"Harry Potter" film to premiere in Tokyo

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TOKYO (Reuters) - The fifth "Harry Potter" film, based on the best-selling books about the young boy wizard, will premiere in Japan on June 28, just months after "Spider-Man 3" marked a rare international movie debut in Tokyo.

A Warner Bros. spokeswoman in Tokyo said actor Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the broomstick-flying Harry, would come to Tokyo for the event, which is scheduled ahead of the movie’s London showing on July 3.

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is the latest instalment in a series that began in 2001 with "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone".

The four previous "Harry Potter" movies, based on J.K. Rowling’s books, have grossed more than $3.5 billion (1.8 billion pounds) worldwide.

There is "no special reason" why the film is making its premiere in Japan, the spokeswoman said.

But the Tokyo premiere last month of another highly anticipated sequel, "Spider-Man 3", was seen as a shrewd push into the faster-growing international market that could help boost box-office revenues.

The seventh and final book in the "Harry Potter" series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", will go on sale on July 21, but it is not clear when the film version will be made.

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