(AKA Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)

Directed by:
Chris Columbus

Starring:
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry James Potter
Rupert Grint as Ronald 'Ron' Weasley
Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
Robbie Coltrane as Gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid
Richard Harris as Headmaster Albus Dumbledore
Maggie Smith as Professor/Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall
Alan Rickman as Professor Severus Snape
Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy
Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom
John Hurt as Mr. Ollivander

• Author J.K. Rowling insisted the cast of the movie be British. - kyara

• A boy named Joe Sowerbutts provided the voice of Harry Potter when the original Harry, Daniel Radcliffe's voice started to crack. - kyara
  • Correction: Daniel Radcliffe provided all of Harry's lines. It is true that his voice did change throughout the filming of the movie, but since each scene was filmed in chronological order (very unusual), the change is hardly noticeable. - D

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" is known everywhere in the world expect the USA as "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, so every time any actor in the movie said the name of the stone it had to be filmed once as "sorcerer's stone" and then again as "philosopher's stone". - kyara
  • Correction: I would like to correct you here, Kyara, firstly Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is mainly none to be that in America, and is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone to the other parts in the world, I should know that, it is called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Europe, Australia (I am Aussie) ect ect, and the only reason why it was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in America is because Americans don't really know what a philosopher is, and just think it as sorcerers. - Prisca_Greenleak
    • Comment: Check it out, beotch! Phi-los-o-pher = function=noun Middle English modification of Middle French word philosophe, from Latin philosophus, from Greek philosophos, from phil- + sophia meaning wisdom, from sophos meaning wise. It is a 14th century based word. 1a: a person who seeks wisdom or enlightenment, aka SCHOLAR or a THINKER. b: a student of philosophy. 2a: a person whose philosophical perspective makes meeting trouble with equanimity easier. b: an expounder of a theory in a particular area of experience. c: one who philosophizes. Eat that Bitch! You say Americans don't know things? Well what the hell does a damn "Aussie" know? - stevo
  • Comment: Why is it that America has to be different all the time? If you know what a Philosopher is then why change names of movies that are made? If the rest of the world can accept it then why can't America! - charmed1
    • Comment: I don't think its ALL of America they were aiming for. The majority of the movie's appeal is to younger kids, so Sorcerer would make it more Magical then the original title to kids. That is my take on it. - Mel
    • Comment: In America it's called "The Sorcerer's Stone" because the publishers and the PR for the book knew nobody would be interested by a "Philosopher's Stone", so when they changed the book title for America, they had to also change the movie title so we wouldn't get confused. It had nothing to do with Americans being stupid. - Chelsea
    • Comment: Being an American, I take great offense to "if the rest of the world can accept it then why can't America!" For one, because until I was searching for Harry Potter news, I didn't even know it was called anything else. I for one do not care which it is called, for I understand the meaning each way. For the discrepancy of the titles, I can only guess the reason. In America, the word philosopher connotates one who studies beliefs regarding if we exist, God, the universe and so on. A sorcerer, would be a person practicing witchcraft, enchantment or magic. For the subject matter of the book is mostly magic and witch craft, through our definitions, the word "sorcerer" makes more sense. I am unaware of course what J.K. Rowling was referring to when she titled the book. However, it seems most likely, that when the book was published for American audiences, it was switched based on the cultural differences between the USA and as we have so boldly put it, the rest of the world. I don't honestly think it matter's much, for I am sure we all understand exactly what it means either way it is written. - HrtShpdLithium
    • Comment: That's kind of sad, when someone would say Americans wouldn't know what a philosopher is. The fact is, it wasn't necessarily to do with the definition of the word. For one, I'm not sure what the words might say in anyone else's dictionary, but in mine, which btw, I am American, it says a sorcerer is someone who deals with magic and a philosopher is someone dealing with more or less beliefs in or about things. If we're talking about the books in general, at least to us, it makes more sense that it would be Sorcerer's Stone, being that the book deals with magic. From what I can gather, the reasoning was mostly that things in the books that might not make sense to American readers were changed for understanding. Hence, the name of the book was changed to make sure there was no misunderstanding of what the book was about, in essence at least. For an example other than the title, the word "booger" is used in the American version, while the international version, at least from my sources, indeed uses "bogey". In America, we probably would have no clue what that meant, other than a golfing term! Below, is something I found on yahoo! in their movie section that might just shed some light on the topic. . .
      "The first book in the Harry Potter series and the movie adaptation both have a different title in the United Kingdom. British author J.K. Rowling titled her first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and her British publisher, Bloomsbury Publishing, retained that title. Scholastic later published the book in the U.S., changing the title to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and making other minor changes. When Warner Brothers -- an American company -- bought the movie rights, it kept the American book title.
      The Harry Potter in Tayside site quotes Rowling's explanation: Arthur Levine, my American editor, and I decided that words should be altered only where we felt they would be incomprehensible, even in context, to an American reader... The title change was Arthur's idea initially, because he felt that the British title gave a misleading idea of the subject matter. In England, we discussed several alternative titles and Sorcerer's Stone was my idea.
      Other sources offer slightly different reasons for the title change. The Harry Potter Lexicon says, "Scholastic thought that a child wouldn't buy a book with the word 'philosopher' in the title." The U.K.-based Harry Potter Teaching Resources site suggests that the book was retitled "...presumably to make it sound more magic orientated rather than philosophy orientated!"
      Perhaps Scholastic doubted that American grade-schoolers would be familiar with the mythic philosopher's stone, a mineral substance that could transform base metal into gold. Alchemists of the Middle Ages sought to discover the stone and attributed many great powers to it.As a result of the name change, all the scenes in the movie that mention the stone were filmed twice -- once with actors saying "sorcerer's" and once with them saying "philosopher's." Maybe the alternate versions of those scenes will turn up on DVD someday soon." - AntigoneGT
  • Comment: I don't think the film title should have been changed. The philosopher's stone is not something belonging to a philosopher or a sorcerer, or something that JKR made up: it is a substance thought by alchemists to be capable of transmuting base metals into gold. A sorcerer's stone would be something else entirely. (Source: website) - DocCox

