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21 Movies like Harry Potter for all the fantasy fans out there
f you are missing the magic world of Hogwarts, here are some of the best movies like Harry Potter that will give you a sneak peek into the wizardly world.
When it comes to sorcery-based fantasy movies, nothing beats The Harry Potter series. In fact, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson's starrer series have been Hollywood blockbusters. The eight-part movie series is based on J. K. Rowling’s best-selling fantasy novels of the same title. Despite the fact the globally successful movie is worth rewatching a million times, there are days a Potterhead wants to watch something that’s not Harry Potter but is similar to it. For days you are in the middle of this predicament, you deserve the ultimate list of movies like Harry Potter that took the world by storm and achieved enormous global success.
To this day, the massive fandom of the Harry Potter movies has been going strong. From playing Quidditch to concocting potions and flying on broomsticks, the Harry Potter movies have it all. For days you are missing the magical world of Hogwarts but want to watch something other than Harry Potter, scroll on for some of the best movies like Harry Potter that will give you a similar wizardly experience.
Ahead, find a list of hand-selected movies that includes movies like Teen Witch and The Chronicles of Narnia Trilogy and everything in between for a fantastic fantasy-filled binge-fest. 
Movies Like Harry Potter
1. Teen Witch
High school teenager Louise Miller learns from Madam Serena, psychic that she is a reincarnation of the powerful witch and possesses magical abilities which will start working on her sixteenth birthday. She uses the magic to become popular and get back at her bullies in high school but soon learns that it is much more powerful than she ever thought and that getting what you want is not what magic is all about.
- Release Year: 1989
- Genre: Fantasy/Comedy
- Stars: Robyn Lively, Dan Gauthier, Zelda Rubinstein, Dick Sargent, Joshua John Miller
- Directed By: Dorian Walker
- Run Time: 94 minutes
2. Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Bedknobs and Broomsticks is one of the best movies like Harry Potter which follows the plot of a cynical magician, three kids, and an apprentice witch’s search for the missing magic spell from the book. Three children were placed in reluctant Miss Eglantine Price care during the Battle of Britain. The children soon learn that Ms. Price is learning witchcraft and are offered a transportation spell in exchange for silence.
- Release Year: 1971
- Genre: Fantasy/Family
- Stars: Angela Lansbury, John Ericson, David Tomlinson, Ian Weighill, Roy
- Snart, Cindy O’Callaghan
- Directed By: Robert Stevenson
- Run Time: 117 minutes
3. Seventh Son
Seventh Son follows the storyline of Thomas Ward, who is a seventh son of a seventh son as he goes on an adventure as the apprentice of the Spook, after the evil witch Mother Malkin breaks free from the confinement. Seventh Son is just like Harry Potter which will keep you engaged till the end with Malkin gathering an army of minions and Thomas falling in love with Alice who was sent to spy on him.
- Release Year: 2014
- Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
- Stars: Jeff Bridges, Kit Harington, Ben Barnes, Olivia Williams, Alicia
- Wikander, Antje Traue, Djimon Hounsou, Julianna Moore
- Directed By: Sergei Bodrov
- Run Time: 102 minutes
4. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Balthazar Bake is a legendary magician in the modern day Manhattan who recruits Dave Stutler as his reluctant protégé to save the city and prevent the return of Morgana le Fay. Stutler is a resourceful physics prodigy with hidden potential, who needs to rise up to stop the forces of darkness.
- Release Year: 2010
- Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
- Stars: Nicholas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Teresa Palmer, Monica Bellucci,
- Alfred Molina
- Directed By: Jon Turteltaub
- Run Time: 109 minutes
5. Doctor Strange
A brilliant neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange on his journey of spiritual and physical healing, after a car crash that leaves him unable to operate, discovers the world of magic and mystique. Dr. Stephen Strange is an arrogant and acclaimed scientist who vainly tries experimental surgeries to heal his own hands after the crash and soon learns about the paraplegic who regained the use of his legs. Dr. Strange is soon pulled into the world of Mordo and Ancient One.
- Release Year: 2016
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict
- Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Mads Mikkelsen, Scott Adkins, Tilda
- Swinton
- Directed By: Scott Derrickson
- Run Time: 115 minutes
6. The Percy Jackson Movies
The Percy Jackson movies follow the adventure of a demigod and his comrades in the training ground at Camp Half-Blood which also includes setting an ongoing battle amongst the Gods. The Percy Jackson movies earned both commercial and critical success.
