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CNN Live Saturday
Potter Mania Kicks Off Worldwide
Aired June 21, 2003 - 16:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A boy sorcerer's working his magic. Once again, Harry Potter is making millions of books disappear from bookstores worldwide. The latest wave of Potter mania kicked off early today as the fifth installment of the series went on sale. Here's CNN's Diana Muriel from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The new Harry Potter book flying off the shelves faster than a wizard can wave his wand. Potter fans queued outside book shops around the world to ensure they got their hands on a copy of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Enchanted by the tale of the schoolboy wizard fighting the forces of evil, kids just can't get enough.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I went outside yesterday, and I queued outside at 12:00 midnight and had bought the book, and it was amazing.
MURIEL: Children were treated to all kinds of special events and parties by book shops in a bid to help sales. But it's not just kids who have fallen under the Potter spell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's intriguing, and I've been waiting for it to come, really.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Harry Potter. It's the biggest thing in the world. It's something everybody wants to be a part of it.
MURIEL: By midway, book shops in central London were selling out of all the special adult cover editions of the book, aimed at those grownups too embarrassed to be seen reading a child's book.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The other books are on the backlist titles. They always took long, but never as well as the children's editions. So I think we've all been surprised at how many people were wanting the adult edition. So I think lots of people are wanting the adult and the children edition.
MURIEL: Thirteen million copies of the book have been published in the first run; 8.5 million alone for the U.S. market.
(on camera): The tills have been ringing in central London throughout the day as customers queue up to get their hands on a copy of the new book. And that could make "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" the fastest selling book in history, beating the record that was set by the previous book, when 5.1 million copies vanished from the shelves on the first weekend of its launch.
Diana Muriel, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 21, 2003 - 16:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A boy sorcerer's working his magic. Once again, Harry Potter is making millions of books disappear from bookstores worldwide. The latest wave of Potter mania kicked off early today as the fifth installment of the series went on sale. Here's CNN's Diana Muriel from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The new Harry Potter book flying off the shelves faster than a wizard can wave his wand. Potter fans queued outside book shops around the world to ensure they got their hands on a copy of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Enchanted by the tale of the schoolboy wizard fighting the forces of evil, kids just can't get enough.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I went outside yesterday, and I queued outside at 12:00 midnight and had bought the book, and it was amazing.
MURIEL: Children were treated to all kinds of special events and parties by book shops in a bid to help sales. But it's not just kids who have fallen under the Potter spell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's intriguing, and I've been waiting for it to come, really.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Harry Potter. It's the biggest thing in the world. It's something everybody wants to be a part of it.
MURIEL: By midway, book shops in central London were selling out of all the special adult cover editions of the book, aimed at those grownups too embarrassed to be seen reading a child's book.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The other books are on the backlist titles. They always took long, but never as well as the children's editions. So I think we've all been surprised at how many people were wanting the adult edition. So I think lots of people are wanting the adult and the children edition.
MURIEL: Thirteen million copies of the book have been published in the first run; 8.5 million alone for the U.S. market.
(on camera): The tills have been ringing in central London throughout the day as customers queue up to get their hands on a copy of the new book. And that could make "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" the fastest selling book in history, beating the record that was set by the previous book, when 5.1 million copies vanished from the shelves on the first weekend of its launch.
Diana Muriel, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
