16 NOVEMBER 2001 – FIRST HARRY POTTER MOVIE ARRIVES

This month it will be 21 years since Harry Potter, the boy wizard from the books by JK Rowling, made his debut on the silver screen in the US. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was the first instalment in a series of eight movies but in America it was titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The last in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, was released 10 years later.

The movie made Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint world famous in the roles of Harry and his best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

The first movie started showing in cinemas on 23 November 2001 in South Africa.

The seven books in the Harry Potter series have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 60 languages.