‘Harry Potter’ Book Was Protected From Leaks By British Spy Agency

The publishers of the massively popular “Harry Potter” book series had to go to extreme lengths to prevent copies of the book from leaking before their release. At one point, British intelligence agencies were even involved.

Bloomsbury founder Nigel Newton recently explained some of the extensive security measures in an interview with Australian radio station ABC. “It was completely mad and we were at the eye of the storm,” he said.

Newton explained that security reached its peak ahead of the release of the sixth book. The printing factory employed constant security to prevent snooping reporters from bribing employees to steal a copy of the book.

Also Read: 6 Things Harry Potter Fans Will Love About Universal Studios' 'Wizarding World of Harry Potter'

“If newspapers splashed ‘Dumbledore dies’ what pleasure is there going to be for a kid reading it? The enemies stood to ruin a great deal of pleasure for the world,” he said.

In 2005, ahead of the release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” the British intelligence agency GCHQ contacted Bloomsbury after an early draft of the book was detected floating around the Internet.

Also Read: JK Rowling Writes About Drunk Wizards in Latest Story

“I got him to read a page to our editor and she said, ‘Nah, that’s a fake’,” Newton said.

According to the BBC, when asked for comment, the GCHQ had little to say on the matter: “We don’t comment on our defence against the dark arts.”

16 of the Highest Grossing Book-to-Big Screen Adaptations of All Time

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"Jaws" (1975) The first Steven Spielberg-directed movie on the list made $260 million and is based on the Peter Benchley novel of the same name.
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"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000) The Dr. Seuss classic is the only holiday-oriented picture on the list, besting "Jaws" by less than $5,000.
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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) The first of a series of films based on the work of C.S. Lewis, "The Chronicles of Narnia" grossed $291 million.
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"The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" (2010) As a whole, the Stephenie Meyer-created "The Twilight Saga" has grossed more than $1.3 billion across five films, but the most successful was "Eclipse," which made over $300.5 million.
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"Forrest Gump" (1994) The award-winning film starring Tom Hanks in the titular role earned well over $329.6 million, a beloved movie based on the Winston Groom novel.
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"Alice in Wonderland" (2010) Though there's been several adaptations of Lewis Carroll's fantastic 1865 novel, no version has been more successful than Disney's interpretation starring Johnny Depp, which took in more than $334 million at the box office.
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"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003) "The Return of the King" grossed $378 million, earning the most of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. All of the adaptations of author J.R.R. Tolkien's series earned more than $315 million.
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"Harry Potter and the Death Hallows Part 2" (2011) The epic finale of the beloved "Harry Potter" series grossed more than $381 million, bringing the domestic box office grand total to $2.39 billion. The wild success of the franchise made its creator, J.K. Rowling, the first and (so far) only billionaire author.
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"Jurassic Park" (1993) Celebrating its 20th anniversary with a 3D release, the flick made $402 million on its initial release. Michael Crichton, author of the novel, had his hands on the screenplay as well.
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"Spider-Man" (2002) Sony's Marvel Comics superhero adaptation "Spider-Man" shot to the top of the box office upon release, raking in more than $403.7 million. Its sequels, "Spider-Man 2" and "Spider-Man 3" were less successful but still earned a combined $710.1 million.
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"Iron Man 3" (2013) The only movie released this year that made the list is "Iron Man 3," and it's a figure Tony Stark would be proud of: $405 million. The trio of movies, starring another Marvel Comics-created superhero, made well over $1 billion worldwide.
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"The Hunger Games" (2012) The highly anticipated sequel, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," is expected to do big business at the box office after its Suzanne Collins-penned predecessor, "The Hunger Games," took in more than $408 million.
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"The Lion King" (1994) Filmmakers of "The Lion King" said that the Disney animated film's story is inspired by Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and the Bible. The picture raked in more than $422 million at the box office.
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"Shrek 2" (2004) William Steig's picture book "Shrek!" has spawned a major franchise, with the second film about the green ogre grossing the most, $441.2 million.
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"The Dark Knight" (2008)The most successful take on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, the Christopher Nolan-helmed trilogy took in almost $1.2 billion combined. The film also gave Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar and brought well over half a billion on its own.
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"Marvel's The Avengers" (2012)The Marvel Comics superhero team smashed box office records, earning more than $623.3 million, making it the most successful comic book adaptation to hit theaters to date.

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From "Twlight" to "Harry Potter" to "The Dark Knight" — here are some of the most successful literary adaptations at the domestic box office

"Jaws" (1975) The first Steven Spielberg-directed movie on the list made $260 million and is based on the Peter Benchley novel of the same name.

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‘Harry Potter’ Book Was Protected From Leaks By British Spy Agency

16 of the Highest Grossing Book-to-Big Screen Adaptations of All Time

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