Harry Potter mania has already hit the island as families and children eagerly await the adventures of the bespectacled wizard to continue on the big screen on November 15.

KRS Film Distributors Limited general manager Charles Pace said the second film of J.K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets will be released in Malta along with the UK and the US and before most of the rest of the world.

Mr Pace said KRS had also received an overwhelming response from schools wishing to take the students to see the film, an initiative which is being supported by the Education Department.

When the first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was released in Malta last year, it immediately topped the box office and also clinched third place in the top 10 films of all time, behind Titanic and Gladiator.

The whole world went potty over Harry Potter and the first film also placed second in the worldwide box office, raking in over $968 million.

Mr Pace said he was expecting Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets to do even better than the first film due to the popularity that the series has now achieved.

"Harry Potter is a film for everybody and we are certain it will make it to the top again, competing heavily with the likes of the Bond film Die Another Day," he said.

Mr Pace said there had been a lot of security and the six film reels had to be split before being sent to Malta to ensure an entire copy did not fall in the wrong hands.

"The distributors are aware of Malta's problem with piracy and it concerns them. The police are trying to tackle the issue, but we feel the penalties are not much of a deterrent," he said.

Meanwhile, delving into the series Mr Pace said Warner Brothers was planning to film all seven of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.

Warner Brothers is also keen to have the Harry Potter star, Daniel Radcliffe, feature in all seven, even though he has already shot up eight inches since he was first cast as the child wizard.

Daniel, now 13, has become one of the world's most famous child stars and he gets about 1,000 fan letters a day. Oh and by the way he also commands £2 million for a film.

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets is said to be darker and scarier than its predecessor, with Harry confronting a sinister force terrorising the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Actor Kenneth Branagh has joined the cast as Gilderoy Lockhart, the school's new professor of Defence Against The Dark Arts.

There are repeat roles for Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane and the late Richard Harris who had the role of Professor Dumbledore.

Directed again by Chris Columbus, the second film contains a wealth of spectacular action scenes - from a flying Ford Anglia car to a high-octane Quidditch match.

After directing two of the Harry Potter series Chris Columbus has decided to leave the job in someone else's hands after transforming the first two books of J.K. Rowling's best-selling series into cinematic gold.

"I was putting everything - blood, sweat and tears - into the movies. Physically, I couldn't do the third. I'll die of a heart attack if I do the third film," he told Reuters.

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