--- title: Harry Potter: Read the Original Pitch by J.K. Rowling description: J.K. Rowling's original pitch for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is now on display at the British Library. canonical: https://time.com/4996888/harry-potter-j-k-rowling-original-pitch/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-25T18:08:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:58:43.601Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Read the Original Harry Potter Pitch That Publishers Rejected From J.K. Rowling og:description: "Harry Potter lives with his aunt, uncle and cousin" og:url: https://time.com/4996888/harry-potter-j-k-rowling-original-pitch/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03cf62383612f037/6988e350ab6d775df76b05bf/j-k-rowling-harry-potter-pitch.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: J-K-Rowling-Harry-Potter-Pitch og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read the Original Harry Potter Pitch That Publishers Rejected From J.K. Rowling twitter:description: "Harry Potter lives with his aunt, uncle and cousin" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03cf62383612f037/6988e350ab6d775df76b05bf/j-k-rowling-harry-potter-pitch.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:29 video:published: 2017-04-21 section: entertainment topics: book-to-movie adaptations, box office grosses, Oscar awards, film franchises, highest grossing films, movie trilogies genre: listicle, entertainment news tones: upbeat, playful, informative, light emotions: excitement (medium), delight (medium), nostalgia (low) sentiment: positive audience: movie fans, book readers, general entertainment audiences, film industry followers people: Winston Groom, Jennifer Lawrence, Steven Spielberg products: Forrest Gump, The Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Read the Original _Harry Potter_ Pitch That Publishers Rejected From J.K. Rowling > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Ally is a digital financial services company offering online-only banking, including checking and savings accounts, through Ally.com and its mobile apps. Launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in financial services, Ally was built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: 5 High-Grossing Page-to-Screen Adaptations MONEY [Watch (HLS stream): 5 High-Grossing Page-to-Screen Adaptations MONEY](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WR3cw62O.m3u8) (1:29)  _Published 2017-04-21. Here are some of the highest grossing page to screen adaptations._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video highlights several of the highest-grossing movies adapted from books. It covers Forrest Gump, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hunger Games, Jurassic Park, and the Harry Potter series, citing their worldwide box office totals and Oscar wins where mentioned. It notes that adaptations do not always mirror their books exactly but still draw large audiences and revenue. ## Key points - Movie adaptations don't always mirror the book exactly but still bring in huge audiences and a lot of cash. (00:04) - Forrest Gump, based on Winston Groom's novel, brought in $677 million and won six Oscars. (00:21) - The Lord of the Rings trilogy films made $2.9 billion total and earned 17 Oscars. (00:27) - The Hunger Games trilogy's three books became four box office successes, bringing in a total of $2.9 billion worldwide. (00:33) - The Hunger Games turned Jennifer Lawrence into a star. (00:40) - Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg, grossed $914 million worldwide, and with three sequels the franchise made $3.6 billion. (00:52) - The Harry Potter books were turned into eight box office successes bringing in $7.7 billion worldwide. (01:03) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:15] Intro to book-to-movie adaptations. The narrator introduces the idea that adapted movies often differ from their books yet earn big audiences and revenue. - [00:15 to 00:21] Forrest Gump opening remark. The segment opens the list with a playful reference to Forrest Gump's box of chocolates. - [00:21 to 00:33] Forrest Gump and Lord of the Rings. The video covers the box office and Oscar totals for Forrest Gump and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. - [00:33 to 00:52] The Hunger Games and Jurassic Park. The video reports worldwide grosses for The Hunger Games trilogy and the original Jurassic Park film. - [00:52 to 01:14] Jurassic Park sequels and Harry Potter. The video gives franchise totals for Jurassic Park and closes with the Harry Potter series' box office total. - [01:14 to 01:29] Closing remark. The narrator ends the video with a brief closing line. ## Key quotes - [00:00] narrator: "There's nothing better than finding out your favorite book is headed toward the big screen." - [00:04] narrator: "Although movie adaptations don't always mirror the book exactly," - [01:03] narrator: "The beloved books were turned into eight huge box office successes" - [01:14] narrator: "Now that's pretty magical." ## Questions this video answers - Which book-to-movie adaptations are among the highest grossing? [00:11] - How much did Forrest Gump earn and how many Oscars did it win? [00:21] - What are the worldwide box office totals for The Lord of the Rings and The Hunger Games? [00:27] - How much has the Jurassic Park franchise grossed in total? [00:57] - How much did the Harry Potter film series earn worldwide? [01:09]  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 25, 2017 6:08 PM UTC Here are some of the highest grossing page to screen adaptations.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 25, 2017 6:08 PM UTC To celebrate the [20th anniversary](http://time.com/4832670/harry-potter-j-k-rowling-20th-anniversary-tweet/) of the release of the first book in the [_Harry Potter_](http://time.com/4859407/harry-potter-heartwarming-moments/)series, [J.K. Rowling’s](http://time.com/4935766/jk-rowling-on-fan-question/) original pitch for _The Philosopher’s Stone_ is now on display at the British Library as part of its “Harry Potter: A History of Magic” exhibition. The pitch — which was [reportedly](http://ew.com/books/2017/10/24/harry-potter-jk-rowling-original-pitch/) sent to publishers alongside the novel’s first few chapters — gives a brief synopsis of Harry’s introduction to the wizarding world after spending the first eleven years of his life living with the Dursleys at 4 Privet Drive. “Harry Potter lives with his aunt, uncle and cousin because his parents died in a car-crash—or so he has been told,” it begins. “The Dursleys don’t like Harry asking questions; in fact, they don’t seem to like anything about him, especially the very odd things that keep happening around him (which Harry himself can’t explain).” Rowling has previously revealed that her manuscript was rejected by 12 different publishing houses before Bloomsbury took a gamble on it. Obviously, this decision more than paid off. The full first page of the 1995 pitch read as follows: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4996888/harry-potter-j-k-rowling-original-pitch/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4996888/harry-potter-j-k-rowling-original-pitch/"},"headline":"Read the Original Harry Potter Pitch That Publishers Rejected From J.K. Rowling","datePublished":"2017-10-25T18:08:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T09:58:43.601Z","description":"\"Harry Potter lives with his aunt, uncle and cousin\"","url":"https://time.com/4996888/harry-potter-j-k-rowling-original-pitch/","keywords":["Books","Harry Potter","J.K. 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