• Steven Spielberg was going to be the director of this movie, but got dumped as he was going to make the movie in America, set in an American high school and was going to cast Haley Joel Osment (Sixth Sense and A.I boy) as Harry but when he didn't get it (After Spielberg was turned down) Haley said "I don't think that Harry Potter should be made into a movie." Talk about sore loser!!!! - Prisca_Greenleak

• Richard Harris (Dumbledore) wasn't going to play Professor Dumbledore until his grand daughter called him up and said "If you don't play Dumbledore, I'll never speak to you again!" So he did!!! - Prisca Greenleak

• The little red-head girl who is called "Susan Bones" in the sorting scene and is then sorted into Hufflepuff house is later seen in a lesson only for Gryffindor and Slytherin pupils. The reason why she was used so often is that she is actually director, Chris Coloumbus's daughter, Elenor. - Laura

• Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is actually older than Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) in real life! - Andy

• The boy who played Draco Malfoy, Tom Felton, also played in The Borrowers (1997). In this movie Tom's enemy was Ocious P. Potter, John Goodman's character. - Megalin

• When Hermione shows Harry and Ron James Potter's Seeker award, you can see J.K. Rowling's name on the medal to the northwest of James' medal (I think...). - MichaelMyers666

• Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) is the oldest member of the Harry Potter kid stars. He celebrated his 15th Birthday on the 22nd of September. (Source: tomfelton.com) - Claire who loves Tom

• The position of Harry's scar was never specified. When asked where she wanted it, J.K. said off to the right. (Source: DVD) - Laney

• When Harry is taken to Gringott's the wizard bank. The actor playing the goblin who opens the door to Harry's safe is Verne Troyer, who also played Mini Me in Austin Powers. You'll notice because he does not have an english accent in the few words he speaks. (Source: Viewing) - Blazesong