The Rundown on Harry Potter

I have yet to get into Harry Potter. There's no reason for it - I'm not against the series or the author or anything like that; I've just never read any of the books in the series. I have seen pieces of some of the movies though, and I thought they were entertaining. The cool thing about series like this is that the writers develop entire worlds and characters which grow and change with the series and while young people might not realize that, it makes a lasting impression on them.

At any rate, there's a lot going on with Harry and his gang, so I figured I'd give you the Rundown. Remember, please remain seated at all times:

• The Harry Potter series has been translated into 65 languages
• The books have sold more than 325 million copies worldwide
• The movies based on the popular book series have brought in more than $3.5 billion, worldwide
• The fifth film in the series, Harry Potter and the Rise of the Phoenix, opens July 13^th, 2007
• The seventh, and final, book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, comes out July 21^st. Author, JK Rowling, has urged readers not to spoil the ending
• Author, JK Rowling, has said that at least two major characters will die in the final installment of the series
• A Harry Potter-based theme park is in the works. It will be in Florida. It is designed by the production designer who worked on the movies and has the author's blesing.

And that there's The Rundown on little Mr. Potter.