South Australian book printer Griffin Press scored what is likely to be the colossal print run of the latest in the Harry Potter publishing phenomenon.

The heavily pre-ordered Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released at 9am Sunday morning in Australia (midnight London-time), with thousands of hungry fans snapping up the title and clearing the book shelves.

ProPrint contacted Griffin Press managing director Ben Jolly who was unable to comment on the release due to the strict confidentiality agreements.

Rowling’s 320-page hard copy book – which is actually a two part play – was authored credited to JK Rowling alongside playwrights Jack Thorne & John Tiffany, and was published by Hachette in Australia.

[Related: Griffin Press fights for Australian book industry]

The initial print run was slated to be significantly lower than the rest of JK Rowling’s novels, with tough figures to beat following the fifth book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’s Australian record breaking print run which topped one million copies.

PMP-owned Griffin had printed the last seven Harry Potter novels, and was also the book printer for a number of other prolific titles including Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series and Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

Hachette has remained tight lipped on the print run numbers for the Cursed Child’s Australian release.

Rowling’s franchise spin-off is published almost ten years after the seventh Harry Potter novel was released in 2007, and is set 19 years after the series’ epic conclusion.

The script, labelled as a ‘special rehearsal edition’ was issued to the public only a month after the play began previews at the Palace Theatre in London. A second ‘definitive’ edition is set to be printed in early 2017.

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