TREKS IN SCI-FI FORUM

THIS IS GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!

Warner Bros. has let us know that all three of the main Harry Potter actors - Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint - are confirmed for the last two Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The announcement puts to rest recent speculation that Emma Watson was going to leave her role, and means that the trio will be the only actors to play these roles in the Warner Bros. adaptations of the Harry Potter films.

In the press release, Daniel Radcliffe says:
"Playing the role of Harry Potter has been an immense privilege, and I look forward to completing the series. I feel a huge sense of loyalty to the character of Harry and the fans who have supported these films over the years. During filming, I have learnt so much, made lots of friends and met people who have changed my life. I am indebted to J K Rowling, Warner Bros. and David Heyman for giving me this fantastic opportunity.

Emma Watson says:
I could never let Hermione go, she is my hero! I love her too much and love what playing her has meant to me. I am excited and honoured to be finishing what I started and playing her in all seven of the films.

And Rupert Grint says:
Ron Weasley has become a big part of my life and not just because we've both got ginger hair! I've been so proud to play him and loved every second of being part of this world. I'm really looking forward to filming the last two films and being back with my "Weasley family" and, of course, to seeing my good friends Emma and Dan. Thank you to everyone for being so supportive over the years; we couldn't have done it without you."

Jeff Robinov, President of Production, Warner Bros. Pictures, said:
When Daniel, Rupert and Emma were first cast as Harry, Ron and Hermione, we knew they were not only talented, but had a very special chemistry. Through the years, and in each of the Harry Potter films, we have watched them grow into extraordinary young adults, as well as remarkable actors. It would be inconceivable to imagine anyone else in the roles with which they have become so identified, so we are thrilled and proud that Daniel, Rupert and Emma have chosen to complete the arc of their characters in the final two films.

Producer David Heyman said:
One of the highlights of this journey has been to witness Dan, Rupert and Emma blossom from children into young adults. They have emerged as consummate professionals who are dedicated to honing their craft and striving for excellence. And yet, throughout, they have retained their enthusiasm and spirit, and they remain, to this day, the same wonderful, kind and generous individuals I met all those years ago.

David Heyman and fellow producer David Barron are also slated to continue their work through the final films. A director has not yet been named for either film, though rumors about David Yates' return for HBP abound.

The fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, will debut on July 13, 2007.

Cool news dude!

I love this poster!!!!! These kids are growing up.

Here is a Swedish Poster.... I like this one as well... I love the colors.

Yates Confirmed For Potter VI

David Yates, director of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, confirmed to SCI FI Wire that he will return to the director's chair for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth film in the blockbuster franchise. Yates, the British director best known for the U.K. miniseries State of Play and The Girl in the Cafe, is currently completing Phoenix, based on J.K. Rowling's fifth Potter book, and had been rumored to be attached to Prince.

"I am doing Half-Blood Prince, and I'm doing it because I love the world, I love the characters," the BAFTA-winning director said in an interview. "I think I have more business with this world and these characters."

Yates was brought on to the franchise to helm Phoenix, which has political overtones and deals in part with a rebellion at Hogwarts led by Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint).

"I've made a kind of tonal shift with the fifth film, which I want to continue and develop into the sixth film," Yates said. "And I can see the fifth story evolving into the sixth story in a really interesting way. So I'm on a journey with this material and this world, and I'm keen to complete it."

Yates would become only the second director to helm more than one Potter film, after Chris Columbus, who directed the first two. Alfonso Cuarón directed the third, Prisoner of Azkaban, and Mike Newell the fourth, Goblet of Fire.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix opens on July 13. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is in preproduction with an eye to a November 2008 release. The seventh and final book in Rowling's series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, hits bookstores on July 21. â€"Ian Spelling

Ya know what someone pointed out to me that kinda pissed me off?  I wish I had time to link everything but compare the poster that you posted Kenny to the Imax poster and pay particular attention to Hermione's (Emma Watson) body.  I hate to sound like a prude but they enhanced her....endowment shall we say and I must say I was pretty much disgusted with that.  I am not naive enough to believ that does not happen alot in hollywood advertising but she is technically still a minor (although maybe not in the UK, I am not sure).

I dunno, maybe my sensitivity to things like that are heightened due to the fact I am a father of 4 girls, but, yeah, I was just not cool with that. 

Yeah heard about that on Pottercast and yes it was very unnecessary.

This the poster you are talking about?

(http://comingsoon.net/nextraimages/potter5imax.jpg)

Man, if they did much digitally to Hermione it's pretty subtle.  I guess you can see it if you compare the two posters.  Not saying it's right to do that in any case, but frankly if no one would of said anything to me about it I would not have noticed it.

