ABC has acquired the television rights to Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and its sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, for a sum that could reach $140 million. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the deal is one of the most expensive in TV history.
The network reportedly paid between $60 and $70 million for each of the Harry Potter films, depending on the box office performance of Chamber of Secrets, which opens in November 2002.
The deal gives ABC a 10-year license for both Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets, including all non-pay television rights. During that licensing period, the network can air the films on the Walt Disney Co.-owned cable networks Disney Channel and ABC Family.
ABC spent about the same amount for the TV rights for Universal’s Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The network paid $60 million for a 10-year deal also shared with the Disney Channel.
Sorcerer’s Stone broke the box office record for the largest three-day gross the weekend before Thanksgiving. The film also earned the highest single-day grosses in its first two days of release and tied Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace‘s speed record by hitting the $100 million mark on its fifth day of release.
The J.K. Rowling books revolve around Harry Potter, a young wizard, and his friends studying magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution president Eric Frankel told The Hollywood Reporter the film is part of a new effort by the network to focus on family entertainment.
“Harry Potter is already considered a timeless family classic that audiences all over the world have embraced in record numbers,” he said. “We think that ABC, with its multifamily platforms, is a terrific vehicle to showcase this film, which is a phenomena like very few others in the history of our business.”
