friendship and coming of age that shows readers and viewers the right moral choices to make: timeless values, in short. The transition from books to films gave another dimension to the initially Anglo-Saxon phenomenon, involving a generation of children and adolescents all over the world, even if they had not necessarily read the books. “It has become a Christmas essential, a family saga with which we grow up and which is passed on,” adds the teacher-researcher.
This is what explains the longevity of the saga: a whole generation that grew up with Harry Potter will pass on this love of the work to their children. Because if the children of 2022 discover the saga through their parents, it is also thanks to an entire community of fans who have not stopped appropriating the work and extending it. Fanfictions, fan drawings, Tik Tok videos… “It’s a very committed community of fans, it feels like a real-world transposition of Dumbledore’s army,” comments Julie Escurignan. Especially since the author JK Rowling has continued to develop the universe of the saga through many means, and in particular Pottermore, official site which allows to know more about the characters, to discuss between fans and to have access new content. The success of Harry Potter over the last twenty years therefore lies in the way fans have had to continue to bring their favorite characters to life; and Warner Bros. to capitalize on that feeling of nostalgia.
A matter of nostalgia… And big money
Because we have to continue to keep the franchise alive, through an abundance of derivative products and even the extension of JK Rowling’s universe, as with Fantastic Beasts. For Julie Escurignan, “the basic material is excellent, and if there were other films and series on the same universe and they are good, that could reboost the franchise”. Especially since the figure of JK Rowling is greatly contested in the Anglo-Saxon world for his repeated transphobic remarks. “The fans manage to protect the work, even if it means ignoring its author. It’s an eternal story that continues to be passed on” analyzes the teacher-researcher.
Especially since little by little, Harry Potter has become part of British culture, in the same way as the royal family or theafternoon tea. London is full of shops, bars and restaurants that offer the world of Hogwarts in their own way, not to mention the attraction of millions of visitors each year on platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross station or in the Harry Potter Studios located in the suburbs. from London. Warner Bros. Studios. have generated over £75m through The Making of Harry Potter guided tour in 2021.
And it is not only in England that the phenomenon provokes vocations. In Brittany, Château Le Rocher Portail, located between Rennes and Saint-Malo, welcomes visitors under banners largely inspired by the saga of the little wizard. with glasses … To the point that Warner asked the castle to close, accusing it of copying the franchise. One thing is certain, a few weeks before Christmas: Harry Potter continues to fascinate young and old, and to bring in a colossal sum to those who maintain its feeling of nostalgia.