Yeah... I wouldn't have known if it wasn't pointed out to me.. but yes you can tell if you put the two picture up agains each other.. Hermione's breast are enlarged as well as her hair.

Here you go...

I am wondering if it's trying to show off the 3-D effect in the movie?  But again, without having those two posters side by side, most people would never notice it.  Again, not saying that's right - just it's fairly subtle.

That is soooo weird! It is SO unnecessary! He-he Rico a 3-D effect? That seems odd (not insulting your comment i am just saying)

I think what happened, is that one poster was done, and they wanted to pull her back so we could see the guy behind her better, and so they re-did the poster. These are paintings, of a sort, so the artist just probably made her smaller so she took up less room on the poster while still being prominent. It looks to me like more of an accident, and just completely unintentional.

I mean, her hips have less of a curve, too. Just probably different artists, or a last minute change with no intention of enhancing or de-enhancing her.

Well check out the Leaky Cauldron site.. http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/#article:9797

There is no doubt that they enhanched these picture.. the question is why!!

I really think it's to show more of a depth of field view and give the IMAX poster a bit of a 3-D look.  I'd hate to think they had other intentions in mind.  We'll probably never know for sure.

Scandalous!

Personally I'm not offended but I'm still child-less so that could just be my personal bias there.  I do think that it's a sad statement if the visual editing was to make her "fuller" for the IMAX rather then "smoother" for the standard image.

But I'm not an advertiser.  For good or ill Hermione is "The Chick" that if teen boys come to drool over they will be drooling over.  It's a bit scary as when you rewatch the first movie and see her a little girl then here where she's meant to be young woman you see a very real aging process and a maturation with it.  When trying to fill all the available seats, it never hurts to draw in every possible crowd.

I mean look at the movie poster for SW:ANH.  Where in the movie does Leia appear in that dress?  No where.  But it looks good on her, makes her look like a bit more of a sex symbol and was intended to draw in just a few more hormonally driven males.

I'd bet dimes to dollars that Hermione's "padded bra" is to serve the same purpose:  to put a few more 15 year old boys in seats in the theater.

Mr. O

Here are more just released posters...

And More.

Potter Image Ordered Down

London's Daily Mail reported on the controversy surrounding a promotional image for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on the IMAX Web site, which electronically enhanced the physical appearance of star Emma Watson. Watson, who plays 15-year-old Hermione Granger in the latest Potter film, is herself only 17 years old.

The row was first brought to light by the Leaky Cauldron fan Web site. The IMAX image has since been removed, and Warner Brothers has issued a statement saying the image was not approved.

The Leaky Cauldron also reported on a Swedish promotional poster that was similarly enhanced.

Well paint me brown and call me chocolate puddin'. I guess I was wrong.

Harry Potter 5 Moved Up Two Days!
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
May 29, 2007

ComingSoon.net has learned that Warner Bros. Pictures has moved up Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix two days, from Friday, July 13 to Wednesday, July 11. This will give the movie a potential big five-day opening, from Wednesday through Sunday.

Cool maybe opening Thursday will be easier to get into than opening friday or saturday.

Here is a really cool OTTP French Poster... this is just someone who took a photo. I hope to find a better version of it soon.. it's by far the best one.. IMHO

There are now 11 clips online of the new Harry Potter movie... each clips is a minute or two long. The website is going very slow due to all the traffic but it's worth the wait.. this movie looks awesome.. I can't wait.. less then two weeks away.

http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2776&Itemid=99

Well I just got back from seeing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  I LOVED IT, This is my favorite of the five so far.. but I say that with every new movie :)

This being the longest book of the series but so far the shortest of the films clocking in at 2 hours 18 minutes.  And boy does the time fly, I knew they were going to cut alot of the movie down but for once I could see them doing this with this book.. there is alot of extra stuff in the book that doesn't really pertain to the main charcater of Harry.  This movie starts off with a bang and it never slows down. They managed to capture Harry's anger perfectly. Of course scenes just seem to fly by, the condensed scenes made sense. We get to see some favorite characters but they are on screen for just a few moments. This movie is much darker and more of a dramatic. This feels more like an adult film. The acting gets better and better with every film.  And OMG the last 25 minutes of the film... WOW. I can't wait to see this again.. which I'm doing Friday and again on Sunday.. then checking it out in IMAX next week.

I really enjoyed the first 4 movies and like you found each movie to be darker in content then the one before it, I am looking forward to seeing this movie

Potter' casts record box-office spell

LOS ANGELES - The boy wizard still has a magic touch at the box office.

