Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone follows an orphan who learns on his eleventh birthday that he is a wizard and starts his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Until that day Harry lives unhappily with his aunt, uncle and cousin, and he sleeps in a cupboard under the stairs.

The giant Hagrid then turns up at the door and tells Harry two things at once: that he is a wizard, and that he is famous in the wizarding world for surviving an attack by the dark wizard Voldemort when he was a baby. Hagrid takes him shopping in a hidden London street, where Harry buys his wand and school supplies.

Harry then boards the Hogwarts Express, where he meets Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and the three arrive at the school. Everything after that point reveals the story, so it is kept in the spoiler flagged summary that follows.

In full, the film is a race to protect a magical object from a thief, and the thief turns out to be someone other than the obvious suspect. Harry has been raised by relatives who hid his magical heritage from him, and Hagrid rescues him from them and brings him into the wizarding world.

At Hogwarts, Harry is sorted into Gryffindor and becomes friends with Ron and Hermione, while he clashes with the rival student Draco Malfoy. The three friends discover that a three headed dog is guarding a trapdoor in a forbidden corridor. They learn that the dog is protecting the sorcerer's stone, an object that can give its owner endless life. Meanwhile Harry joins the house Quidditch team as Seeker, and he comes to suspect that the stern teacher Snape wants to steal the Stone.

When Dumbledore is called away from the school, the three friends decide to reach the Stone first. They get past a series of magical traps, including a giant living chess game, and Ron and Hermione are left behind along the way. Harry goes on alone and finds Professor Quirrell waiting, not Snape. Quirrell is carrying Voldemort's weakened spirit on the back of his head.

The Stone is hidden in an enchanted mirror, and Harry wins it because he only wants to find it, not to use it. Quirrell is hurt when he touches Harry, and Voldemort's spirit flees. Harry wakes in the hospital wing, where Dumbledore tells him the Stone has been destroyed and that his mother's love protected him. Gryffindor wins the House Cup, and Harry heads home for the summer.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone opened in US theaters on November 16, 2001, and in the UK on the same day, with Australia following on November 29, 2001. All three dates are reported rather than confirmed by a studio release.

The world premiere came earlier, on Sunday, November 4, 2001, at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. Police estimates put the crowd at more than 10,000 fans, according to Dawn, and J.K. Rowling received the biggest cheers of the night.

The film was the first to be called Sorcerer's Stone in the US, according to NPR station KUNC, so American audiences met it under a different name from the one used in the UK.

The commercial result matched the scale of the launch. Box Office Mojo lists $319.8 million domestic and $714.8 million international, for a worldwide total of about $1.03 billion on a $125 million budget. The full picture across the saga is on the harry potter box office page.

The ending of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone keeps the Stone out of Voldemort's hands but leaves Voldemort's spirit alive, and that second half is what carries the series forward. Harry defeats Quirrell, and the weakened spirit that rode on the back of Quirrell's head flees instead of dying.

The mirror is the part of the ending I find most carefully built. Harry gets the Stone because he only wants to find it, not to use it, so the final test rewards motive rather than skill. The earlier traps, including the giant living chess game, can be passed by cooperation, and Ron and Hermione are left behind along the way. In my opinion, that is why the last room has to be faced alone: it is the one test that asks what Harry wants, and no friend can answer that for him.

Dumbledore's explanation in the hospital wing then settles why Quirrell was hurt when he touched Harry. The Stone has been destroyed, and Harry's mother's sacrifice shielded him. It could be argued that this is the film's one piece of heavy exposition, but it also plants the rule that the series keeps returning to, namely that Harry survives because of what was done for him.

The quieter closing beats matter as well. Gryffindor wins the House Cup after a last minute award of points, and Harry leaves Hogwarts for the holidays now sure that it is his real home. The escape of Voldemort's spirit sets up the threat that carries through the rest of the series. Ralph Fiennes plays Lord Voldemort in harry potter and the goblet of fire, in harry potter and the order of the phoenix and in both Deathly Hallows films. For the order in which to watch what follows, see harry potter movies in order.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was filmed on location in England. Warner Bros. announced this in March 2000, when Chris Columbus was hired, and location filming was expected to begin in the summer of 2000. The announcement did not name individual sites.

The story itself moves between the Dursleys' home, a hidden London street and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Each later film in the harry potter movies series has its own page.

The production history of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone includes several facts that shaped the rest of the series.

• Warner Bros. announced Chris Columbus as director on March 28, 2000, and the studio wanted a director with an affinity for both children and magic.
• Warner Bros. had acquired the rights to the first four books of a planned seven book series, with Steve Kloves writing the screenplay and David Heyman producing.
• The film was released in the US under the title Sorcerer's Stone, while the UK title kept Philosopher's Stone.
• Richard Harris played Dumbledore here, and Michael Gambon took over the role from the third film onward.
• The film is chronologically the fourth in the saga. The three Fantastic Beasts films, starting with fantastic beasts and where to find them, are set earlier.

The story is also being retold for television. The HBO series is reported to have its first season dated December 25, 2026, on HBO, according to TODAY. The new harry potter movie page and the harry potter tv series page track what is coming.