For Halloween, Victor Limjoco donned a pair of glasses, a cape and a lightning bolt on his forehead, and he was disappointed that few people recognized the Hogwarts symbol emblazoned on his costume.

“I was surprised that so many people didn’t know who Harry Potter was,” said Limjoco, a Medill junior considering wearing the cape to tonight’s showing of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”

Although not all may admit it, many Northwestern students eagerly awaited tonight’s premiere of the screen adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s first of four books in the children’s fantasy series, which has sold more than 100 million copies.

Medill senior Emily Brooks said she has read the first book in the series four or five times and bought movie tickets three weeks in advance. She said she has seen many students around campus reading the books.

“There’s always going to be some philistine who refuses to see a children’s movie,” Brooks said. “The draw of ‘Harry Potter’ is for everyone. All great children’s literature can be appreciated by all ages; that’s what makes it great.

“It’s not going to be your ‘Memento’ or ‘Pulp Fiction,'” she said. “You have to go in knowing you will appreciate it as fantasy or as children’s literature. If you haven’t read the books at all, you probably won’t go in with the same fervor, but everyone enjoys bringing out their inner child.”

The film could have the biggest opening weekend ever in the one-year history of Century Theatres, 1715 Maple Ave., Assistant Manager Jacqueline Williams said.

Most of this weekend’s evening showings of “Harry Potter” are completely sold out through Internet sales, but tickets were still available as of Thursday afternoon for other showings, including the premiere at 8:15 a.m.

“‘Harry Potter’ is one of the first movies that sold out so quickly this year, but if it had been ‘Star Wars,’ every show would have been sold out,” Williams said.

Medill senior Diane Bowden has never read the popular series, but she will watch the “Harry Potter” movie on opening night with her friends because she says she thinks the show has promise with a strong cast and a script that remains true to the book.

“This summer was disappointing in terms of the movies that came out,” Bowden said. “‘Harry Potter’ is exactly what we need right now: a change of pace from what we’ve been getting.”