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" took in $44.8 million in its first day, the best single-day gross ever for a movie on a Wednesday.

That included $12 million from screenings that started at midnight Tuesday.

The sequel from Time Warner Inc. unit Warner Bros. topped the previous Wednesday record of $40.4 million for 2004's "Spider-Man 2," according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

"In terms of box office, the law of diminishing returns does not apply to `Harry Potter.' It seems to be getting better with age," said Paul Dergarabedian, Media By Numbers president, who noted that the July 21 publication of the seventh and final "Harry Potter" novel likely helped drive interest in the latest film.

"It has the effect of creating even more excitement for both properties," Dergarabedian said. "It's a synergistic match made in heaven to have the book and movie come out within a couple weeks of each other."

"Order of the Phoenix," the fifth installment of the movie franchise based on J.K. Rowling's fantasy best-sellers, has teen wizard Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) teaching classmates magic spells to defend themselves against the coming battle with the forces of dark Lord Voldemort.

The cast includes Emma Watson and Rupert Grint as Harry's closest school chums, plus Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Gary Oldman, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson and Imelda Staunton.

Quote from: StarTrekFanatic5 on July 12, 2007, 12:13:46 PMThat included $12 million from screenings that started at midnight Tuesday.

Question for you Kenny (or anyone else who may know, I single you out Kenny cuz you are our resident Hollywood insider)

Aren't Midnight Tuesday screenings actually Wednesday?  It just seems odd for them to point that out like it is a separate thing.  I always assumed that any day's gross would count midnight screenings because it is in fact part of that day.

Yes.. the midnight showing does count towards the next day reciepts. But the reason they point this out is because it's the all time best midnight only screening.  HP 5 made 12 million in just there midnight screening alone.. that's huge. Other movies don't make that in an entire weekend or there entire film run in thearter and they did it in one screening.

Saw it last night with most of the family and a friend.  I really enjoyed this movie.  Unlike Goblet of Fire which I felt they really cut the book down too much, this one really feels like they got the essence of the story across.  Of course they still had to cut quite a bit out of the book but it flowed very well and the actors did a great job.  I agree with Kenny in how well Dan Radcliffe portrayed Harry's anger here, and some teenage angst.  I think my favorite movie up until this point was the 3rd (Prisoner of Azkaban) but this one is right up along side it.  It was great to see all the characters/actors once again.  I feel a bit sad knowing we have only one book left and two movies to go in this wonderful series.

I saw this in The Sun today and wondered what the community thought, it may contain "SPOILERS".

BETS are pouring in on boy wizard Harry Potter killing HIMSELF in the final book of JK Rowling’s series.

Bookies William Hill have slashed the price on Harry sacrificing himself from a hefty 33-1 to odds on.

They fear fans with inside knowledge of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows are plotting a second huge sting.

Bookies were cleaned out after the release of The Half-Blood Prince in 2005, when in-the-know punters backed headmaster Dumbledore to die.

William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said last night: “The idea has gained momentum with fans. They expect for good to triumph over evil Harry will have to cause his own death.

“There has been so much money put on we fear this is a massive sting by people in the know.”

The odds for Harry killing himself are 10-11 on, with arch-enemy Lord Voldemort at 9-4 to slay the Hogwarts hero.

But William Hill will refund all the bets if Harry survives.

The suicide prediction is the latest conspiracy theory about Harry’s seventh adventure, published on July 21.


Chum Hagrid is tipped to die, while fans have backed baddie Peter Pettigrew to SAVE Harry.

Publishers Bloomsbury have organised massive security to safeguard the plot.

The books will be delivered in crates bound with steel chains and arrive at shops one day before they go on sale.

It is expected to sell three million copies in 24 hours.

And fans have flocked to see fifth film Order of the Phoenix, released on Thursday.

Unlike Rico and Kenny I cannot glow about this film. I have to say though that I have not read any of the books and reading the books may help fill in blanks that someone like myself cannot catch but here is my take.

First of all I felt the movie was very poorly edited. Whereas the previous films were longer they took more time for the audience to grasp what was going on. The editing was very choppy and there were many scenes that should have played out more and others that were hacked almost to the point of making you ask "why did they bother?".

Second, unlike Rico I felt that this film was Radcliffe's weakest performance yet whereas the other young actors have actually improved quite a lot. His teenage angst did not make me feel for his character but actually made me angrier the longer it persisted.

Third, the sfx seemed less realistic in this film compared to the other films and the matte paintings looked like matte paintings, whereas in the previous films most of the matte painted scenes looked real enough to cause you to believe the places actually existed.

