Bloomsbury unveils big plans for 25th anniversary of first Harry Potter book

Harry Potter has quite a year ahead, with the movie franchise celebrating its 20th anniversary and the very first book in the series — Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Sorcerer’s Stone for Americans) — turning 25. Plans to celebrate the movies are already in full swing with the recent Back to Hogwarts virtual fan event, Harkins Theatres showing all eight movies through September, and the return of all eight films to HBO Max.

Now, Bloomsbury, the U.K. publisher of the Harry Potter series, has shared its plans for their year-long celebration of the book series. Fun fact: the first edition of the first book only ran 500 copies! Imagine having your hands on one of those originals…

Since that original run, J.K. Rowling’s series has sold over 500 million copies and been translated into over 80 languages. lt became a worldwide phenomenon that went beyond books into movies, theme parks, and Broadway plays.

And now, with a year of celebrations ahead, Bloomsbury has quite the itinerary prepared for fans all around the world, according to its website.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone turns 25 years old

The first book was published on June 26, 1997, but the 25th anniversary celebrations will run past that date in 2022 through Harry Potter’s birthday (July 31) and continue on to Back to Hogwarts celebrations on September 1. When they said it’s a year-long celebration, they meant it!

Getting things started in January 2022 is a revamp of the first book’s illustrated editions by Johnny Duddle. Covers of these new editions will have a silver foil to mark the silver anniversary year. Moving into February, Bloomsbury will have their annual Harry Potter Book Night with a themed celebration, and release House Editions Box Sets with covers and illustrations done by Levi Pinfold. There will be four box sets available dedicated to each of the four houses of Hogwarts. March will see the launch a paperback edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a spinoff book that will feature a brand-new cover with an art print of Harry, Hermione and Ron.

Perhaps the most exciting thing of all will happen on June 9, 2022 when fans can get their own copy of a commemorative hardback edition of the first book. It will have the original cover design by Thomas Taylor on it plus new bonus material that will be available for one year only. The back cover of the book will feature Albus Dumbledore rather than the original random wizard that Taylor created for the book’s original publication.

You can pre-order your own copy by clicking here!

And if all of this isn’t enough to make Potterheads in the audience freak out, Bloomsbury is also planing an outdoor Harry Potter installation sometime next year. There’s also the third Fantastic Beasts movie, which is slated to release in July of 2022 (COVID-19 delays pending, of course).

Despite all the hype, the controversy over J.K. Rowling’s transphobic comments has led many fans away from the franchise, which might put a damper on Bloomsbury celebrations. They will likely keep the marketing focused on the books themselves rather than on the author.

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h/t Forbes