Four directors shaped the evolving tone of the ‘Harry Potter’ films

Go behind the scenes of the making of the ‘Harry Potter’ films

See a rare look at how the beloved series was brought to life—from set design and visual effects to interviews with cast and crew who shaped the wizarding world on screen.

'Harry Potter’ follows a young wizard’s battle against evil

The seven-book series traces Harry’s journey from an orphan discovering his magical heritage to confronting the dark wizard Lord Voldemort. Alongside friends Hermione and Ron, he faces loss, power, and moral choice in a world divided between good and evil.

HBO is developing a decade-long ‘Harry Potter’ television series

Announced in 2023, the adaptation will retell all seven books across multiple seasons, with new casting and JK Rowling as executive producer. HBO says the series is set to premiere in 2027.

'Harry Potter’ transformed the young adult publishing industry

The series’ success reshaped the market for youth fiction. In 1997, about 3,000 young adult titles were published annually. By 2009, that number soared to 30,000 as publishers chased the next major phenomenon.

Translating ‘Harry Potter’ required creativity across 60+ languages

This Vox video explores how translators adapted JK Rowling’s wordplay, invented spells, and cultural references—reimagining names and magical terms while attempting to preserve humor, rhythm, and meaning for readers around the world.

'Harry Potter’ ranks among the highest-grossing film franchises in history

The eight Harry Potter films earned $7.7B worldwide, placing the series alongside Star Wars, Marvel and James Bond as one of the top-grossing movie franchises ever produced. Watch a comparison over time here.

Listen to an academic analysis of the 'Wizarding World of Harry Potter'

Potterversity examines the Harry Potter series through an academic lens—inviting scholars from diverse fields to uncover new interpretations and deeper meanings within the book series.

Exploring how directors decide where to place the camera

The seamless experience of watching a film is the result of countless aesthetic decisions, one of the most important of which is the placement of the camera taking the shot. In this 8-minute video, directors and actors weigh in on the factors that shape the angles of cinematography, using famous scenes to demonstrate their observations. Watch it here.

'Fantastic Beasts' expanded the film franchise with mixed results

Warner Bros. launched the "Fantastic Beasts" prequel series in 2016 to explore the wizarding world’s earlier history. Despite strong openings, later films saw declining box office returns and lukewarm critical reception.

The first ‘Harry Potter’ book was retitled for US readers

Scholastic changed "Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone" to "Sorcerer’s Stone" in 1998, fearing the original title sounded too academic and might confuse American readers unfamiliar with the word’s magical meaning.

A scientific analysis of famous time travel stories

This 8-minute video explores how time travel influences the narrative arc of several movies, books and video games, from Harry Potter to A Christmas Carol. (Warning: it contains spoilers!) J.K. Rowling and Charles Dickens set myriad parameters as they’re worldbuilding to avoid paradoxes and create quasi-logical timelines. By drawing diagrams as he’s speaking, the video breaks down how time works in some of popular culture’s most beloved fictional universes.

Disney fans categorize the company's films into specific eras

Superfans break the company's animated films into chronological eras: the Golden Age, the Transitional Era, the Disney Renaissance, the Modern Era, and the Revival Era.

An in-depth interview with Steven Spielberg

In this conversation with the Ringer's Sean Fennessy, the esteemed director reflects on his early life and how it inspired a career in moviemaking. In particular, Spielberg notes the impact of seeing Disney's "Fantasia" at a young age and how it terrified him in a way he found fascinating.

The 'Movie Brats’ ushered in a new era of Hollywood

"The Movie Brats" is a name used to describe a generation of directors who blended classic cinema with the rebellious, crowd-pleasing spirit of rock ‘n’ roll. The figures most often associated with the tag are Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Brian De Palma.

A deep dive into Christopher Nolan's 'Odyssey' adaptation

The "Oppenheimer" director's take on Homer's epic might be the most anticipated movie of the summer. Dockterman's profile of Nolan explores how he's become a Hollywood rarity: a director who balances box-office numbers and critical acclaim.

The 1939 ‘Wizard of Oz’ reimagined Baum’s book for a new age

Technological breakthroughs brought high-quality, synchronized sound to films by the end of the 1920s. By the 1930s, the movie-musical, a genre that blended artful cinematography and Broadway-style musicals, became more popular. “The Wizard of Oz” evolved the form further by structuring the plot into episodes anchored by memorable, revelatory songs.

JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis met at Oxford and bonded over Norse mythology

The “Lord of the Rings” mastermind and “The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe” author were colleagues at Oxford University and shared an appreciation for Norse mythology, which continues to inform the fantasy genre. They were also a part of the same informal literary group, the Inklings, where they’d discuss one another’s works-in-progress.

Alfred Hitchcock influenced thriller filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan

There may be no more obvious heir to Alfred Hitchcock’s throne than M. Night Shyamalan, the director known for suspenseful films like “The Sixth Sense,” “Signs,” and “The Village.” It should come as no surprise that Shyamalan says he’s a big fan of “the Master of Suspense,” going so far as to cite Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” as a major influence, one he called “epic and haunting.”

How quidditch brought a Ugandan school to life

The world phenomenon of Harry Potter inspired millions of kids to read. The books, and the make-believe game quidditch (played by the hero), have inspired a real-life sport called Quadball, based on the fictional game involving flying broomsticks. Teacher John Ssentamu brought the game to his town of Katwadde in Uganda to bring kids—long absent from school—back to receive an education. A documentary crew filmed them playing in an inspiring story of education and community.

Legendary director Brian De Palma hated his first viewing of 'Star Wars'

The "Carrie" and "Mission: Impossible" director was invited by his friend George Lucas to watch an early cut of the first "Star Wars," a draft that lacked many of the special effects that would be added later. De Palma was highly critical, telling Lucas that "The Force" was an awful name for the spiritual power Luke Skywalker eventually comes to embrace.

John Williams has scored 29 of Spielberg’s films

A significant part of Spielberg’s style is how music is used. The overwhelming majority of that music is composed by John Williams. The duo first collaborated on 1974’s “The Sugarland Express.”

The data on sequels in 11 charts

Sequels, reboots, and other adapted content are generally on the rise in Hollywood, with nearly half of all movies based in some previous film or story. This set of 11 charts dives into the data on sequels, including their budgets, critical success, performance in relation to the original, and more.

The inaugural Cannes Film Festival featured legendary directors

The festival’s first year was 1946. It featured 11 films from some of the world’s best filmmakers, including Jean Cocteau, Alfred Hitchcock, George Sydney, and Billy Wilder.

Ten of the most horrifying moments in film

Many films in the genre lean into gratuitous horror, putting off the average viewer. This list of ten moments highlights particularly terrifying scenes from films that otherwise met with mainstream acclaim, from "Mulholland Drive" to "The Lord of the Rings."

HBO's success inspired Showtime, AMC, Netflix, and more

HBO’s success in the early 21st century bred plenty of imitators, who were now more willing to embrace darker, more challenging series like “Weeds,” “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” and “House of Cards.”

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Visualize the path of every solar eclipse from 1900 to 2099 and see what each looks like when observed from different locations on Earth.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Ebola is a filovirus, meaning it resembles a thread under a microscope, though it sometimes twists and can resemble a bowl of spaghetti.