Fourth, I felt the score was not as good as the previous films. There is the use of the original Harry Potter theme but Nicholas Hooper is not near as strong of a composer as Williams and his music at times seemed more like filler rather than what should compliment what was happening on screen.

On the positive side it was good to see characters like Hagrid and Dumbledore again and the story aspect involving the Ministry was fun. Especially the Dolores Umbridge character's role and her Betty Crocker or Dear Abbey fashions. I also enjoyed the Luna Lovegood character.

All in all I would not say that Order Of the Phoenix is the best of the Harry Potter films but it was still enjoyable and I would give it a 3 out of 5 stars.

Kevin

I saw the movie today and thought it was alright. I am like Kevin in that I have not read the books, so everything about Harry Potter I pickup from the movie. I dont have the Movies on DVD either, so my memory gets bit rusty at times, trying to remember things from the previous movies. But both my wife and I had a good time. I am hoping when they are finished all the movies they will release them in a big set, then I will get more out of them.
I liked the parts where Harry was teaching his classmates about defence agaisnt the Dark Arts. As well I liked the new character Luna Lovegood, as she seemed a bit off from the others, so hopefully she shows up in the upcoming movie. As well I wish there was more  Draco Malfoy, I have found the past few movies that there was less and less of his character, and I like his character and wished it was more then a few cameos. I agree with Kevin in that I missed the Williams score, and found the music in this not as memorable to me.

It's interesting but I do think reading the books does help you enjoy the movies more in the case of the Harry Potter series.  They have to cut so much out from the books in order to do the movies it does help to know more of what is really going on.  I would urge anyone that has enjoyed the movies but hasn't tried the books yet to give them a go - they are great fun to read!

But Rico you should NOT have to read a book to enjoy a movie. It is the directors responsibility to make sure the audience can relate without even knowing anything about the franchise. That is the challenge that J.J. Abrams has in the upcoming Star Trek movie and I hope he pulls it off dramatically (no pun intended). I'm sure I would love the books but I just don't have the time to devote to reading them. So, consequently I'm dependent on the director to do the books justice.

Kevin

Didn't actually mean that in my comments.  I was just saying that there is basically no easy way to turn an almost 900 page book into a movie and not lose something.  Yes, the movie needs to stand on it's own (and I think it does in talking to others that also haven't read the books) but you certainly will get more out of it if you eventually read the book.

I don't think much of the movies unfortunately.... I think they cut way too much out of them and they leave a lot of important stuff out.  Some of the actors are great, but some just plainly slurp.  Why can't they just create these movies like the LOTR.  THEY PRACTICALLY DIDN'T LEAVE ANYTHING OUT.  The makers of the Harry Potter movies have more thann enough money to create a really good movie leaving almost nothing out.  If "Time" is there issue with Radcliffe growing up, then film the stuff all at once.  Thats what they did with LOTR. 

Have you read the LOTR books recently.. they changed quite a bit in the movies. Book to movie adaptations are just that.. adaptations, they aren't verbatim. They are suppose to capture the essence of the story and I think LOTR and Harry Potter have done that. Stuff written in books is sometimes hard to translate to the big screen. The one great thing about this is if you don't like the movies.. then you have the books.. I guess I am lucky as I love the books and I appreciate the movies as well.

I have to say, I enjoyed the film, but I think everyone is making some very good points here. 

The film felt a bit short, with some limited takes on many of the characters. The story as well felt abbreviated.

But I also felt that everything in the movie was done very well, and Radcliff portrayed the loneliness and angst very well, even if, due to the running time, it felt a little too explained by a  throwaway line in the end.

The SFX were very good. (I'm sorry KTrek but I really don't understand what you meant about them looking fake. I just didn't see it, and I'm generally pretty picky about those things.)

I would give it a slightly higher score than some, about a 4 out of 5, but that's only because due to the constraints of the studio (running times, etc.) they did as well as could reasonably be expected. And that last 25 minutes was simply amazing.

OTOH - I would much rather see these films done more to the books, and have longer running times consistent with the story being told - I'd say this one could have been about 5 and a half hours, maybe a couple of intermissions, and a catered lunch. ;)

I saw the film last weekend and like some others, I have never read any of the books and my recollection of some of the previous films is a bit sketchy.  I did enjoy this film very much although I did feel it was a bit short.  The film gave me a feeling that Harry will probably have to die for Valdemort to be defeated.  I can't say exactly why, it's just the feeling I got from watching the film.  I guess we will find out tonight at midnight. 

I do plan to start the books at some point, but right now I just don't have the time. 

