VIDEO: Final Harry Potter Trailer Released

Though the theatrical release of the final Harry Potter film is still a month away, today Warner Brothers gave fans something to obsess over for the final month leading up to the finale of the record-breaking franchise. The trailer for The Deathly Hallows Part II, which is the last one before the film’s release, shows what promises to be an action-packed, dramatic ending for the series that has kept fans enraptured for the past decade. It even contains a spoiler for those who have not read the books, likely an effort to ratchet up the emotional impact to draw more fans to theaters.

The first film in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was released in 2001, when the stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson were twelve and eleven years old, respectively. Audiences have watched the two grow up on screen in the seven films already released, the last of which was The Deathly Hallows Part I, released in November of last year. Though none of the films in the series has won an Academy Award, they comprise what is already the highest-grossing franchise of all time, with each installment taking in at least $700 million. Some expect The Deathly Hallows Part II to join the ranks of films that have topped the billion dollar mark.

The trailer for the film depicts the battle between Harry and Lord Voldemort, the series’ villain, with sweeping, cinematic scenes that place the film on par with other epics like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The trailer is sure to generate speculation and buzz for the next few weeks as fans cope with the ending of an era.