12 Movie Franchises Influenced By Harry Potter

The Golden Compass (2007)

Potter Factor: Taking the success of Potter 's real-world-based magical shenanigans, The Golden Compass runs with it into the wilds of an alternate reality infused with magic.

This time, the lead's a girl. But the MO's the same: good vs evil, witches, big battles...

If It Featured Harry Potter Characters: A smackdown between Dolores Umbridge and Mrs Coulter takes centre stage as the two cold-hearted bitches fight it out for some sort of magical Maltese Falcon thingmebob.

Coulter has a vicious golden monkey dæmon on her side. Umbridge has a wand and a wicked talent for corporal punishment. Who wins? Answers by owl, please.

Nanny McPhee (2005 - Present)

Potter Factor: Essentially a genetic crossing of Potter with Mary Poppins for the millennium gen.

Emma Thompson took Christianna Brand’s much-loved series of Nurse Matilda novels, a handful of Potter 's more cutesy elements and blended it all into a purée of fluffy fun for the younger boy wizard fans.

If It Featured Harry Potter Characters: Poor old Mrs Weasley has had enough, what with seven screaming little carrot-tops all making demands on her time (this is an HP prequel, obv). So she decides to take a holiday, hiring one Nanny McPhee to babysit.

Fred and George make short work of her with some exploding lollipops, while Charlie's assortment of strange and destructive creatures really test the care-giver's patience. Can Nanny McPhee save the Weasleys, and beautify herself in the process?

The Twilight Saga (2008 - Present)

Potter Factor: Hit book, young leads, murderous baddies and a handful of sparkles. It even pinched Robert Pattinson from Potter .

New Moon is even more in the vein of Potter , what with the ancient and evil Voltari swooping in to spoil everyone's fun. Also, if you squint a bit, their name totally looks like Voldemort.

If It Featured Harry Potter Characters: Hermione wakes up to see Harry lurking around her bedroom. She's been moping for a month because he won't be her boyfriend. He's trying to protect her from Voldemort or something. Meanwhile, somewhere in the distance, Ron takes his top off.

Eragon (2006)

Potter Factor: A boy in a magical realm. A dragon. Sorcerers. Spells flying all over the place.

Signing the check for this book's adap rights was probably the easiest thing that 20th Century Fox ever did.

If It Featured Harry Potter Characters: Attempting to evade the evil, dragon-thieving Galbatorix, Eragon encounters the twisted and malicious Bellatrix Lestrange. It looks bad for him until he gives her a big rock and convinces her it's a dragon egg.

Eragon leaves the nutjob purring and poring over the stone, escaping with his life.

The Chronicles of Narnia (2005 - Present)

Potter Factor: Published a whole 47 years before anybody had heard of a certain lightning-scarred wizard, The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe took its time coming out of the closet for a big screen adap.

When it eventually turned up, it did so to capitalise on Pottermania and was released a safe month away from Goblet of Fire . All sure-fire Potter piggy-backing ingredients were in place (kids, magic, creatures), ensuring this was a worldwide uber-hit.

If It Featured Harry Potter Characters: Lucy crawls through a wardrobe and discovers she's found her way into Hogwarts. She's chased around by mischevious poltergeist Peeves for a bit, before finding another wardrobe that takes her into Narnia. Whew.

Cirque du Freak: The Vampires Assistant (2009)

Potter Factor: A teenage boy discovers a world he never knew existed. A world of macabre creatures and otherworldly goings-ons. A world of factions and in-fighting. Nope, it's not Harry Potter , it's Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant .

Director Paul Weitz (yep, brother of Golden Compass ’ Chris) helmed this one, but the dark subject matter (a boy becomes assistant to, yeah, a vampire, in a relationship oddly reminiscent of Harry's with Dumbledore) is nowhere near as inky as the later Potter films.

If It Featured Harry Potter Characters: Harry meets Professor Dumbledore for the first time, but there's something odd about the old man. He only ever comes out at night and likes to drink an unspecified red liquid from his goblet.

As it dawns on Harry that this OAP is actually a VAMP, he stakes the MOFO. Vampires are gross.

Inkheart (2003)

Potter Factor: Another wannabe franchise. The formula was there: popular book + buckets of money + director + big stars. Sadly + zero box office earnings = no film franchise.