Quote from: wso32 on July 20, 2007, 02:20:06 AM
  The film gave me a feeling that Harry will probably have to die for Valdemort to be defeated.  I can't say exactly why, it's just the feeling I got from watching the film.  I guess we will find out tonight at midnight. 

Well, conveniently Rowlings did give herself an out to NOT kill Harry because the Prophecy sphere broke which to means that the prophecy no longer has to play out the way it was given. I may be wrong but I think not. However, if she does not kill off Potter she will have gone against the archetypes she has been playing. If Potter is the Christ character in her books then "no greater love has a man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. End of story! Potter dies and saves his friends!

Kevin

Could be Neville.

I saw the movie yesterday, and have noticed that each movie is getting much more darker then the last. Very enjoyable and entertaining though.

I can't wait for this... lots of fun extras

Warner Home Video has provided ComingSoon.net with a first look at the new DVD cover artwork for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The summer blockbuster will be released as a Two-Disc Special Edition, a Widescreen version, a Full Screen version, a Blu-ray Disc and a HD DVD on December 11.

The Two-Disc Special Edition, Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD will include: 10 minutes of never before seen footage; an A&E documentary; a featurette called "Trailing Tonks," in which you spend a day with actress Nat Tena and receive a very personal and often wacky tour of the "Order of the Phoenix" stages; a "Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing" feature, in which director David Yates and editor Mark Day show us what a difference a good edit makes and then allow you to edit a scene; "The Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter" in which look for clues in the past Harry Potter films for what the future films may hold; an "In Movie Experience," in which you join the cast from Dumbledore's Army as they come together to share memorable moments; as well as more "making of" featurettes and "Fun and Games."

Cool!  Every format!  So all will be happy!

Cool.  This was the first HP movie I didn't see in the theater.  At the time, I hadn't read the book.  (I'm halfway through HP7 now.)  I'm looking forward to seeing how the filmmakers envisioned the Ministry of Magic and other elements of the Order of the Phoenix.

I have not read the books as of yet and but I am enjoying the movies so far. I can't wait to see the latest one!

'Harry Potter' toots box office horn
Warner Bros. tubthumps franchise's success
By DIANE GARRETT
Talk Back - post a comment

'Harry Potter'
Warner Bros. is touting another "Harry Potter" milestone: Top-grossing film franchise worldwide. Ever.

According to numbers-crunchers at the studio, the first five installments in the wizarding film series have amassed more than $4.47 billion worldwide, passing the worldwide B.O. for all previous 22 James Bond films and the six "Star Wars" movies.

Bond, which dates back to 1962, has generated $4.44 billion worldwide and the "Star Wars" pics have pulled down $4.23 billion since the first release in 1977.

None of the tallies account for inflation or rising ticket prices.

And domestically the "Star Wars" franchise still far outpaces the boy wizard. All told, the "Star Wars" pics have grossed $2.18 billion, while the "Harry Potter" franchise has grossed $1.41 billion. But then there are still two more "Potters" to go.

Warner prexy and chief operating officer Alan Horn acknowledged it would be hard to come up with an apples-to-apples comparison among the top three franchises.

"It's just a fun number," Horn said of the milestone. "It is not any way to diminish the box office totals of 'Star Wars' and the Bond movies."The fifth installment has grossed more than $900 million thus far, with just under $300 million coming from domestic B.O. The studio projects it will generate an additional $20 million to $25 million overseas.

Bond filmmakers, meanwhile, are doing their best to keep adding to their franchise's tally, with at least two more installments of that series in the works. Although Sony is calling the next installment "Bond 22," Warner included the "unofficial" Bond movie, "Never Say Never Again" in its tally.

The "Star Wars" franchise, meanwhile, is dormant -- at least for now.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117971747.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

Very interesting.  I do kind of like to see the numbers adjusted for inflation.  Harry Potter does seem to have a big world wide appeal more than some of the other big franchises.

It's nice to see a popular franchise that isn't US-centric.

That reminds me.  I am going to see OOtP on the Imax tomorrow night.

Meh.  Just makes me mad that some of the more well written, better organized fantasy/ Sci Fi hadn't gotten the media blitz's that Potter got.

I'm seriously considering starting an Anti-Golden Compass series of protests on the grounds of implied anti-catholic overtones just to help drum up some excitement and press for it.  I mean Stardust passed like a ship in the night when it hit...

I'm bitter and I'm tired.

Mr. O

This is from the upcoming DVD release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which came out on DVD in England today but won't be out in the US till next month... there are two sneak peeks of the upcoming Half Blood Prince movie coming out next fall... I can't wait for this movie.

