Will lightning ever strike twice for fantasy films, or will Harry Potter forever reign supreme?

Our tale begins when a young man discovers the truth of his parentage. Although he has remained oblivious of it until now, he is no ordinary boy. He is special, extraordinary and capable of doing amazing things.

Before long, he finds himself cast into a world beyond his imagination, grappling with danger and adventure that he never even knew existed.

Sound familiar? Well, if youre among the audience members that shelled out more than $30 million to see Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief during its opening weekend in mid-February, it should. And if youre one of the bazillion people on the planet who have read the Harry Potter books or seen any of the six films (with two more on the way this year and next), its easy to see the inherent similarities between Percys and Harrys stories.

Naturally, Fox - the studio that released Percy - strongly marketed the film as the next Potter. Trailers showed revelations of Percys past and featured a majestic castle that very much resembles Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The studio even hired Chris Columbus, director of the first two Potter flicks, to helm the film.

From a business perspective, it makes perfect sense. After all, since Harry Potter has become a worldwide phenomenon and made more than $1.7 billion at the U.S. box office, why shouldnt another successful adaptation of a popular fantasy book series be able to connect with viewers in the same way? Couldnt Percy be the next Potter?

If Fox had studied their film history a little closer, theyd have seen that many similar attempts to do just that have fallen flat. Thus far, Harry Potter is the only series of its kind to strike box office gold and sustain it. This is, of course, distinguishing a series from a trilogy. Otherwise, The Lord of the Rings would surely join the ranks.

But, as it currently stands, The Golden Compass, The Seeker, Eragon, The Spiderwick Chronicles and Cirque du Freak: The Vampires Assistant all failed to ignite the same passion from moviegoers as Harry Potter. The closest any other series has come to establishing a solid fantasy film franchise is The Chronicles of Narnia. 2005s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe made nearly $300 million domestically, but by the time its 2008 sequel Prince Caspian hit theaters, it was barely able to make half that money.

This led Disney to drop its plans for the third film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, nearly killing the Narnia franchise until Fox (surprise, surprise) swooped in to finance it for a Christmas 2010 release.

While the jury is still out on whether or not Percy Jackson and his Olympians will grace the big screen in a sequel, the films tepid reviews and modest box office return (despite a reported budget of $90 million) indicate that Fox is unlikely to pursue a sequel.

So, with the Harry Potter series winding up its decade-long run next year, what will become the next reigning champ of fantasy films?

One could argue that this contest has already been won by the Twilight series. The first two films have earned nearly $500 million domestically, and the tie-in merchandising has certainly been ubiquitous. Plus, anticipation is already building for the next entry in the series, set for release this summer, and it has been announced that the fourth novel, Breaking Dawn, will be split into two films in the same fashion as the final Potter novel.

However, while an argument can certainly be made for the success of Twilight, it may be unfair to compare it to Potter.

The forbidden love story of Bella and Edward really has more in common with the traditional elements of horror than that of fantasy. Vampires and werewolves arent typically associated with fantastical worlds, unlike the magic of Potter or the mythology-rich world of Percy Jackson.

Furthermore, the Twilight films dont have the same broad appeal as Potter. True, the movies are massively successful and bring in droves of moviegoers. However, whereas entire families would go see Potter films together, Twilight fans are largely younger females enraptured by the charms of either Robert Pattinson and/or Taylor Lautner. Call it the Leonardo DiCaprio effect, as DiCaprios teenybopper status at the time surely played a significant part in the $600 million box office take of Titanic.

So, if Twilight is disqualified, where then can Potter fans turn once our hero faces off against Lord Voldemort for the last time in Summer 2011? Films like this weeks Alice in Wonderland and the upcoming The Last Airbender, Clash of the Titans and the aforementioned third Narnia adventure may fill the void temporarily, but it may be quite some time before another Potter hops off the Hogwarts Express and into the multiplex.