Ch-56

"Ladies and gentlemen, today we are live from the red carpet of the premiere of [Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]. My name is Kristie Douglas and we are waiting for the cast of the film to arrive," a brunette middle-aged woman wearing a champagne-colored dress spoke on a mic.

In the background, hordes of fans were shouting and waving their hands frantically, trying to get into the frame of the camera, but most were unsuccessful in that endeavor.

"Let's talk to a few of the fans of the books to see their reactions," Kristie said while walking towards the closest group of fans.

"Hello," Kristie politely greeted a young girl around 13 years of age who had managed to gain the front spot in the crowd. "Tell us your name."

"Hi!" The young girl squeaked out nervously. "I'm Jacqueline."

"Why are you here tonight, Jacqueline?" Kristie asked.

"To see Troy, of course," the girl didn't even have to think. "He is so cute in [The Sixth Sense] and the trailer of this film. I loved the first [Harry Potter] book so I was hoping to get lucky with a ticket tonight."

Kristie smiled at the young girl. "It is indeed your lucky day, Jacqueline, because I just happen to have two tickets for the premiere that you can watch live with Troy Armitage in the audience." The reporter handed the young girl an envelope that had two tickets to the premiere.

Jacqueline screamed at the top of her lungs in delight at that news while clutching the envelope tightly.

Suddenly, Kristie stopped from moving forward to other fans as she received the news in her earpiece. She turned towards the camera, "It seems one of our stars has arrived for the premiere. Let's see who it is."

The camera panned over to the car that had stopped just before the red carpet and out came a beautiful young girl with wavy brown locks.

"And it is none other than Emma Watson, the young new actress who plays Hermione Granger," Kristie announced, which led to screams of "Emma" and "Hermione" chorusing among the fans.

Emma walked through the crowd, waving to the fans of the book series and signing a few autographs before posing for a few photos. Kristie waited patiently as Emma made her way towards her on the way to the theater.

"Hello, Emma," Kristie greeted enthusiastically. "I'm Kristie."

"Hi, Kristie," Emma greeted back.

"So, Emma, your first film. Are you excited?"

"Very. More than that, I'm a little nervous," she confessed. "I don't know how Troy handles it all so… naturally."

Sensing the direction Emma had inadvertently chosen, Kristie pounced on it. "And how did you find working with Troy?"

"He is the best person to play [Harry Potter]," Emma said meticulously. "He is so helpful and good on the set. It was my first film, and he helped me through every scene I had trouble with. I couldn't have asked for a better co-star."

"That's good to know, Emma," Kristie smiled at the young girl. "Without taking too much of your time, I'll let you proceed to the premiere."

Emma nodded with a smile before doing exactly that. Kristie went back to meeting different cast members of the film. Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, and Robbie Coltrane came one by one, and everyone had nice things to say about the production. As they usually do.

"Our next arrival is Hermione's partner in crime, Ron Weasley, played by Jamie Bell," Kristie announced next.

Jamie came into the scene with a big smile etched on his face. His naturally dark hair was a stark contrast to the ginger head he is seen sporting in the posters and the trailer.

"Hey, Jamie," Kristie greeted the young man and asked him the same question she had asked Emma. "Excited for the film?"

"Very," Jamie replied in a cracked voice. Seems like someone was going through puberty.

"So, what do you think about the film? Will it be a hit?"

Jamie looked around at the crowd who was still shouting and waving at him. "I think so."

"So, how was your experience working with Emma and Troy?"

"Emma is very sweet," Jamie replied. "We bicker a lot on set, but it's all in good fun. Troy is the closest thing I have to a brother. He is such a good actor and always patient with me whenever I get a scene wrong. We usually play video games together and have lots of fun on and off set."

"What do you do off-set besides video games? Anything particular you'd like to share?" Kristie asked, sensing a story there.

"This one time, Emma and I had a sleepover at Troy's place. We played games into the night, and the next day on set, all three of us fell asleep. Chris Columbus, our director, scolded us for that a lot," Jamie chuckled, remembering good times.

"Well, I'm sure you must have had fun. All the best for the movie, Jamie," Kristie wished him luck.

"Thank you," he beamed back before moving into the theater.

Kristie welcomed a few more actors like Michael Gambon and some kid actors with supporting roles like Tom Felton and Matthew Lewis before welcoming the director of the film, Chris Columbus. If there was one thing Kristie noticed in tonight's interviews, it was how almost everyone unanimously praised Troy. Speaking with them, she couldn't help but wonder how good of a person this Troy must be to have everyone wrapped around his fingers so masterfully.

"And finally, the moment everyone is waiting for has arrived. Please welcome the star of the film, Oscar-winning actor, Troy Armitage!"

