*update, obviously due to Harry Potter's sixth movie release being delayed until next July makes this argument moot.. 

This year see’s the release of two major Books to Film franchises. The first being the 6th instalment of JK Rowling’s established Harry Potter series:  Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The second is Twilight from Stephanie Myers Twilight book series , which recently concluded with her fourth instalment: Breaking Dawn.

The Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince film will be released on the 21st November and Twilight will be released a mere three weeks later on the 12th December – almost placing them head to head.

So is competition in the air? Which movie will win out?  JK Rowling, and her established fan base?  Or perhaps, Stephanie Meyer’s loyal, almost fanatical fans?

Fi-Sci looks in detail at each franchise and tries to find out who has the lead.

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE

JK Rowling is the biggest phenomenon to hit book shelves in recent memory. She has rekindled interest in the written word, especially amongst the younger readers.

Released in 1997 – Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (Sorcerer’s Stone in America) went on to win many awards and sell a huge amount of books. A further 6 Books eventually finished the saga, with the Final book; Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows arriving in 2007.

In 2001 a film adaption was made,  directed by Christopher Columbus (Home Alone) and released through Warner Bros Studio, the film went on to gross over 900 million worldwide, so far 5 films have released.  Each one amassing over 750 million worldwide, the last movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is currently the second highest grossing Potter film behind Philosophers Stone, not bad for the 5th Film in the franchise, where normally Film’s tend get much lower attendances after the 3rd Movie and onwards (Superman & Batman being notable examples).

So, with such a success story, should Harry Potter be worried about this pretender to the throne that is the Twilight Series?

Summary:

1. An established Franchise that has already proved it has a wider audience than just the loyal readers.

2. Each film has a very large disposable Budget, much larger than Twilights comparatively miniscule one.

3. The three main stars Daniel Radcliffe(Harry), Emma Watson (Hermione) and Rupert Grint (Ron) have all gone on to become established stars of the series.

4. The series continues to get Darker as it goes on, growing from its original audience of young teens to readers who are now into their twenties.

5. Unlike Twilight, the characters are not broadly drawn and we are not sure what to expect, who will die and character development is more evident here. Indeed in this instalment, a major character dies and even more shocking is who kills him.

6. JK Rowling’s plot contains Seven years of tightly developed story and clever twists and turns.

7. The Twilight series has only a large mainstream audience in America, whereas Europe is the main source of the Potter films' overall gross.

TWILIGHT

2005 saw Stephanie Meyer plant the seeds to a literal overnight success. With Twilight the first of a four book collection which kept a fast growing fan base happily entertained with a new book each consecutive year until the last hit shelves just a few weeks ago. Her books have even given J K Rowling a run for her money.

It didn’t take movie makers long to realise that Twilight was a potential cash cow. Summit Entertainment quickly stepped in and acquired the rights to produce the first book in to a film. For summit this could really be their making, as they have spent an unusually low amount on the production which has been said to be as little as 30 million.

It would seem that this film really can’t fail with its reduced budget costs and huge loyal fan base. There are already talks underway  discussing the second books' film making potential.

Summary:

1. An already massive fan base that is steadily rising.

2. Resent San Diego Comic Con hysteria for Twilight can still be heard half way around the globe.

3. Leading man Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen) is fast becoming a well known actor and male icon you only have to look on YouTube to see what a stir he’s coursing.  Aside from the fact that he too has also starred in the Harry Potter movies as Cedric Diggory. Leading lady Kristen Stuart (Bella Swan) has her own list of films behind her staring with such people as Jodie Foster and Meg Ryan.

4. This film alone has a huge amount of appeal without considering the continuation of the action packed adventures that are sure to follow. With its real life difficulties of starting a new life away from what you’ve always known to romance, throat grabbing action and plenty of fast cars.

5. Talks and scripts are already in place for future filming.

6. Merchandise alone is already bringing in the big money.

7. Unfortunately for Harry Potter he’s been around now for quite some time and it seems that even though he has his loyal followers the hype behind the adventure series is slowly dying down where as the Twilight saga is still young and fresh bring a new taste to the table with new characters and adventure with a more realistic twist of being in the real world.

8. This film will be given the chance to thrive with its love interests attracting viewer to re-watch the film again to revisit their favourite scenes. After all the sex appeal in this film isn’t hard to miss and everyone wants the perfect partner and that is exactly what you’re going to get with this film. You only have to look at Titanic’s repeated audiences to see this films potential.

9.  Stepenie Meyer has given J K Rowling a run for her money by knocking Rowling’s books off the best sellers lists more than once.

10. Harry Potter is essentially a children’s story and all those children seem to have grown up now, whereas Twilight is written for an older audience, essentially attracting a wider array of readers.

11. Come rain, shine, hail, snow and gale force winds fans were camped out watching filming of this movie to see its potential and show their unwavering support for Twilight as it was brought to life.

We could carry on making these lists until dooms day but we still can’t find a clear cut winner to show which of these films will out shine the other, so we put it to a vote.

Please come fans from far and wide show your loyalty and dedication. VOTE NOW !!! Go to the front page and vote for Either Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince or Twilight.

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