Relive the Magic with the “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” 20th-Anniversary Blu-ray with Magical Movie Mode

by · July 18, 2021

This coming November marks the 20th anniversary of the theatrical release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. By a serendipitous turn of events, with the world reopening following the COVID-19 pandemic, just in time for the 20th anniversary, Potter fans have much to look forward to this year. Last month, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood reopened with a new expansion. Announced last month, North American theater aficionados rejoiced to learn that Potter would be heading back to the stage with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child but reimagined as one-part shows. The Broadway production of Cursed Child will reopen in November. However, if leaving the house is still a trepidatious endeavor for you, don’t fret – Warner Bros. has you covered. On August 17, a special 20th-anniversary edition of Sorcerer’s Stone will be hitting shelves with a new feature called Magical Movie Mode.

 

 

The new Magical Movie Mode is promising a new way to watch the introduction to the wizarding world. It is set to include the director’s commentary with Chris Columbus featuring “candid insight and amusing anecdotes from the production of the first film,” deleted scenes, quizzes, and audio and video interstitials to likely expound upon select parts with behind-the-scenes stories and facts.

Overall, it seems like a clever rebranding of the Maximum Movie Mode that Warner Bros. features in several of its home media releases. Similar to the movie commentaries on DVDs in the past, Maximum Movie Mode utilizes picture-in-picture technology to provide a visual component overlaid onto the movie, making an engrossing experience completely different from simply watching the movie. In more recent iterations, the feature will include a cast or crew member periodically appearing on-screen to provide insight about a specific scene in the movie alongside behind-the-scenes photos and videos to juxtapose with the final product. The most recent examples of Maximum Movie Mode used for the Potter films are on the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Blu-ray releases, in which the feature was hosted by Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) and Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom), respectively.

However, the question we’re asking is whether it will include any newly produced content for this anniversary edition since we speculated that there wasn’t any when the movies were rereleased on 4K Ultra HD in 2017. In 2009, Sorcerer’s Stone received an Ultimate Edition that includes among its special features a Maximum Movie Mode as well and an In-Movie Experience with director Chris Columbus. Therefore, some of the new features being promised in the 20th-anniversary edition likely already exist. While we’d love for it to be a wholly refreshed re-embarking into the wizarding world with new footage of Columbus, it’s also very possible that the Magical Movie Mode will reuse old extras but rerelease them in a brand-new package that we’ve not seen before.

The 20th-anniversary edition of Sorcerer’s Stone will be released on August 17 on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD.

What new goodies do you think we’ll be getting on the 20th-anniversary edition of Sorcerer’s Stone? Do you think Warner Bros. produced new content for the Magical Movie Mode? Let us know in the comments.

 

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