Maybe at 39, I am too old and cynical to fall under the spell of Harry Potter. Maybe my nine-month-old son will one day become a fan of the teenage wizard. Until then, I shall avoid all Potter books and movies even though I am one of the few people on the planet to do so.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the latest chapter in the J.K. Rowling franchise, grossed $44.8 million yesterday, the biggest Wednesday ever, according to Reuters. That's good news, of course, for Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), the film's producer and distributor.
The movie even got a backhanded compliment from A.O. Scott of the New York Times who wrote; "Although Order of the Phoenix is not a great movie, it is a pretty good one, in part because it does not strain to overwhelm the audience with noise and sensation."
But investors shouldn't buy shares of the New York-based media company just because of one hit movie. Remember that blockbuster movies are extremely expensive to produce, though the power of Potter continues to amaze me.
Since 2001, the Potter saga movies have generated $3.5 billion in ticket sales. What they haven't done though, is reverse the decline in reading, the Times also notes.
There are some things beyond the powers of the greatest wizards.
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