- Release Year: 2010 - 2013
- Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Action
- Stars: Logan Lerman, Jake Abel, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario
- Directed By: Chris Columbus
- Run Time: 224 minutes
7. Upside-Down Magic
Upside Down Magic follows the tale of two best friends Reina Carvajal and Elinor Boxwood Horace as they enroll in Sage Academy which is a prestigious magic school. Reina holds the power of controlling fire while Elinor holds the power of transforming into an animal. They are soon pulled into the world of Shadow Magic, an evil force that uses a person's magic through possession against everyone else.
- Release Year: 2020
- Genre: Fantasy
- Stars: Izabela Rose and Siena Agudong
- Directed By: Joe Nussbaum
- Run Time: 96 minutes
8. Abigail
Abigail in the quest to search for her father who many years earlier were taken by the government discovers the whole new world of magic. She eventually learns that her city was seized by the people with dark magic who want to completely erase its existence along with wiping out all the sorcerers. As Abigail can’t suppress the magic inside her, she needs to flee from her home in a journey full of danger and adventure.
- Release Year: 2019
- Genre: Adventure and Fantasy
- Stars: Tinatin Dalakishvili, Rinal Mukhametov, Gleb Bochkov, Artyom
- Tkachenko, Ravshana Kurkova
- Directed By: Aleksandr Boguslavsky
- Run Time: 110 minutes
9. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Jacob finds an entirely different magical place known as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children following the clues that were left by his beloved grandfather. The headmistress of this place Miss Alma Peregrine along with the home’s children possess paranormal abilities and hence are referred as ‘Peculiars’.
- Release Year: 2016
- Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
- Stars: Eva Green, Allison Janney, Asa Butterfield, Chris O’Dowd, Terence Stamp, Rupert Everett, Ella Purnell, Judi Dench, Samuel L. Jackson
- Directed By: Tim Burton
- Run Time: 127 minutes
10. The Craft
The Craft is also one of the great movies like Harry Potter which drives through the witchcraft world as four outcast teenage girls in a Catholic school decide to pursue witchcraft to their own advantage without knowing the negative consequences. These girls worship a powerful earth deity called ’Manon’. These four outcast teenagers use magic for their personal use to get back at the people who bullied them.
- Release Year: 1996
- Genre: Horror and Fantasy
- Stars: Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell, Fairuza Balk, Rachel True
- Directed By: Andrew Fleming
- Run Time: 101 minutes
11. Escape to Witch Mountain
Escape to Witch Mountain follows the storyline of two twins who get separated as babies however when they meet in the future, the twins discover their supernatural powers. A local millionaire tries to exploit twins for his personal gains. The adventures that the movie follows with the twins will magically transport you to a different place.
- Release Year: 1995
- Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Fantasy
- Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Perrey Reeves, Erik von Detten, Robert Vaughn,
- Brad Dourif, Vincent Schiavelli
- Directed By: Peter Rader
- Run Time: 87 minutes
12. Fantastic Beasts Films
Fantastic Beasts film series is one of the best movies like Harry Potter which serves as a prequel or sequel to the same movie series. The storyline sets in 1926 as Newt Scamander completes a global excursion to discover and document about extraordinary array of the magical creatures.
- Release Year: 2016 - 2022
- Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
- Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Alison Sudol, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Don Fogler
- Directed By: David Yates
- Run Time: 409 minutes
13. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is also one of the greatest movies similar to Harry Potter that keeps you hooked to the screen till the very end. The plot follows hobbit Frodo Baggins who embarks on the Fellowship quest to destroy One Ring along with ensuring the destruction of the maker, the Dark Lord Sauron. This trilogy entails three movies which will keep you hooked till the very end with the adventures of Frodo Baggins.
- Release Year: 2001 - 2003
- Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
- Stars: Elijah Wood, Liv Tyler, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Cate Blanchett, Billy Boyd, John Rhys-Davies, Christopher Lee, Dominic Monaghan, Hugo Weaving, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Sean Bean
- Directed By: Peter Jackson
- Run Time: 558 minutes
14. The Golden Compass
The Golden Compass follows the plot of young Lyra Belacqua in a parallel universe who starts her journey to the North to save the kidnapped children including her best friend from the terrible experiments by gobblers. Lyra faces several difficulties such as confrontation with the flying witches in their quest to save these children.
