The Stellar Seven
These were our seven most popular news stories for the year.
- Warner Bros. announced that Order of the Phoenix would be released two days earlier (July 11) than originally scheduled.
- Universal Studios announced plans to open a Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Florida, after years of speculation and negotiating.
- The New York Times posted an early review of Deathly Hallows, which set off fury among fans and J.K. Rowling herself. The New York Times, however, stuck with their original intentions and kept the review online.
- Deathly Hallows sold 8.3 million copies in the US within its first 24 hours.
- Harry Potter was named the highest-grossing motion picture franchise of all time, with $4.47 billion in ticket sales.
- J.K. Rowling updated her official website, saying that she does not approve of “companion books” or “encyclopedias” to her series and later that day, filed suit in a Manhattan court against Harry Potter Lexicon owner Steve Vander Ark for publishing an “unofficial encyclopedic companion” to the series.
- The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a book of five fairytales, including one within Deathly Hallows, was revealed by J.K. Rowling on her official website. J.K. Rowling said that six handwritten copies would go to those who helped her most with Potter, and one would be auctioned for charity.
The Stories
January 18 - Laura Mallory appealed the court's decision to keep the Harry Potter books on Georgia library shelves yet again.
February 6 - J.K. Rowling called Deathly Hallows her "favorite" book of the series, leaving fans to desire it even more.
February 8 - MuggleNet's Deathly Hallows predictions book was reviewed by the New York Times.
February 10 - J.K. Rowling revealed that Dumbledore comes back in some form in Deathly Hallows.
February 17 - Daniel Radcliffe's portrayal in Equus received positive reviews.
February 18 - Warner Bros. put their support behind Daniel Radcliffe in his West End debut following tabloid reports that Warner Bros. was disappointed in his decision.
February 25 - MuggleNet.com's What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7 reached the #4 spot on the New York Times Best Seller List.
February 26 - J.K. Rowling sued eBay after several illegal e-book copies of the Potter series were placed up for auction.
March 14 - Scholastic unveiled its marketing campaign for Deathly Hallows.
March 23 - Warner Bros. announced that Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe, and Emma Watson were all signed on for the final two Potter films.
March 27 - MuggleNet premiered their news in multiple languages, extending the reach of the website to several new groups of international Internet users.
March 28 - The cover art for Deathly Hallows was released for both US and UK editions of the book.
April 11 - MuggleNet and other Potter fansites were featured in an Associated Press article.
April 17 - Casting for Half-Blood Prince began several months before filming.
April 20 - Rumors for Equus coming to Broadway continued to circulate, but none were officially confirmed.
April 21 - In other rumor news, word of a Harry Potter theme park continued to leak across the web. As with the Equus on Broadway rumors, none could be confirmed.
April 22 - The first trailer for Order of the Phoenix premiered for international movie audiences.
April 24 - Another trailer debuted on Yahoo! for US theaters.
April 25 - Bloomsbury revealed some of their security measures for Deathly Hallows to make sure there were no leaks.
May 10 - Order of the Phoenix received a PG-13 rating in the US due to its darker tone.
May 13 - J.K. Rowling contributed to the search fund for missing Madeleine McCann.
May 16 - HarryPotter.co.uk was revamped with a new Order of the Phoenix design for UK visitors.
May 23 - J.K. Rowling announced her plans for the release of Deathly Hallows.
May 26 - Order of the Phoenix was revealed to be 138 minutes long by the British Board of Film Classification.
May 29 - Warner Bros. announced that Order of the Phoenix would be released two days earlier (July 11) than originally scheduled.
May 30 - Universal Studios announced plans to open a Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Florida, after years of speculation and negotiating.
June 5 - US Potter book illustrator Mary GrandPré revealed that there is a reason for everything on the US Deathly Hallows cover.
June 8 - The cover art for the US Deluxe Edition of Deathly Hallows was released.
June 14 - J.K. Rowling announced a book tour across the US to read Deathly Hallows to fans. She would also sign a copy of the book for each person in attendance.
