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Which will be bigger, HP or LOTR?

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Author	Topic: Which will be bigger, HP or LOTR?

JoeinAr Standard Userer	Simple question really, which film will be the bigger boxoffice hit, Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone(Philosopher's Stone) or Lord of the Rings/Fellowship of the Rings. Both have great looking trailers, great cast, and large number of followers. The real answer will not be known until sometime in January or February 2002.
posted 10-18-2001 02:00 PM PT (US)

TimT Standard Userer	The Lord of Rings. All major theaters will promote the movie big time, with T-Shirts, Buttons, Sneak Previews and other stuff.
posted 10-18-2001 02:04 PM PT (US)

TimT Standard Userer	...But if you're talking about the soundtrack then Harry Potter will be more popular. (I think) but as for the movie (I know)
posted 10-18-2001 02:05 PM PT (US)

John Zimmer Standard Userer	They will both be big I have no idea which will be a larger hit though. HP is new and exciting but LOTR has been around longer and is considered a classic. Jz
posted 10-18-2001 02:09 PM PT (US)

JoeinAr Standard Userer	My own personal feeling is that Harry Potter will be far bigger. It has the better release date of the two films. It has been the most popular book series over the last several years. It still outselling LOTR in the book stores. Sales of new LOTR mdse. is less than expected so far, but that may change. As far as the novels themselves HP is more accessable to girls than is LOTR. And last but not least there is a geek stigma associated with LOTR that isn't with Harry Potter. I am not trying to insult anyone but that stigma is there.
posted 10-18-2001 02:31 PM PT (US)

SEBULBA Standard Userer	I think HP. If for nothing else than the fact that it's appeal is to younger people, and over the holidays, kids will flood to the theatres to see it. I don't think LOTR will appeal to as young a crowd. They may be close, but I think HP will be bigger.
posted 10-18-2001 04:07 PM PT (US)

Quill Standard Userer	Just as every child in American screamed..."I must read Harry Potter" (which is a good thing!) so will every child scream "I must see the movie too!" I feel LOTR will have more staying power though...another item to consider...a near three hour running time means fewer shows per theater.
posted 10-18-2001 04:26 PM PT (US)

Scott Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by JoeinAr: there is a geek stigma associated with LOTR that isn't with Harry Potter. Excuse me? There is a huge geek stigma associated with Potter. I have five nephews, and no countless of their friends. They think Harry Potter readers (and I am not here to offend either) are major geeks. You need to stay in touch with the young crowd more my friend. Heck, Potter looks like a geek....(this is gonna cost me ain't it? Yup, it's gonna cost me). Scott
posted 10-18-2001 05:11 PM PT (US)

TimT Standard Userer	No one in my family knows anything about Harry Potter, and I wouldn't have known either if its score had not been dicussed over the net. I don't know much about The Lord of Rings either, but I know its fantasy and I like that kinda stuff, plus the trailers look great.
posted 10-18-2001 05:24 PM PT (US)

wistiti Standard Userer	Another wrong prediction by wistiti: Opening Weekend: LOTR. Ongoing Longevity and Overall BoxOffice Success: HP. (unless in another useless move HP decides to buy Dell or one of it's other competitors, but that's a different topic)
posted 10-18-2001 06:19 PM PT (US)

James Standard Userer	Who cares? I'm seeing them both. The only prediction I can pretty confidently make is that I will most likely see FOTR five times in the theater, while I will see Potter only twice. I'm not sure the release dates make that much of a difference in this case. Potter's mid-November may have a better history thatn LOTR's mid-December, but both of the films have been so heavily advertised that I don't think their release dates will have any effect other than the competition they're up against. Potter is up against practically nothing, so it has an advantage there, but now that Scorcese's Gangs of New York has moved to Spring, LOTR's biggest contender is gone, and it's most difficult competition now is The Majestic. (I feel sorry for Jimmy Neutron, which looks like a really fun little flick.) And Scott is correct, there is a huge geek stigma attached to Harry Potter among anyone who has not read the books. And one more thing... I'm not so sure that Harry Potter is still outselling LOTR in book stores. At least in the book store at which I work, we have sold 2 Harry Potter books (1 Sorcerer's Stone, 1 Prisoner) in the last three months, but we've been selling Tolkien by the barrell. And not just The Hobbit and LOTR... we're routinely selling the Atlas of Middle-Earth, all the books in the History of Middle-Earth, the Silmarillion, After the King, The Tolkien Companion, the Tolkien Bestiary, and even Bored of the Rings. They're all being bought like crazy. The one-volume paperback, in fact, has been in our top-ten bestellers for two weeks (it was in the top 25 for quite a long time prior), and Harry, I'm sorry to say, hasn't seen our bestseller list in ages. But maybe we're just weird. James NP - A Different Light (Anne Dudley, *****)
posted 10-18-2001 08:43 PM PT (US)

Andr� Lux Standard Userer	Mine is bigger. Sorry.
posted 10-18-2001 09:48 PM PT (US)

Crono/Kyp Standard Userer	Do you really need to ask me this question? While I am looking forward to LOTR, I mean really --Brian
posted 10-18-2001 10:52 PM PT (US)

Aaron R. Brown Standard Userer	I don't know anything about Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. However I am looking forward to Harry Potter because its trailer has been out in the public more than Lord of the Rings. I don't believe I have yet seen Lord of the Ring's trailer. I have just been seeing it's promo stuff at Barnes and Noble.
posted 10-19-2001 05:09 AM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by James: The only prediction I can pretty confidently make is that I will most likely see FOTR five times in the theater, while I will see Potter only twice. Same here! quote: *And Scott is correct, there is a huge* geek stigma attached to Harry Potter among anyone who has not read the books. HEEHEEHEE. quote: we're routinely selling the Atlas of Middle-Earth, all the books in the History of Middle-Earth, the Silmarillion, After the King, The Tolkien Companion, the Tolkien Bestiary**, and even Bored of the Rings.[/B] What's THAT!?
posted 10-19-2001 05:51 AM PT (US)

