Driving around L.A., which is definitely an industry town, you see billboards everywhere for Harry Potter asking CONSIDER in big letters.
Obviously hoping to appeal to academy voters, the billboard is asking to consider Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 for Oscars other than the usual technical awards.
There was also a 44 page booklet in The Hollywood Reporter, and a trailer on the Warner Brothers awards site, obviously hoping to score bigger Oscar gold than Harry has in the past.
In fact, as the Reporter notes, out of all seven Potter films, there have only been nine Oscar nominations, all in technical “below-the-line categories.”
It is indeed remarkable that with a $7.6 billion worldwide gross, a proper Oscar has proven elusive time and time again for the Potter films.
Clearly Warner Brothers is pushing for Oscar gold this time, and as Sue Kroll, the president of worldwide marketing told the Reporter, “The movies have all been received as much more of a commercial venture as opposed to an artistic one. But I do think this movie is different… It really was an artistic breakthrough.”
Still, as writer Gregg Kilday points out, Potter may still have a hard road ahead to try and win Academy Awards. Only one fantasy film, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, cleaned up at the Oscars, and Potter is also facing other competition in the family film realm with Hugo, and Steven Spielberg’s upcoming War Horse.
Nevertheless, Harry Potter represents a remarkable phenomenon in literature and movies. It’s been great to see kids and adults lining up at book stores to buy the books as soon as they’re available. Plus, the movie adaptations have remained consistent and faithful to the franchise.
So even if it never wins a big Academy Award, J.K. Rowling and the filmmaking team behind Potter still have plenty to be proud of.
