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“Our childhood is ending.”
That was the theme of the night as roughly 4,000 Harry Potter enthusiasts took over Harkins Theatres in Tempe Marketplace on Thursday.
A worldwide phenomenon that consumed a generation when the first book was released in 1998 closed its final chapter with “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.”
Dumbledores, Harry Potters and Draco Malfoys were in a line that was already wrapped around the back of the building by 4 p.m.
Psychology junior Abby Henderson, with a lightning bolt on her forehead and the seventh Harry Potter book in her lap, anxiously waited in the Cine Capri Theater, which can seat up to 600 people.
“I read the first book in 1998, so for me it’s been 13 years of love for Harry Potter and it all ends tonight,” she said. “Turning 18 meant nothing compared to tonight.”
Henderson is one of several students that will be taking the honors class, “Harry Potter Inside and Out,” in the fall.
But all talk of childhood endings was met with smiles and jubilation.
For photography and art history junior Duston Mazzella, who is a member of the ASU Quidditch club, the final Harry Potter movie was a “celebration” of a tale that many young adults have grown up with.
“It’s nothing sad really,” he said. “This was a great thing that happened to us and we should celebrate it.”
Harkins Theatres was ready, and they made sure that the final Harry Potter midnight premiere was done right.
Shade tents, water and cooling systems were all made available for fans waiting in lines during the hot hours of the day, and several earlier movies were canceled to allow fans to move inside and get out of the heat.
All of the accommodations were planned well before July 14, said Bryan Laurel, Director of Marketing for Harkins Theaters
“This is our Super Bowl,” Laurel said in the lobby of the theater. “This is the result of about six weeks and hundreds of hours of planning both at our corporate office and then at the theater level trying to think of everything to keep everyone comfortable.”
All 16 screens were sold out at Harkins Tempe Marketplace 16, and a few theaters were opened for 3 a.m. showings.
“This is just as fun for us as it is for the moviegoers,” Laurel said.
Check out the movie review too!
A live musical performance by Cunning Productions in the Cine Capri Theater exemplified the aura of the night.The performers, made up of mostly ASU and Mesa Community College students, entertained the Cine Capri audience for 20 minutes before stepping outside for an hour-long production.
It was a theater full of a united fan base.
Film and media productions junior Alexis Bristor, captain of the ASU Quidditch team, believes that while the Harry Potter productions are ending, the love for the series will never die out.
“The coolest thing about Quidditch is that it is keeping it alive,” she said. “It’s taking it into the real world.”
ASU’s other Harry Potter related club, ASU Dumbledore’s Army, was founded by a member of the ASU Quidditch club in 2010.
The Quidditch team is currently ranked second in the world, according to the International Quidditch Association standings, and will play in the Quidditch World Cup in New York City in November.
So once the tears have been wiped away and the final Harry Potter movie is no longer showing in theaters, the legacy and the social phenomenon will continue on.
But for now, no new pages will be turned.
“It started our childhood and now it’s ending it,” Bristor said.
Reach the reporter at nathan.meacham@asu.edu
