Though the eagerly awaited big screen version of Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone won’t hit cinemas until November, the movie is already breaking records Stateside. Network executives have been asked to bid on the TV broadcast rights to the film, with Warner Brothers reportedly setting the price at a whopping $70 million, more than twice that paid by NBC for the blockbuster Titanic just a few years ago.
“It’s obscene,” said one executive after Warner Brothers film bosses refused to screen the completed film for potential buyers, showing only a 15-minute extended film trailer to interested parties.
When NBC stumped up $30 million for the rights to Titanic, the James Cameron film was already a critics' darling and box office behemoth. Those networks now contemplating scooping up the wizard wunderkind have been forced to bid blind.
Harry Potter opens in the US and the UK on November 16, and features a largely British cast including newcomer Daniel Radcliffe in the title role as well as Dame Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane and John Cleese.
A spokesman for Warner Brothers denies the record-breaking figure, though they admit to meeting with network executives from US broadcasters ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX. No word on the UK rights, as yet.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