Check it out..

Heck yea!!!  Quittich returns!!! about blasted time!!!!

King Linksr

I loved the movie in theaters! and I wanna buy it when it comes out.

It's been pulled from YouTube for copyright issues.

Curse my metal body; I wasn't fast enough.

Well it seems there are lot of Harry Potter fans here on the forums so I thought I would start a thread just for Harry Potter News.

Entertainment Weekly Names J.K. Rowling "Entertainer of the Year"
J.K. Rowling

Entertainment Weekly has named J.K. Rowling their "Entertainer of the Year" for 2007 (cover of new issue with JRK, here).The magazine says the reason they selected the Harry Potter author as their top entertainer was "because she did something very, very hard, and she did it very, very well, thus pleasing hundreds of millions of children and adults very, very much. In an era of videogame consoles, online multiplayer ''environments,'' and tinier-is-better mobisodes, minisodes, and webisodes, she got people to tote around her big, fat old-fashioned printed-on-paper books as if they were the hottest new entertainment devices on the planet."

Praising the timelessness of our favorite author's works, the article continues:

"As it turns out, the Harry Potter books are much richer than their progression from lightness to darkness, from childhood to adulthood, from the episodic simplicity of chapter-books to the heft and sweep of epic novels, and in their constant, book-by-book recalibration of what their readers were prepared to absorb, they've proven unlike anything else in a century of children's literature. Can there be any remaining doubt that Rowling meant every word when she said, some time back, that she planned every aspect of her story ''so carefully I sometimes feel as though my brain is going to explode''? The planning clearly paid off, not only in the blossoming of the books into a worldwide cross-cultural phenomenon but in the widespread declarations that greeted the July publication of volume 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, that Rowling had created something timeless, a tale that children would read 25 and 50 years from now."

...

Rowling's writing is distinguished by its great and sustained generosity — toward her readers and her characters — and the books she spent so long creating are entertaining enough to satisfy anybody who reads them in order to flee the cares of the everyday world, even if what looks like a chance to disapparate ultimately lands us in a universe very much like the one we were trying to escape. As odd as it may sound, Rowling is a realist. Even when the incantations are flying (not to mention the people), she stays focused on the humanness of what she's writing about: the cost of pride and stubbornness and vanity, the toll of living in fear, the ache of loss, the search for home, the pain of holding a lifelong secret, the need to be loved, the quest to find out who you truly are."
Hear hear! The new issue of "Entertainment Weekly" featuring JKR on the cover will be on newsstands this weekend.

Not sure how many of you have caught this.. it's been around the past few weeks. This caused an uproar in the HP fandom as many thought this was a prequel to the Harry Potter series. Come to find out that this is a fan fic that a Dad wrote for his kids. The website is very cool and if you didn't know any better it looks like something Warner Bros would produce.

You can check it out here http://www.elderscrossing.com/

The story is called Jame Potter and the Halls of Elders' Crossing

Keep the info coming.  Its very interesting.

King Linksr

J. K. Rowling on Forbes List of UK Billionaires

Forbes Magazine has released a new list detailing the growing number of billionaires from the UK, and have included Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling among the individuals on this year's list. In addition to being the only woman on the list, Jo Rowling is also the only author. Forbes goes into more detail about our favorite author in a profile, which states:

    Rowling is the only author on our list. The seventh (and last) installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows hit bookstores in July and worldwide sales of the first six topped 325 million copies. The film series, from which Rowling enjoys a cut of royalties and merchandising has grossed $3.5 billion, and there's no doubt three more movies to come.

On a related note, Jo has also received the honor of being chosen, via a poll, as America's top pick for a celebrity substitute teacher for a day. Sponsored by the The National Education Association in the lead up to Substitute Educators Day, people voted for their choice of celebrity they would most like to see as a substitute teacher. With 25% of the vote, Jo Rowling topped such celebrities as Microsoft founder Bill Gates, athlete Tiger Woods, and actress America Ferrera from the TV show "Ugly Betty" for the distinction.

Jessie Cave to Play Lavender Brown

CBBC Newsround has a follow up on the news from yesterday regarding the actress to play Lavender Brown in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Readers will remember Rupert Grint mentioned a girl named Jessie for the part; her full name is now confirmed to be Jessie Cave. The article notes Ms. Cave "is 20 years old. Your first chance to see Jessie on screen though will be in CBBC drama Summerhill going out early next year. It's not known if Jessie attended the open auditions for Lavender.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" does continue with production, and will be released in theaters November 21, 2008. Thanks to BBC.