As soon as Troy came into view in his finely tailored suit, the crowd went bonkers. Literal screams and shouts permeated the very air outside the theater. Troy spent a good ten minutes shaking hands and signing autographs. He even posed for a few quick photos. Thankfully, his bodyguard was right behind him to save him from some of the over-enthusiastic fans.

"Troy! So nice to finally meet you," Kristie shook Troy's hand. Instead of a normal handshake, as she was expecting, the boy turned her hand and placed a chaste kiss on the back.

"Nice to meet you too," he said politely, and right in that instant, Kristie knew what made this boy better than other kids his age. He may look like a kid, but his demeanor was mature. She found it hard to believe that this was the same kid who starred in [The Sixth Sense] with all his cuteness.

"Oh my," Kristie feigned shyness. "You'll make me blush."

"Give me a few more years and I will," Troy joked back, and Kristie couldn't help but laugh at the boy's confidence.

"So, how has your experience been working on this film?" Kristie asked the main question.

"It was a dream come true," Troy replied. "I fell in love with the books as soon as I read them a few years ago. Never in my wildest fantasies had I imagined that I would play [Harry Potter]."

Kristie nodded, indulging. "Who is your favorite person on set? The director? Any of your co-stars?"

"That's easy, my Dad," Troy smiled mischievously, and Kristie immediately realized her mistake. Of course, his dad was the producer and the screenwriter of the film. Before she could correct her mistake, Troy said, "I think I spent a lot of time with the fans and should go in now."

"All the best for the film, Troy," she gave her parting words, and Troy went in after giving her a heartfelt thanks.

(Break)

I wish I could say that the quality of the film was a big surprise for me. It wasn't. The film was very similar to what I remembered from my first time around. The only big difference was the change of some actors, including me. Since the first film has very few deviations from the first book in both timelines, the film came out more or less the same. The CGI was a big improvement from what I remembered. Flight scenes looked effortless, while other scenes, like fighting with the troll, also looked less gimmicky than the first time around.

All in all, I was happy to say that my involvement didn't diminish the value of the film, and I was relieved to know that. I had this intense fear in my mind that somehow my presence would spoil my favorite film franchise forever. Thankfully, it didn't.

Even if the release time lessened the box office collection of the first movie, I wouldn't be sad. Not that I wanted the film to bomb, but that was impossible. It had a rabid fanbase throughout the world, and it will only grow as years pass and more people read the books. That's the magic of [Harry Potter]. Even if I retire from acting after these eight movies, I would be content with my life because a full generation of kids would remember me their entire lives.

"Troy!" Mum shook me from my daydream. "You're acting weird."

"Huh?" I asked intelligently.

"Thought so," Mum shook her head. "The film's over. It's time for some media questions."

"Ugh!" I groaned out loud. "I have been doing that for days already."

"Just tonight," Mum promised. "No more press junket for you tomorrow onwards. Remember that the second film will begin shooting in three days, so you can rest till then."

That sounded very tempting.

"Alright," I caved. "Just tonight."

(Break)

I didn't even get to witness the phenomenon that was [Harry Potter] with real fans because I was back on set just a few days later to begin working on [The Chamber of Secrets]. Also, it would be weird if I were to watch it with fans, only to get mobbed because someone recognizes me. Adult actors can easily blend in using large hats and goggles, which just look stupid on kids. And, I do have a very recognizable face, or so I'm told.

This time around, the script of [The Chamber of Secrets] was a little different from what I remembered. For one, this script was written by Eric Roth, a screenwriter who had worked on many acclaimed scripts like [Forrest Gump] and [The Insider]. The best part about Eric was that he didn't act affronted when I made some suggestions to the script.

(Flashback)

"Why do you want me to add more bonding scenes between Harry and Ron?" He looked genuinely curious as he asked me face-to-face in response to the e-mail I had sent him a few days ago. I hadn't expected him to come all the way over to the set of [Artificial Intelligence] to talk to me about it. It helped that he was based out of LA, where I was shooting at the moment.

"Have you read the latest released [Goblet of Fire] book?" I asked.

"Of course," he said matter-of-factly. "It's the best book in the series so far with that Shonen tournament arc and everything."

I blinked owlishly before asking, "You watch anime?"

He grinned before raising his hands in surrender, "Guilty."

I nodded slowly, taking in that fact before saying, "If you have read the book, you'll know what will happen with Ron when he abandons Harry. In the book, Ron has a lot of screen time, and readers will forgive him for doing what he did. But movie watchers who haven't read the book will hate him forever. So I want you to make him the best character you can from the second movie itself. I don't want you to give him a lot of extra lines, just small things like Harry and Ron doing silly things that best friends do together. It will serve the dual purpose of adding humor and making Ron's character more human. People should laugh with him, not at him. So much so, that his betrayal shouldn't just hurt Harry, but all the audience watching it."

