Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

2001

Chris Columbus directed the first adaptation of J.K. Rowling's novels, in which an orphan raised by neglectful relatives learns on his eleventh birthday that he is a wizard and is whisked off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson debut as Harry, Ron, and Hermione, backed by Richard Harris as Dumbledore, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, and Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid. It opened the eight-film series that became the most successful franchise of its era.