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The origin story is well-known. JK Rowling penned the famous tale of a boy wizard named Harry Potter while waiting in an Edinburgh cafe for a delayed train.
She sent the first three chapters to a number of publishers, and was knocked back again and again, until one finally said yes.
But how did a seemingly simple story of a young boy struggling to conquer a powerful magical foe become a multi-billion-dollar global franchise?
The chief executive officer of Australia's largest precinct for start-ups, Lighthouse Sydney, says there are a number of things which have driven its success.
"First is the timing of when these books were written and when the films came out," Annie Parker said.
"It came out at that age where technology had started to become much more ubiquitous in the sense that there was [more] ways for people to engage with the story — whether that be some of the toys that were really creative, whether that be on Pottermore or other fan sites like the Leaky Cauldron, loads of different ways for you, as a fan, to engage.
"And I think what JK Rowling and the whole franchise were really smart about was, instead of trying to tell everybody that they couldn't use the branding or couldn't get involved, she embraced it all."
Although that's not to say that everyone was free to use the story.
In its early years of producing the films, Warner Bros reportedly chased a number of individuals for rights infringements.
But as fan fiction websites and other spin offs emerged, JK Rowling and other players in the franchise were able to use it to their advantage — and secure various revenue streams.
As Ms Parker points out, Rowling has found success with various spin-off projects, such as Pottermore, suggesting that the author's willingness to engage with fans and the story in new and creative ways was a master stroke.
Is it a franchise?
Since its first publication, Harry Potter has spawned seven books (excluding various spin-offs), eight movies (excluding Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them), video games, toys, clothes, websites and theme parks.
And each of these areas form part of the franchise, or conditional grant, which involves the owner granting a licence to use a particular product, according to Jason Gehrke, the director of Australia's Franchise Advisory Centre.
He says the term can be applied in slightly different contexts to a formula for producing a product, service or a form of entertainment.
"So part of the conditions attached to the deal … will be paying money to the owner of those rights and the owner of those rights will stipulate that the products [such as dolls or movies] have to represent Harry Potter as he was portrayed," Mr Gehrke said.
JK Rowling does not exclusively own all Potter-related merchandise but, according to The New York Times, still collects licensing fees from them.
Warner Bros, the studio behind the seven Potter films and Fantastic Beasts, also has a fair cut — including from television and merchandise licensing deals.
Ms Parker says it was probably the "smartest thing" out of everything JK Rowling did to retain the rights over Harry Potter and the world she created.
"And look this has been a real gamble because let's face it when she did those film rights it could have all gone on the cutting room floor," she said.
How much is it worth?
According to market research and statistics group Statistic Brain, which ran the numbers on the Harry Potter movie sales, book sales, DVD/digital sales, rentals and toy sales last year, estimated sales for the franchise are worth upwards of $US24 billion (in muggle money).
| Description | Sales |
|---|---|
| Total movie sales | $US7,216,000,000 |
| Book sales (RRP: $US24.99 per book) | $US7,743,000,000 |
| DVD / digital sales | $US1,978,000,000 |
| Rentals | $US607,000,000 |
| Toy sales (estimate) | $US7,307,500,000 |
| Source: Statistic Brain set based on IMDB, Scholastic Children's Books (the US book publisher) data |
That has been backed up by Time Inc's Coinage, a video brand which covers personal finance, which reported it was worth roughly $US25 billion in March.
(Or for those of you deeply immersed in the wizarding world, approximately 51,877,678.62 Galleons, 11 sickles and 15 knuts, Coinage reports.)
Time's also included figures from the most recent Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film, with the series expected to bring in more revenue as more movies are released in the future.
Not bad for a story which, as the legend goes, was knocked back a number of times before it was taken up by Bloomsbury.
How does it compare to other franchises?
Mr Gehrke said the franchise is in "a league of its own" when it comes to the kind of success it has had.
"I think if you look at it in sheer dollar terms and the amount of money that has been invested in the brand and spent on it and the level of awareness of the brand, then you would have to say it is in a league of its own," he said.
"Then probably the next thing that comes in line after that, which is considerably more adult and less child friendly, is perhaps the Game of Thrones franchise.
"But that to date has been limited to the small screen and hasn't been commercialised through toy deals and other stuff that Harry Potter has been."
While it may be unique, it is certainly not the most successful entertainment franchise, with estimates of George Lucas' Star Wars valuing it at $30 billion and higher.
Lucas sold Lucasfilm, which owned Star Wars, for $4 billion in 2012.
But Ms Parker says what makes it different from other franchises is the backstory, adding that "the books started from such a basic existence".
"JK Rowling was a single mother, she was in quite poor conditions on the bread line so for her to have had the foresight to know that little book was going to turn into a worldwide phenomenon — there's no way she could have known that," she said.
"And I think because it's come from the purity of that story place, it doesn't come across as a horrid corporate franchise, even though it does make an awful lot of money."
Ms Parker says the origin story and Rowling, who is reported to have given quite a lot back to charity, make it look less like a franchise but a world that people can be a part of.
Topics: books-literature, business-economics-and-finance, arts-and-entertainment, industry, community-and-society, fantasy-books, united-kingdom
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