Downriver Theaters Prepare for Harry Potter Premiere

The Harry Potter film franchise will finally come to a close on Friday, as the series’ eighth installment will feature the final showdown between Harry and his arch-nemesis, Lord Voldemort.

Local Potter fans will have a slew of premiere options come midnight Thursday, as several Downriver theaters are gearing up to give viewers the earliest possible look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows–Part 2.

The list is headlined by MJR Southgate Digital Cinema 20, which has seven midnight shows–including two in 3-D–scheduled for Thursday night.

Potter madness also will be had at Emagine Woodhaven. Beginning at 9 p.m., moviegoers will be able to see both parts of the last Harry Potter installment, in addition to three more midnight shows of Part 2.

Dearborn's and will also have midnight shows. The former has three scheduled for the stroke of midnight, including the second half of a Deathly Hallows double feature. Beginning at 9 p.m., moviegoers will be able to see both parts of the last Harry Potter installment back-to-back in 3-D. Tickets for the double dose of wizardry are available for $20.

The Henry Ford’s IMAX Theater also is showing the film at midnight in 3-D. Although the 12:00 a.m. show is already sold out, a special encore screening will begin immediately after the premier at 2:45 a.m. Tickets for the early-morning show are $13.75 for adults, $9.75 for children. 

For moviegoers who aren’t night owls, Harry Potter showings will recommence Friday at 9:45 a.m. and 10:50 a.m. for AMC Fairlane 21 and the IMAX Theater, respectively. Emagine Woodhaven and MJR Southgate, meanwhile, have nine showtimes apiece scheduled for the day.

The second film adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s seventh Harry Potter book, Deathly Hallows–Part 2 will chronicle Harry and his friends’ fight against the wizarding world’s forces of evil.

Started in 2001, the film series’ $6.3 billion in box office receipts makes it the most lucrative movie franchise of all time. Its most recent installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows–Part 1, grossed more than $125 million in the United States during its first weekend alone.