<P> Rowling had creative control on the film series, observing the filmmaking process of Philosopher's Stone and serving as producer on the two - part Deathly Hallows, alongside David Heyman and David Barron . The Harry Potter films have been top - rank box office hits, with all eight releases on the list of highest - grossing films worldwide . Philosopher's Stone was the highest - grossing Harry Potter film up until the release of the final instalment of the series, Deathly Hallows, while Prisoner of Azkaban grossed the least . As well as being a financial success, the film series has also been a success among film critics . </P> <P> Opinions of the films are generally divided among fans, with one group preferring the more faithful approach of the first two films, and another group preferring the more stylised character - driven approach of the later films . Rowling has been constantly supportive of all the films and evaluated Deathly Hallows as her "favourite one" in the series . She wrote on her website of the changes in the book - to - film transition, "It is simply impossible to incorporate every one of my storylines into a film that has to be kept under four hours long . Obviously films have restrictions novels do not have, constraints of time and budget; I can create dazzling effects relying on nothing but the interaction of my own and my readers' imaginations". </P> <P> At the 64th British Academy Film Awards in February 2011, Rowling was joined by producers David Heyman and David Barron along with directors David Yates, Alfonso Cuarón and Mike Newell in collecting the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema on behalf of all the films in the series . Actors Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, who play main characters Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, were also in attendance . </P> <P> A new series consisting of five films, beginning with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, will take place before the main series . The first film was released on 18 November 2016 and the next two are due to be released in 2018 and 2020 . Rowling wrote the screenplay for the first instalment, marking her first foray into screenwriting . </P>

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