This Potter hopeful obviously strayed too far from the main Potter hallmarks, with no memorable kiddie lead, and flopped at the box office.

If It Featured Harry Potter Characters: Lounging around in Hogwarts' library, Hermione discovers that she's a Silver Tongue and can transport herself into books whenever she reads them aloud.

Sadly for her, Twilight novels don't exist in the HP unvierse, so she makes do acting out her unrequited crush on Ron with the help of some old Mills & Boon...

Lemony Snickets A Series Of Unfortunate Events (2004 - Present)

Potter Factor: It's all in the story. Orphaned kids meet a sequence of out-there characters who all exist in that place that sits on the edge of reality.

Not much magic here, but the kook, larger-than-life situations and oddball characters definitely hoped to cash in on the Potter franchise.

If It Featured Harry Potter Characters: When poor old Neville Longbottom's nan dies, he's sent off to live with barmy Uncle Olaf, who wants a portion of Longbottom's inheritance. Meanwhile, Billy Connolly makes a "hilarious" appearance as "crazy" Uncle Monty...

Stormbreaker (2006)

Potter Mania: Think Harry Potter with a pistol. Upgrading from magic to gadgets, the film adap of the first in the Alex Rider book series focussed its attentions on the techie geekboys who were being overlooked by the purveyors of Potter 's more traditional blend of action thrills and spills.

As ever, the main Potter principles are present and correct: orphaned boy discovers he's part of something big and exciting, trains in warfare, faces bad guys. Tick, tick, tick.

If It Featured Harry Potter Characters: Alex Rider goes up against the ultimate evil - Voldemort - when MI6 discover the Dark Lord has been infiltrating the government (it was that BNP hoo-haa that got them suspicious).

What happens when scientific technology meets unscientific magic?

The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)

Potter Factor: The curtain of unreality is drawn wide again with this kiddie fable, which pits British cutie-pie Freddie Highmore against a forest filled with ghouls and goblins.

Lots of Potter imagery here, from the family kids interacting with magical non-humans, battles against ogres, and gimmicky magic objects like the seeing stone.

If It Featured Harry Potter Characters: During the school holidays, Fred and George discover a book - The Magic Field Guide - and a seeing stone in the attic. The latter reveals a previously invisible world right on their doorstep. They make friends with a hobgoblin, who tells them that an ogre wants the Field Guide for itself.

Never afraid of a good business opportunity, the twins sells the guide to the ogre for a tidy fortune and start making plans to open their very own shop...

Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief (2010)

Potter Factor: The most obvious successor to Harry Potter 's kiddie blockbuster throne, not least because it's directed by Chris Columbus of the first two HP films.

Sidestepping Potter stuffiness for moments of fun satire (AC/DC's 'Highway To Hell' and Lady Gaga's 'Poker Face' have no place in Potterland, as they do here), Jackson brings the formula kicking and screaming into present day America for a more contemporary Hollywood party.

Still, all the classic Potter concerns, such as our lead's relationship to lightning and massive CGI monsters, are present and correct.

If It Featured Harry Potter Characters: Hermione's parents are kidnapped by Voldemort, who has killed Hades and taken up residence in the Greek Underworld. With Harry and Ron by her side, she attempts to find an entrance to the hellpit.

First, though, she's got to defeat Bellatrix Lestrange, who's stolen Medusa's power and is going around town turning everbody to stone...

The Wheel Of Time (2011)

Potter Factor: Percy may have the kids covered, but what of the Potter fans who want to move onto something a bit grittier? Here's one for the more mature wee fantasy fans.

No, not Werner Herzog’s 2003 documentary on Buddhism. We’re talking about the 12-book-long series (with two more in the finishing) of the late fantasy author Robert Jordan.

As the big screen Harry Potter s enter the winter of their life cycle, who will take over the yearly event? It’s quite a legacy to follow, but it seems Universal Pictures think Jordan’s Wheel Of Time series could be where the big bucks are.

If It Featured Harry Potter Characters: Harry, Ron and Hermione leave the village of Emond's Field and are chased across Andor by savage Trollocs. When Ron unexpectedly channels the world's magic currents, he falls ill.

There's a lot of philosophical, spiritual chitter-chatter. It's beautiful, tragic and moving. There's a Wheel of Time, but it's not a clock.