"Half-Blood Prince" Casting News: Helen McCrory will Play Narcissa Malfoy

Good news this morning as CBBC Newsround can confirm some casting news for the upcoming "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" film. Actress Helen McCrory will play the part of Narcissa Malfoy, the wife of Death Eater Lucius Malfoy. Newsround reminds us that Ms McCrory "was originally cast as Bellatrix Lestrange in the fifth Potter movie, but couldn't play the part because she was expecting a baby."

Helen McCrory has appeared in "Anna Karenina" for PBS, as well as The Count of Monte Cristo, and was most recently seen in the hit films "The Queen," and "Becoming Jane," which also co-starred Julie Walters (Molly Weasley) and Dame Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall).

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is currently in production and will be released in theaters November 21, 2008.

Director Guillermo Del Toro Would be Interested in "Deathly Hallows" Film

Direction Guillermo Del Toro has given a new interview to MTV where he speaks again of his interest in possibly helming a Harry Potter film, in particular the film adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." Mr. Del Toro, who was approached for Prisoner of Azkaban (and ultimately directed by his good friend Alfonso Cuaron) says he might still make a Harry Potter movie, providing Warner Brothers lets him make the movie as he sees fit and on his own terms.

    "They came to me once, for the third one," he remembered of "The Prisoner of Azkaban". "I've read them all, and when I read the books before the movies were done, I always pictured Charles Dickens – they were very Dickens-ian. The situation of Harry Potter reminded me a lot of Pip from 'Great Expectations'. I saw them as deeper, more creaky, more corroded; then [the stories] were textured very differently when the first two movies came out. They were so bright and happy and full of light, that I wasn't interested."

    After seeing the last few films, however, the director famed for a shadowy imagination and morally ambiguous characters has begun to reconsider. "They seem to be getting eerie and darker ... If they come back to me, I'll think about it."

As announced previously, the film version of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is set to go into production sometime in 2009, with a release slated for sometime in 2010.

Casting Now Complete for "Half-Blood Prince"

The names of two actors who will portray a younger Lord Voldemort in the upcoming "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" film have now been revealed. Newsround is reporting that Hero Fiennes Tiffin (age 9 and nephew of actor Ralph Fiennes) will play the 11-year-old Tom Riddle. An actor named Frank Dillane, who is 16 years old, is said to be cast in the part of a teenage Voldemort.

UPDATE: Warner Brothers has just issued a press release indicating the casting is now complete for the sixth Harry Potter film. In addition to the Trio of Dan Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), confirmed in this press release are the return of :

# Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange)
# David Bradley (Argus Filch)
# Robbie Coltrane(Hagrid)
# Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick)
# Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy)
# Michael Gambon (Professor Dumbledore)
# Alan Rickman (Professor Snape)
# Maggie Smith (Prof essor McGonagall)
# Natalia Tena (Tonks)
# Julie Walters (Molly Weasley)
# David Thewlis (Remus Lupin)
# Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood)
# Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom)
# Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley)

As announced earlier this month, included in the press release are the confirmation of actress Helen McCrory as Narcissa Malfoy, and Jessie Cave as Lavender Brown. Finally confirmed is actor Jim Broadbent in the role of Professor Horace Slughorn.

Noting that director David Yates is returning to the helm of the Half-Blood Prince movie, as is screen writer Steven Kloves, HBP producer David Heyman is quoted as saying, "I am really excited that David Yates and all our cast are back for the sixth film and welcome some wonderful new additions to our ensemble. We all share a commitment to Jo Rowling and to Harry Potter fans around the world to keep making these films the best they can be and, as we head into the final installments, I can promise that this level of commitment will not waver."

In addition, confirming earlier reports here on TLC, noted cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel ("A Very Long Engagement," "Amelie") will serve as the director of photography, along with the return of production designer Stuart Craig, editor Mark Day, costume designer Jany Temime, creature & make-up effects designer Nick Dudman, special effects supervisor John Richardson, visual effects supervisor Tim Burke, and composer Nicholas Hooper.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is in production in London, England and will be released in theaters November of 2008.

Grammy Nomination for Jim Dale's "Deathly Hallows" Narration
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
December 06, 2007, 02:31 PM

Actor Jim Dale received a Grammy nomination today for his audio recording of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." Theatermania.com reports Mr. Dale "is up for Best Spoken Word Album for Children," with the awards due to be presented February 10 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. As readers will recall, Mr. Dale, who narrates the US editions of the Harry Potter audio books, was nominated previously for a Grammy for his recording of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and won the award for his voice work on "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." Congratulations Jim Dale!

