The Economist has a new article online entitled: The Harry Potter Economy where they discuss the Harry Potter franchise and all the money it makes as well as it’s effect on the economy.  Here are some snippets

This production line at Leavesden Studios, which has been running for almost a decade, will soon be switched off. “People talk about the effect of factories closing,” says David Heyman, who produces the Harry Potter films. “When we stop filming next May, at least 800 people will be looking for work.”

The first company to be transformed was Bloomsbury, a London publishing house. It was a somewhat unlikely home for a blockbuster children’s book series. […] As each book appeared it drew new readers to the series and expanded sales of earlier books in a snowball effect. Thanks largely to the boy wizard, Bloomsbury’s turnover, which had gradually increased from £11m in 1995 to £14m in 1997, took off. In 1999 it stood at £21m. Two years later it was £61m. By the middle of this decade, with Bloomsbury’s revenues above £100m, rival publishers were griping that there was no point bidding against the firm for a children’s title.

In 2000 Ms Rowling said her “worst nightmare” was that her hero would end up on the side of fast-food containers. He was to appear just about everywhere else. Warner Bros, which had been wary of being seen to spoil a revered series of books with tacky tie-ins, had no qualms about exploiting its own property.

Thanks MN!

In Vogue’s January 2010 Issue they have a few pages on the Best Dressed women of the decade! Emma is featured on the newcomers page and it says “Emma Watson had her Gigi moment, blossoming from winning child star to red-carpet fashionista…”  View the scan in the gallery by clicking the thumbnail below:

According to ScreenDaily, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the highest grossing film of 2009, worldwide!  The article states: “Warner Brother’s Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Price has topped the worldwide box office so far this year, taking $929.4m.”

In Worldwide sales, the film was followed by Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs, Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen and Walt Disney/Pixar’s Up.

Domestically, it came in second place after Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen and Internationally it was beaten by Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs.

The Huddersfield Daily Examiner is reporting that Laurie Hopkins Menswear was asked to make shirts and black ties for the Deathly Hallows movie! Michael Hopkins, a partner in the business, said:

“The costume department on the film wanted the shirts for some police or soldier-style characters. They found them on our site and the call came three months ago, but we kept it to ourselves. They were asking how many we could supply and the number they required was over 100. They took delivery six weeks ago and they’ve just given us another order for 25 more, as well as 80 black ties.”

“They were very easy people to work with, absolutely excellent. I was interested to see that when they sent a payment the account is made up in the name of the film. There’s no little subsidiary, it very clearly says the account is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The fact that they came back and asked for more must mean they’ve been happy with the service we provided. I’m hoping that we’ve built up a bit of a rapport with them and it might lead to more.”“Who knows”?

Thanks to SS for the news!