TEARS ROWL
Emotional night for JK at Scots screening
THE MIRROR (LONDON, ENGLAND)
7 NOVEMBER 2001
Harry Potter author JK Rowling made an emotional homecoming last
night at a charity screening of the long-awaited film version of
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Edinburgh fell under the spell of Rowling’s fictional young
wizard at the film’s Scottish premiere at the Ster Century Cinema at
Ocean Terminal in the city’s Leith area.
A host of stars, including television presenters Carol Smillie
and Sarah Heaney, author Ian Rankin and actor Hamish Clark,
turned out for the showing.
Arriving with boyfriend Neil Murray an hour before the screening,
the author agreed it was a special night for her.
She said: “It’s home and it’s where Harry was born, so this is a
very emotional moment for me.”
And Rowling promised her readers the fifth instalment would not
be long in coming.
She said: “It’s still not finished but I am writing very hard, so
it shouldn’t be too long.”
Rowling first penned her tale of a young boy who escapes his life
with cruel relatives to attend a school for wizards in a cafe near
her home in Edinburgh.
Across the UK, advanced booking sales for the movie are already
soaring after rave reviews following Sunday’s world premiere in
London.
The big screen version of the magical tale has already broken box
office records, taking the biggest advance bookings for a movie
release, topping the one million mark.
Last night’s event was expected to raise at least pounds 25,000
for two charities chosen by Rowling - the MS Society Scotland and
Maggies’ Cancer Care centres.
Director Chris Columbus said it was his best film-making
experience. He said: “It was a wonderful experience, mostly because
Jo Rowling was so collaborative and such a wonderful partner.
“I’m also a huge fan of the book and my goal was to remain as
faithful as possible to it.”
Crime writer Rankin said he had read the first two books and
confessed that his favourite character was the villainous Snape.
He said: “A good villain is always better than a
goody-two-shoes.”
Carol Smillie added the Philosopher’s Stone had “captured her
imagination”.
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