June 26 - MuggleCast, our Harry Potter podcast, announced plans to tour the US after the Deathly Hallows release to talk with fans about what happened in the book.
June 30 - The Today Show revealed the first footage of Deathly Hallows being printed at a secret location in the US.
July 6 - J.K. Rowling revealed in an interview that she "absolutely howled" upon finishing the writing of Deathly Hallows.
July 10 - MuggleNet released video coverage of the Order of the Phoenix US premiere, featuring interviews with Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe, David Heyman, Chris Rankin, Imelda Staunton, Emma Watson, David Yates, and many more.
July 10 - Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe, and Emma Watson were honored at the "Hand, Foot, and Wand" ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
July 11 - Order of the Phoenix opened in US theaters.
July 13 - J.K. Rowling said that some people will "absolutely loathe" Deathly Hallows.
July 14 - The Guardian revealed the opening of the Deathly Hallows book, although there was no confirmation from an official source at the time.
July 16 - Order of the Phoenix grossed $330 million worldwide.
July 17 - Jim Dale said in an interview that Deathly Hallows has a surprise ending.
July 17 - Scholastic took action after scans of Deathly Hallows leaked online.
July 18 - With only a few days left before the release, J.K. Rowling asked any Deathly Hallows spoilers out there to preserve the secrecy and not leak any more information.
July 18 - The New York Times posted an early review of Deathly Hallows, which set off fury among fans and J.K. Rowling herself. The New York Times, however, stuck with their original intentions and kept the review online.
July 21 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final novel, was released to the world.
July 22 - MuggleCast released its pre-DH and post-DH episodes, which both went on to be our most-downloaded episodes ever.
July 23 - Deathly Hallows sold 8.3 million copies in the US within its first 24 hours, making it the fastest selling book in history.
July 24 - J.K. Rowling revealed the character who got the reprieve and announced that she does have plans to release a Harry Potter encyclopedia in the future.
July 26 - J.K. Rowling revealed more about the Deathly Hallows epilogue in the first part of an interview with The Today Show.
July 27 - J.K. Rowling explained why she changed the last sentence of the series to not include "scar" and her mother's influence on the series in the second part of her interview with The Today Show.
July 27 - Scholastic announced Open Book Tour Sweepstakes.
July 29 - In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Prisoner of Azkaban director Alfonso Cuarón stated that he was "very tempted" to direct Deathly Hallows.
July 29 - J.K. Rowling's full interview with The Today Show aired on Dateline where she answered more Deathly Hallows questions and discussed the Potter movies and theme park.
July 30 - J.K. Rowling hosted a webchat on Bloomsbury's website with fans, answering many much-anticipated questions.
August 4 - Warner Bros. announced that Order of the Phoenix had grossed over $708 million worldwide.
August 8 - J.K. Rowling lost a court battle to ban a photo of her son that was previously published by The Daily Express.
August 8 - Amazon released its final numbers for Deathly Hallows. Over 2.2 million books were pre-ordered as of July 20; 1.75 books per second were sold on the final day before release.
August 13 - A SEC filing reported by the Orlando Sentinel revealed that Warner Bros. and Universal had an agreement for a targeted release date of the Harry Potter theme park between December 15, 2009, and June 30, 2010.
August 23 - The Wiltshire Times reported that filming for the Half-Blood Prince night scenes was set to begin in October.
August 26 - John Williams said that he hopes he will return to score the final Harry Potter film.
August 26 - The Sunday Mirror rumored that a Harry Potter-themed musical is set to open in London's West End.
August 29 - Initial information on the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix DVD began to emerge online.
September 7 - Initial reports began to surface that the Order of the Phoenix DVD would be released on December 11.
September 10 - Harry Potter was named the highest-grossing motion picture franchise of all time, with $4.47 billion in ticket sales.
September 17 - Warner Bros. confirmed that the Order of the Phoenix DVD was set to be released in the UK on November 12.
September 17 - J.K. Rowling extended her Open Book Tour to Canada and read at the Wintergarden Theatre in downtown Toronto.
