The biggest Hollywood movie premiere of all time
Premieres have been part and parcel of Hollywood for decades, with the great and the good of the industry gathering to walk the red carpet while dressed to the nines, signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans to drum up as much support as possible for an incoming project.
Not every movie gets to have a glitzy, glamorous, and star-studded first screening, though, and only one of them managed to set a record for being the largest to ever take place. Ironically, it didn’t even happen in Tinseltown, with London the destination for a ridiculously lengthy red carpet.
By the time it bowed out of cinemas with the release of Deathly Hallows – Part 2, the Harry Potter franchise was the highest-grossing film series in history, although that accolade would be snatched away soon after and eventually extended into an unassailable lead by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
At the height of its popularity, the live-action adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s literary series were a cultural juggernaut, necessitating the need for a super-sized premiere by the time the final chapter rolled around. Fans had become used to camping out and squeezing through the crowd to catch a glimpse of the various familiar faces across the previous seven maiden screenings, but stops were pulled out to ensure as many of them as possible could attend the second half of Deathly Hallows.
Per Guinness World Records, Warner Bros quite literally rolled out the red carpet for over a quarter of a mile, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2‘s premiere extending from Trafalgar Square to Leicester Square, running for a mammoth 455 metres, or 1492 feet.
Despite that, by the time Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and the rest of the assorted Hogwarts alumni arrived at their destination, either side of the carpet was stacked to bursting point with dedicated Potterheads who’d made a mad dash in the hopes of securing an elusive wristband that would guarantee them a prime location along the route trodden by the stars of the Wizarding World.
However, as was noted by The Standard, “those who were not lucky enough to get a wristband were not put off,” with thousands lining up further down the route instead. Warner Bros clearly anticipated that the demand to be even within 1500 feet of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 premiere would be astronomical, which the studio opted to resolve by setting a world record.
Of course, shattering existing benchmarks was something the Harry Potter brand had become accustomed to in multiple forms of media away from the silver screen, with the extravagant red carpet ensuring that it would add yet another accolade to its collection as the eight-film franchise signed off after a decade in the spotlight.
