LONDON - THE stars of the sixth Harry Potter film were set to walk up the red carpet in London on Tuesday to a rapturous welcome from thousands of fans, after one of the actors shook off a mild case of swine flu.

The pre-release buzz suggests 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' will add a sizeable chunk to the US$4.5 billion (S$6.6 billion) in box office receipts already earned by the Potter movie franchise. The film opens to the public in Europe on July 15, and in the United States and Japan two days later, after being moved back from its original release date of November 2008.

One of the main actors, Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley, was attending the premiere after making a swift recovery from a mild case of swine flu last week.

'It was quite scary when I first found out I had swine flu. I thought 'Am I going to die?' But it was just like any other flu really. I had a sore throat and I went to bed for a few days,' he told journalists on Monday.

Grint will take his place alongside co-stars Daniel Radcliffe, who is Harry, and Emma Watson, better known to fans as the nerdy Hermione Granger. The trio have appeared in all six films so far, after being plucked from obscurity, and have spent nearly half their lives on the set or preparing for the big screen versions of the phenomenally popular J.K. Rowling books.

Fans had gathered in London's Leicester Square hours before the premiere and many said they were enjoying growing up with the characters.

Becky Foreman, 16, from Rochester in southern England, and her four friends were wearing homemade copies of Harry's trademark wire-framed glasses.

She said: 'I think all the actors have developed their character so well. They had quite an easy job because J.K. Rowling described the characters so much in her book and you know so much about them. So everyone knows what to expect, but it's amazing how the characters come alive.'

After the red-carpet spectacular, the actors will continue filming the final two movies in the series - the concluding book 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Harrows' was thought too plot-heavy for just one film. -- AFP

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