The stars of the sixth Harry Potter film walked up the red carpet in London Tuesday to a rapturous welcome from thousands of fans who braved pouring rain for the world premiere of the new movie.
The pre-release buzz suggests “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will add a sizeable chunk to the $4.5 billion in box office receipts already earned by the Potter movie franchise.
The film opens to the public in Europe on July 15, and in the United States and Japan two days later, after being moved back from its original release date of November 2008.
There was controversy just hours before the premiere, when London police charged Jamie Waylett, 19, who plays side-kick Vincent Crabbe to villain Draco Malfoy in the movies, with illegally growing cannabis plants.
One of the main actors, Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley, attended the premiere after making a swift recovery from a mild case of swine flu last week.
“Swine flu is nothing really, I found out. It’s just like normal flu, it’s just that you are in bed for a while, he told AFP on the red carpet.
Grint took his place alongside co-stars Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry, and Emma Watson, better known to fans as the nerdy Hermione Granger.
Radcliffe, 19, said he would miss the character when the Potter films come to an end in 2011, but also admitted he was looking forward to being able to pick and choose other projects.
“It’s going to be very, very sad to finish these movies but at the same time it will be exciting, there’s more stuff to move on to, so I’m not purely depressed about finishing them, he said.
The trio have appeared in all six films so far, after being plucked from obscurity, and have spent nearly half their lives on the set or preparing for the big screen versions of the phenomenally popular J.K. Rowling books.
Fans, some huddled under umbrellas in pouring rain, had gathered in London’s Leicester Square hours before the premiere, and said they were enjoying growing up with the characters.
Rowling herself signed autographs and copies of her books for fans before heading into the premiere.
After the red-carpet spectacular, the actors will continue filming the final two movies in the series – the concluding book “Harry Potter and the Deathly Harrows was thought too plot-heavy for just one film.
“The Half-Blood Prince shows raging teenage hormones stalking the corridors of Hogwarts school and sets the scene for the looming final battle between Harry and his nemesis Lord Voldemort in the concluding films.
Director David Yates, who returns for his second Potter film and is helming the final two as well, said: “For me this film marks a transition. The hormones are starting to fly.
But Watson, who has grown from a shy 10-year-old in the first film to an elegant 19-year-old who models for fashion house Burberry, quashed any thoughts of real romance between the stars.
“We have grown up together from the age of 10 to 19 or 20, and we are just like siblings. There is nothing between the three of us, she said on Monday.
The actors wore white ribbons on their wrists at the premiere as a mark of respect for murdered cast member Rob Knox, who was stabbed to death outside a bar last year just days after completing the film.