I got the idea from a scene I remembered from [Half-Blood Prince] where Harry and Ron were fighting over a book in Slughorn's classroom. It was a perfect scene to show their friendship. If such scenes are sprinkled throughout the second and third movies, then it would be perfect to make Ron a more lovable character.

I always felt that the movies did Ron a great injustice by showing only his bad sides, and not the good ones. It made sense in a way because movies had limited screen time, and Rupert Grint wasn't the best of actors. I still remember watching a few behind-the-scenes clips, and Grint was rebuked by his directors all the time for giggling while shooting. Maybe it was for the best that Jamie was playing Ron this time.

"Okay," Eric agreed. "I'll see what I can do. Now, what is this about developing Harry and Ginny's relationship? Do you perhaps know something that you shouldn't?"

I grinned as I gave him my second idea, "I talked to Rowling, and while she didn't say it out loud, she has strongly hinted that Harry and Ginny would become an item somewhere around the sixth book."

"Seriously?" Eric stood up abruptly from the chair he was occupying in my trailer. "Why the heck didn't she tell that to me when I asked?"

"I have my ways," I said mysteriously. "If you go and ask her now, she'll probably deny saying that to me, but this is legit confirmed news."

"Holy…" Eric paused mid-curse. "That changes a lot of things about how I would approach their interaction in the film. Thank you, Troy. I will make the necessary changes to the screenplay as per your suggestions."

(Flashback End)

(Break)

[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone] opened in theaters on November 3, 2000, alongside [Charlie's Angels] starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu, and [The Legend of Bagger Vance] starring Will Smith, Matt Damon, and Charlize Theron. Of the three films, [The Philosopher's Stone] had the biggest budget at $125 million, but the other films weren't cheap by any measure. [Charlie's Angels] cost $93 million with Sony Columbia behind them, while [The Legend of Bagger Vance] cost $80 million, financed and distributed by DreamWorks. So one would think that a kid's film like [Harry Potter] would come out third behind bankable stars like Will Smith and Cameron Diaz, right? Wrong. There was one phenomenon behind the success of [Harry Potter] that would change the movie industry forever: Intellectual Property.

[The Legend of Bagger Vance] was a very average film based on a book of the same name, scoring only a 43% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic rating of 47/100. With critics calling the screenplay bland, full of bad characters and flat dialogues, people weren't very interested in watching the film. It helped that they had a lot of good alternatives available in the form of critically approved films. It had a very mediocre opening of just $7.5 million.

[Charlie's Angels] was an above-average film, with a rating of 68% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic rating of 52/100. It was based on an old TV show of the same name that originally aired in the US from 1976 to 1981 and already had a dedicated fan following. It was being hailed as the feminist movie of the year showing 'female empowerment'. Moreover, word of mouth was good and, as a result, it had a bumper opening of $35 million. For a female-led movie, that was a very good opening.

Then there was [Meet the Parents], which had already grossed more than a hundred million at the US Box Office. This weekend, the film grossed $9 million, which was very good considering this was the film's fifth weekend.

Unfortunately for all these films, the champion of the week and many weeks to come was none other than [Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]. The film had a staggering 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 7.8, while Metacritic gave it a score of 72 out of 100, indicating 'generally favorable' reviews. Not only that, audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave it a rating of 'A+' on an A+ to F scale, which is the highest score possible and achieved by only 33 films to date. That, along with the recent Oscar win of its lead actor, created a lot of buzz about the film. Not to mention the warm reception that the people had given to [The Sixth Sense], Troy's performance in particular.

The film's success wasn't just due to the hype surrounding Troy Armitage. The adaptation of J.K. Rowling's beloved book series captured the imagination of audiences worldwide. The magical world of Hogwarts brought to life with state-of-the-art special effects and a stellar cast, resonated with both fans of the books and newcomers to the franchise. The meticulous attention to detail in recreating the Wizarding World, combined with a faithful adherence to the source material, earned the film accolades from critics and fans alike.

Furthermore, the marketing campaign for [The Philosopher's Stone] was a masterclass in building anticipation. From teaser trailers that revealed just enough to spark curiosity, to merchandise that included everything from action figures to replicas of magical artifacts, the film was omnipresent in the months leading up to its release. The involvement of Warner Bros., with its extensive resources and marketing prowess, ensured that [Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone] was not just a movie, but an event.

As the weeks passed, the film continued to dominate the box office, breaking records and setting new benchmarks for fantasy films. Its success proved that well-executed adaptations of beloved literary works could not only succeed but thrive in the competitive movie industry. [Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone] was more than a movie. It was the beginning of a cultural phenomenon that would shape the entertainment landscape for years to come.

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