University, and was appointed Britain's poet laureate in May 2009. She is the first woman, the first Scot, and the first openly LGBT person to hold the position. The phenomenally successful Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling is concluded in July 2007 (having been first published in 1997), although the film franchise continues until 2011; several spin-off productions are announced in the early 2010s. The Harry Potter series is to date the best-selling book series in world history, with only seven main volumes (and three supplemental works) published and four hundred and fifty million copies sold. The film franchise is also currently the third highest-grossing film franchise in history, with eight films (all but the final two of which were released in the 2000s) and $8,539,253,704 in sales. Popular culture The most prominent events and trends in popular culture of the decade (particularly in the Anglosphere) include: Film The usage of computer-generated imagery became more widespread in films during the 2000s. Documentary and mockumentary films, such as March of the Penguins, Borat, and Super Size Me, were popular in the 2000s. 2004's Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. Online films became popular, and conversion to digital cinema started. Critically acclaimed movies released in the decade including highlights such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Lost in Translation (2003). December 2009's Avatar, an American science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron, made extensive use of cutting edge motion capture filming techniques, and was released for traditional viewing, 3D viewing (using the RealD 3D, Dolby 3D, XpanD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats). It was also released in "4D" in select South Korean theaters. 3D films became more and more successful throughout the 2000s, culminating in the unprecedented success of 3D presentations of Avatar. Roger Ebert, described by Forbes as "the most powerful pundit in America", was skeptical of the resurgence of 3D effects in film, which he found unrealistic and distracting. In August 2004, American horror author Stephen King, in a column, criticized what he saw as a growing trend of leniency towards films from critics. His main criticism was that films, citing Spider-Man 2 as an example, were constantly given four star ratings that they did not deserve: "Formerly reliable critics who seem to have gone remarkably soft – not to say softhearted and sometimes softheaded – in their