- Release Year: 2007
- Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
- Stars: Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliott, Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Dakota Blue Richards, Ian McKellen
- Directed By: Chris Weitz
- Run Time: 113 minutes
15. Matilda
Based on the popular Roald Dahl novel, Matilda is a child prodigy with psychokinetic abilities. Matilda is mistreated and neglected by the family of an annoying older brother, a car salesman father, and bingo obsessed mother. Additionally, on her first day in school, Matilda witnesses the headmistress swinging a girl and hammer-throwing her in a field of flowers. She uses these abilities to deal with her tyrannical principal in school as well as her family.
- Release Year: 1996
- Genre: Family/Comedy
- Stars: Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Mara Wilson, Embeth Davidtz
- Directed By: Danny DeVito
- Run Time: 98 minutes
16. Pan’s Labyrinth
The story of Pan’s Labyrinth is set in the mid 1900s when young Ofelia and her ailing mother come with her mother’s new husband who is a sadistic army officer. The sadistic stepfather tries to quell a guerrilla uprising. Ofelia comes upon an ancient maze and chances upon the legendary lost princess leading to a series of events unfolding.
- Release Year: 2006
- Genre: Fantasy/War
- Stars: Sergi Lopez, Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones, Maribel Verdu, Ariadna Gil, Alex Angulo
- Directed By: Guillermo del Toro
- Run Time: 120 minutes
17. Stardust
Stardust follows a storyline of the young man Tristan living in the fictional town of Wall which borders the magical kingdom Stormhold. Tristan enters Strormhold to collect fallen stars for Victoria to ask for her hand in marriage. However, he soon learns that the fallen star is a woman named Yvaine.
- Release Year: 2007
- Genre: Adventure/Fantasy
- Stars: Claire Danes, Sienna Miller, Charlie Cox, Jason Flemyng, Ricky Gervais, Peter O’Toole, Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer
- Directed By: Matthew Vaughn
- Run Time: 128 minutes
18. The Kid Who Would Be King
The Kid Who Would Be King is also one of the movies like Harry Potter which follows the plot of a young boy as he discovers the legendary sword of King Arthur named Excalibur. The young boy along with his classmates must use the sword to stop the plans of an ancient enchantress to enslave the whole world.
- Release Year: 2019
- Genre: Fantasy/Family
- Stars: Louise Ashbourne Serkis, Tom Taylor, Patrick Stewart, Rebecca Ferguson
- Directed By: Joe Cornish
- Run Time: 120 minutes
19. The Chronicles of Narnia Trilogy
The Chronicles of Narnia Trilogy follows the adventure of the young children in the magical Narnia world while being guided with Aslan who is the powerful and true king of Narnia. This lion can speak and guide the Pevensie siblings. These four Pevensie siblings helps Prince Caspian to win the throne against corrupt uncle, King Miraz.
- Release Year: 2005 – 2010
- Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
- Stars: Georgie Henley, William Moseley, Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, Anna Popplewell, Will Poulter, Liam Nesson, Tilda Swinton
- Directed By: Andrew Adamson and Michael Apted
- Run Time: 406 minutes
20. Alice in Wonderland
The nineteen year old Alicereturns returns to the magical place from her childhood adventure after spotting an unusual rabbit in her backyard. She realizes her true destiny, to stop the Red Queen’s reign of terror as she meets again with her old friends. However, Alice and her friends are ambushed by the Red Queen’s knights.
- Release Year: 2010
- Genre: Fantasy/Family
- Stars: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas, Helena Bonham Carter, Mia Wasikowska, Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall
- Directed By: Tim Burton
- Run Time: 108 minutes
21. The House with a Clock in Its Walls
The ten year old orphan named Lewis goes to live with his uncle Jonathan in the old, creaky house. The boy soon discovers a whole new world with deadly curses, warlocks, and a dangerous world of witches.
- Release Year: 2018
- Genre: Fantasy/Comedy
- Stars: Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Renne Elise Goldsberry, Owen Vaccaro, Sunny Suljic, Kyle MacLachlan
- Directed By: Eli Roth
- Run Time: 105 minutes
For anyone who’s missing the sorcery and wizardly world of Hogwarts, the above-mentioned movies like Harry Potter will keep you hooked to the screens. It will be unfair to compare any movie with the iconic Harry Potter series but the above-mentioned movies give you a similar sense of magical experience. Each of these movies concocts its own magical universe with the aspects of unbreakable friendships and mysterious sorcery. Each one of the aforementioned movies like Harry Potter will deliver the right amount of fantasy, magic, and characters.
ALSO READ: All 8 Harry Potter movies ranked from best to worst
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