Harry Potter Franchise Gets New Life with Sony Partnership
Sony and author J.K. Rowling, famous for the creation of the Harry Potter series of books and movies, have joined forces to create an online home to keep the brand alive beyond the release of the final film next month.
Pottermore will be a free-to-use website experience to complement the series of seven Harry Potter books. It was designed by digital agency TH_NK.
The site will be available in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish from October 2011, with more languages in the pipeline. Pottermore will also include an online shop so that the public can buy exclusive Harry Potter eBooks.
The first phase of the digital launch will take place on fictional character Harry Potter's birthday, 31 July. It will involve allowing entry to the first million people that register - their user experience and feedback will help developers finalise the last stages of the site.
J.K. Rowling commented on the new partnership: "I am very protective of Harry and have always been very selective with any new initiatives, but I am totally committed to making this partnership with Sony and this wonderful new website a success."
The author has written new material about the characters, objects and places in her stories for the Pottermore platform, which she claims will "inform, inspire and entertain readers as they journey through the storylines of the books".