Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone lands back in theaters worldwide from August 27 through September 3, packaged with 12 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage that Warner Bros. first pegged at 10 minutes back in January. The one-week run shares its opening weekend with James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which begins its own 35th-anniversary re-release in U.S. theaters on August 28.
Warner Bros. first floated the idea back in January, quietly promising ten minutes of never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage to sweeten the deal for the Sorcerer’s Stone anniversary run. Somewhere between that announcement and now, the count crept up to twelve, a bump reporting outlets have confirmed but Warner Bros. hasn’t explained. The footage contains no plot scenes, just a separate glimpse behind the camera, and the studio still won’t say whether it rolls before or after the film itself. Fans eager for details will have to settle for waiting until the trio, Radcliffe, Grint and Watson, along with the ghosts of Richard Harris, Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman on screen, reclaims theaters for one week starting August 27.
A magical return to theaters
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is heading back to the big screen for a one-week engagement, running August 27 through September 3, 2026, as part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s global “Back to Hogwarts” 25th-anniversary celebration. Directed by Chris Columbus, the film originally opened on November 16, 2001, introducing Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as the Hogwarts trio. The franchise it launched has since banked roughly $7.7 billion at the global box office.
12 minutes fans have never seen
The main draw is a batch of unreleased footage from the film’s production. Warner Bros. described it as 10 minutes long in its initial January 2026 announcement, but later reporting from Entertainment Weekly settled on a full 12 minutes. The material is a look at the film’s production rather than deleted scenes cut back into the story, and the studio has yet to say whether it plays before or after the movie.
Tickets, birthdays and eight films
Tickets went on sale July 31, 2026, Harry Potter’s fictional birthday, ahead of Back to Hogwarts Day on September 1. All eight films screen worldwide during the same window, though only Sorcerer’s Stone carries the bonus footage. In the US, participating chains include AMC, Regal, Cinemark, Harkins, Megaplex and Marcus Theatres, with tickets sold through Fandango. Cinemark’s own anniversary schedule runs from August 27 through September 2.
A box office duel with Terminator 2
The wizarding world won’t have nostalgia to itself. James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day marks its 35th anniversary with a rerelease opening in US theaters on August 28 through September 2, timed to the franchise’s fictional Judgment Day of August 29. The film remains the highest-grossing entry in its series, with over $517 million earned worldwide. “T2 was made for theatres, and our lovingly-prepared 3D version, coming back to the big screen, is the absolute best way to see the film,” Cameron said. Both blockbusters will compete for the same rewatch crowd over Labor Day weekend.
The road to Christmas
The anniversary screenings also serve as a warm-up for what comes next. The HBO Original Harry Potter series, whose first season adapts J.K. Rowling’s debut book, premieres globally on HBO Max on December 25, 2026.