Potter fans find seats in theaters
By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Ready the "I survived Hurricane Harry" shirts.
"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," the hyper-hyped film based on British author J.K. Rowling's boy wizard, touched down in Hawai'i theaters yesterday to an enthusiastic if not overwhelming reception.
The film's first day drew a strong box office response from local filmgoers, but nothing on the order of the frenzied scenes reported at certain other U.S. theaters, where tickets have been sold out for weeks.
The movie is playing on more than a quarter of O'ahu's 156 movie screens this weekend. The first showings took place at 12:01 a.m. yesterday at Wallace Theatre's Restaurant Row 9 complex and Signature Theatre's Dole Cannery 18. Theater managers said both showings attracted decent crowds given the day and time, though neither sold out.
The Dole complex reported "good" crowds but no advance sellouts for its 19 regular-hours showings of the film yesterday. The film is playing in five of the complex's theaters, with each seating 400 people.
At Signature's Pearl Highlands 12 complex, roughly half of the tickets for yesterday's 15 showings were sold in advance. Fans arrived as much as two hours early for the first showing at 10:30 a.m., but that show was not sold out, either.
The 7:05 p.m. showing at Consolidated Theatres' Ward Stadium 16 was sold out by midday, but several other showings went half-filled.
Potter fans who caught the premiere at Ward were greeted by Hogwarts stalwart Hagrid, a.k.a. Samuel Kekumu, a 29-year-old theater employee.
"The response (to the movie) has been excellent," Kekumu said. "All the kids have loved it so far. Everyone who's read the book says the movie is really close."
Eight-year-old Andrew Zhou certainly thought so. Zhou has read all four of the Potter novels and was thrilled when his father, Jack, took the day off from work to take him to the 2:30 p.m. matinee at Ward.
"We came just for him," Jack Zhou said. "This was my first time with Harry Potter, but I enjoyed it, too."
Jesi Kahaulelio, 28, hasn't read any of the books but she had been eagerly awaiting the movie since she saw the preview months ago.
"Harry is such a neat kid," she said. "This is a movie for adults, too. I'd go again."
The Esteves family — Virgil, Grace and their children, Reeza and Romeil — were so eager to see the movie, they showed up a week early.
"We thought it opened last week," Virgil Esteves said. "We came down and ended up seeing a crappy movie instead — 'The One.' This was a lot better."