September 17 - Filming for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince began.
September 17 - Jim Broadbent was cast as Professor Horace Slughorn in Half-Blood Prince.
September 17 - Warner Bros. confirmed various details for the Order of the Phoenix DVD, including its December 11 release in the US.
September 30 - A signed set of the Harry Potter series by author J.K. Rowling was auctioned for $37,100, with proceeds benefiting Books Abroad.
October 3 - Order of the Phoenix became the #6 highest grossing film of all time, pulling in $933.9 million worldwide.
October 5 - Director David Yates confirmed that young Tom Riddle had been cast but not yet revealed. It was speculated to be the nephew of Lord Voldemort actor Ralph Fiennes.
October 8 - J.K. Rowling adopted Sapphire, a retired racing dog from the Greyhound Rescue Fife.
October 9 - Pride of Britain Awards recognized J.K. Rowling.
October 10 - Warner Bros. announced that the Order of the Phoenix DVD would allow portable media and PC downloads.
October 11 - Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling sued an Indian community over a Hogwarts replica.
October 11 - Filming continued for Half-Blood Prince, as reports surfaced of scenes being shot for the Hogwarts Express and at Loch Arkaig.
October 12 - An Indian court ruled to allow the Hogwarts replica.
October 15 - J.K. Rowling held a press conference in Los Angeles, California, to officially kick off her Open Book Tour.
October 15 - First reports surfaced from the Los Angeles reading, with J.K. Rowling admitting that Harry will be a tough act to follow and that she has yet to start on the much-anticipated encyclopedia.
October 17 - MTV interviewed J.K. Rowling on the topics of how much the trio knew about the outcome of Deathly Hallows and the role of Christianity in the series.
October 18 - The Open Book Tour continued in New Orleans, Louisiana, where J.K. Rowling discussed both the personal and the political, including the realities of war and the debate that good always wins out over evil.
October 19 - Chris Rankin, who plays Percy Weasley in the Harry Potter movies, said that he will most likely not appear in Half-Blood Prince.
October 19 - At her first reading in New York City, J.K. Rowling said that she "married Harry" and also discussed the characters of Ron and Draco.
October 19 - At her second reading in New York City, J.K. Rowling answered many anticipated questions about various characters and also revealed that Professor Dumbledore was gay.
October 23 - J.K. Rowling further explained Dumbledore's sexuality at her final tour stop in Canada.
October 25 - The Wiltshire Times reported from the first day of on-set filming for Half-Blood Prince.
October 26 - Information continued to emerge online from Half-Blood Prince filming in Lacock.
October 30 - Extras were cast for Half-Blood Prince.
October 31 - J.K. Rowling updated her official website, saying that she does not approve of "companion books" or "encyclopedias" to her series and later that day, filed suit in a Manhattan court against Harry Potter Lexicon owner Steve Vander Ark for publishing an "unofficial encyclopedic companion" to the series.
November 2 - After several months of rumors and speculation, it was announced that Equus would be coming to Broadway in September 2008 with Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths.
November 15 - Amazon named Deathly Hallows the Best Book of 2007.
November 23 - Rowling was named Entertainer of the Year by Entertainment Weekly.
December 11 - Order of the Phoenix was released on DVD in the US, a whole month after UK fans got their hands on it.
December 13 - The Tales of Beedle the Bard went up for auction at Sotheby's and sold for nearly £2 million, far surpassing all expectations.
December 13 - Amazon.com, a popular online retailer, was revealed to have been the winning bidder of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Amazon went on to publish reviews of each tale within the book for fans.
December 14 - The first official still from Half-Blood Prince was released in a 2008 Film Preview press kit and depicted Harry clutching the Marauder's Map.
December 19 - J.K. Rowling was named Time’s Second Runner-Up Person of the Year.
December 21 - J.K. Rowling was named the Most Influential Person of 2007 by MSN.
December 27 - Deathly Hallows was named Book of the Year by USA Today.
December 30 - The documentary J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life by James Runcie aired on ITV.
