Pop Culture Pulse: The wizard returns

Emma Watson at the London premiere. (AP)

When a trailer for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” debuted online over the summer, the members of Hogwarts Nation went into a frenzy.

If a mere preview can cause that much excitable chatter, the Horcrux fervor will undoubtedly escalate this week, when the first part of the franchise’s final chapter opens in U.S. theaters. A splashy premiere, with red carpet appearances from all-grown-up stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, was held Thursday night in London, and will be followed by another on Monday in New York’s Lincoln Square.

And according to data from MovieTickets.com and Fandango.com, advance ticket sales for the film-- which opens Friday, with a flurry of midnight screenings -- are outpacing sales for all previous Potter films. In other words, expect pop culture conversation, media coverage and box office revenues to be dominated by that young man with the lightning bolt scar.