Jennie Standard Userer	Oh...so you're calling me a geek now???
posted 10-19-2001 06:52 AM PT (US)

bulleteyes Non-Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by JoeinAr: Simple question really, which film will be the bigger boxoffice hit, Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone(Philosopher's Stone) or Lord of the Rings/Fellowship of the Rings. Both have great looking trailers, great cast, and large number of followers. The real answer will not be known until sometime in January or February 2002. My 23-year-old braniac daughter has read all the Harry Potter books, her 36-year-old braniac companion has read all of Tolkien. They are now both psyched to see each film after seeing the spectacular previews. Neither one of them had the slighest interest in the other film until the trailers came out, and then WHOOM, they both are going nuts to see both films. The crossover potential might just be very large. If nothing else, the audiences for each film are going to be fascinating. Imagine all of those Tolkien fans in one place, I think a time displacement paradox is not out of the question.
posted 10-19-2001 03:26 PM PT (US)

James Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by Marian Schedenig: What's THAT!? Which one? After the King is a collection of stories by different authors "in honor of" J.R.R. Tolkien; The Tolkien Companion I haven't examined in detail, seems like a bunch of art and synopses for a bargain price; The Tolkien Bestiary is a collection of an artist's renditions of Middle-Earth creatures, and Bored of the Rings is a satirical novel by the Harvard Lampoon.
posted 10-19-2001 08:28 PM PT (US)

James Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by Jennie: Oh...so you're calling me a geek now??? We're all in it together.
posted 10-19-2001 08:36 PM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Standard Userer	[QUOTE]Originally posted by James: Which one?[/quotes] Thanks! I knew about Bored of the Rings (though I've yet to read it), but the other three titles were completely new to me. But I need to get the Atlas and the various History of Middle Earth parts first. My christmas wishlist is probably long enough for several years already.
posted 10-20-2001 06:20 AM PT (US)

John Zimmer Standard Userer	I don't care which one is a bigger hit there both gonna be darn cool!!! Jz [Message edited by John Zimmer on 10-20-2001]
posted 10-20-2001 06:37 AM PT (US)

Spicy Ramen Standard Userer	Harry Potter would attract kids, while Lord of the Rings would attract both kids and adults alike. Adults who watch Harry Potter will do so only for the sake of their nagging children
posted 10-20-2001 08:55 PM PT (US)

Crono/Kyp Standard Userer	Not true... / --Brian
posted 10-20-2001 09:54 PM PT (US)

James Standard Userer	Decidedly not.
posted 10-20-2001 10:00 PM PT (US)

Crono/Kyp Standard Userer	On Nov 16th...Live the Magic! --Bri
posted 10-20-2001 10:03 PM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by Spicy Ramen: Adults who watch Harry Potter will do so only for the sake of their nagging children I don't have children. Adults would go watch a The Hobbit film, so why wouldn't they want to see Potter.
posted 10-21-2001 05:37 AM PT (US)

Soundtracker Standard Userer	quote: Which will be bigger, HP or LOTR? I guess LOTR. It's going to run for 3 hours.
posted 10-21-2001 08:45 AM PT (US)

Nicolai P. Zwar Standard Userer	To say it with Rhett Buttler's words as spoken by Clark Gable: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn", since box-office receipts are hardly an indication of quality. THE LORD OF THE RINGS is the more ambitious and challenging project, though. It is a literary classic and certainly the movie I am looking most forward to at the moment. HARRY POTTER may well turn out to be a good movie, but I don't consider the Harry Potter books in the same league as Tolkien. Not that they are bad (they are not), but they are a different ballgame.
posted 10-21-2001 09:07 AM PT (US)

Shaun Rutherford Standard Userer	TimT wrote all this: "No one in my family knows anything about Harry Potter, and I wouldn't have known either if its score had not been dicussed over the net. I don't know much about The Lord of Rings either, but I know its fantasy and I like that kinda stuff, plus the trailers look great." Dude, you and your family must leave your cave RIGHT NOW. Start reading, ass. Shaun
posted 10-21-2001 10:02 AM PT (US)

Crono/Kyp Standard Userer	Shaun speaks the truth, as always --Bri
posted 10-21-2001 10:55 AM PT (US)

Nicolai P. Zwar Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by Shaun Rutherford: TimT wrote all this: "No one in my family knows anything about Harry Potter, and I wouldn't have known either if its score had not been dicussed over the net. I don't know much about The Lord of Rings either, but I know its fantasy and I like that kinda stuff, plus the trailers look great." Dude, you and your family must leave your cave RIGHT NOW. That could be tricky, since it just has to be a remote, isolated, sealed, and soundproof cave.
posted 10-22-2001 05:52 AM PT (US)

Hornerfan Standard Userer	Question: does anyone know if LOTR will have the same problem with Regal Cinemas that Rush Hour 2 did? It didn't seem to hurt RH2's success, but having LOTR in the biggest theatre chain in the country would be nice. Besides, I know where I live, the lines were HUGE to get into RH2 because only a couple of decent theatres wound up showing it! Mike
posted 10-22-2001 04:05 PM PT (US)

odinatheforestcat Standard Userer	Boy, could you guys have not been more wrong! Wow!
posted 08-30-2004 05:32 PM PT (US)

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