Bradford is going potty for tickets to the new Harry Potter movie.

With less than three weeks to go until the Hogwarts' wizard is unleashed in his first big-screen adventure, cinemas are being inundated with calls from fans.

But it is not just youngsters who are snapping up tickets but schools and major companies.

Shaun Doorbar, of Bradford's Odeon, at Gallagher Leisure Park, Thornbury, said he expected Harry Potter to be the biggest film of the year when it opens on November 16.

He said: "It's not just kids booking to see it. We're getting schools and big companies ringing up asking for 150 tickets for pupils or staff. I think it's so popular because it doesn't just appeal to kids, adults love the Harry Potter books too."

Mr Doorbar expected the £85million movie called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to repeat the success of JK Rowling's books which have sold 110 million copies world-wide.

He said: "We're getting five prints of the film, which is more than we've ever had before, so we will have Harry Potter showing on five screens at once.

"The most we've had before was three copies for Mission: Impossible 2 but Harry Potter is way beyond that."

Charles Morris, owner of Keighley Picture House, said his cinema had also been deluged.

He said: "There's had been a phenomenal amount of interest in Harry Potter, I would say more than in Titanic and Star Wars. We'd already sold 100 seats before the weekend - which is a lot three weeks before a film opens. It's a great boost for the cinema industry. We've been waiting for this one for a while now. It should be a good Christmas present for us all."

One of the companies planning a group outing to see the film is cable firm Telewest, which has offices in Bradford.

A Telewest spokesman said its staff could not wait to be some of the first to see the story at one of the Odeon's preview screenings on Saturday, November 10.

She said: "We're all Harry Potter mad here so we thought it would be a great trip out for everyone in our company social club.

"We're all really excited and looking forward to seeing it.