Date: 14th April 2003

Harry Potter breaks DVD sales record


Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) has become the UK's fastest-selling DVD ever.

The second in JK Rowling's best-selling series smashed the million sales mark in just two days.

It outsold the previous DVD record holder, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), by 100% in the same period.

On Friday and Saturday there were 1,763,000 combined DVD and VHS sales of the Chamber of Secrets - for which there were over half a million pre-orders.

Many retailers opened at midnight on Thursday to cope with the demand for the release, helping make opening sales 15% stronger than the record set by the first in the Potter series.

The Chamber of Secrets - in which Harry must defeat the evil force which is threatening his Hogwarts school - took £53 million at the UK box office and recorded the most successful opening weekend in UK cinema history.

Potter fans who buy the DVD will get 19 additional or extended scenes, guided tours of Hogwarts and Diagon Alley, and a chance to take a sneak look inside the Chamber of Secrets itself.

Source: Press Release