Wow. I didn't know Grammies were handed out for audio books. I hope he wins, he is the best narrator I've ever heard. :)

Don't forget.. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoinex is coming out on DVD tomorrow (Tuesday Dec. 11) both single disc and double disc special edition with lots of extra goodies.. make sure you pick it up.

Also being released tomorrow are all 5 Harry Potter movies in HD and Blu-Ray.

Just got my DVD at lunch.. can't wait to go home and watch it.. BTW.. Target has an exclusive dvd sleeve and it's pretty sweet. I'll see if I can find a picture of it online.

The Target exclusive also come with a digital download, exclusive collected 3-D cover and "Building the Magic" bonus disc.

I bought my copy today. I decided not to get the two disc special edition as I rarely if ever watch any extras on DVDs unless it's Star Trek  or Disney. So I bought the single widescreen version at Circuit City who had the lowest price around! Only $13.99 and if you don't already own the previous titles Circuit City has them for only $7.99.

Kevin

Unpublished Rowling Manuscript Auctioned at Staggering Bid

Several weeks ago we reported that an unpublished hand-written and illustrated tale of wizardry by Harry Potter author JK Rowling would be auctioned off to benefit one of her favorite charity providers. This particular story was one of seven in the series titled "The Tales of Beedle Bard," which was a tale told to Harry and friends from Hogwarts Head Master Dumbledore. Rowling has indicated that none of the seven tales will ever be published.

The auction was recently held at the famous Sotheby's in London where the manuscript fetched the healthy sum of $3.98 million (1.95 million pounds), a staggering amount of money when you consider it garnered 40 times its expected price.

Sotheby's revealed the buyer to be from London dealer Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox.

The copy was one of seven handwritten editions and the only one to be made available for sale publicly. The other six have gone to six people instrumental to Harry since his inception. The leatherbound, handwritten tome was encrusted moonstones, as would be representative of "mothers, lovers and the power of dreams." All proceeds will benefit The Children's Voice charity, instituted by J.K. Rowling, which goes to help aid children who most need an advocate in the world.

Here is another HBP preview (there are spoilers if you haven't read the books)

Here is the question I have Kenny, how many ppl actually watch these without reading the books?  I think this is a bit of a misconception that people watch films like Harry Potter or LOTR without reading the books.  But maybe I'm wrong?.....

King Linksr

My wife loves the movies but hasn't read a line of the books.

I just picked my copy yesterday on Blu-Ray so I will have to watch that.....after we all sit and watch the movie tonight

I know alot of people who watch the movies but never read the books.  Some people just aren't book people. I know when LOTR movie came out I had only read half of the first book.. after seeing the movies I went back and read them all. Same with Harry Potter... Didn't read them until the first movie came out.. after that I went back and read the first four since that is all that were written by then.

I've read all the books and have seen all the films.  I also read the books before I saw the movies.  The books are so rich I prefer to get my first experience of each story that way.  Not to mention I couldn't wait until the movies finally are made for each one.

Amazon.com Reviews The Tales of Beedle the Bard

There is no easy way to define the experience of seeing, holding, or reading J.K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard, so let's just start with one word: "Whoa." The very fact of its existence (an artifact pulled straight out of a novel) is magical, not to mention the facts that only seven copies exist in all the world and each of the never-before-told tales is handwritten and illustrated by J.K. Rowling herself (and it's quite clear from the first few pages that she has some skill as an artist). Rowling's handwriting is like the familiar scrawl of a favorite aunt--it's not hard to read, but it does require attention--allowing you to take it slow and savor the mystery of each next word.

So how do you review one of the most remarkable tomes you've ever had the pleasure of opening? You just turn each page and allow yourself to be swept away by each story. You soak up the simple tales that read like Aesop's fables and echo the themes of the series; you follow every dip and curve of Rowling's handwriting and revel in every detail that makes the book unique--a slight darkening of a letter here, a place where the writing nearly runs off the page there. You take all that and you try and bring it to life, knowing that you will never be able to do it justice. With that, let's dig in and begin at the beginning, shall we? --Daphne Durham

1. "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" [CAUTION: SPOILERS WITHIN!]
As in her Harry Potter series, garnishing the top of the first page of the first fairy tale, "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot," is a drawing--in this case, a round pot sitting atop a surprisingly well-drawn foot (with five toes, in case you were wondering, and we know some of you were). This tale begins merrily enough, with a "kindly old wizard" whom we meet only briefly, but who reminds us so much of our dear Dumbledore that we must pause and take a breath.

This "well-beloved man" uses his magic primarily for the benefit of his neighbors, creating potions and antidotes for them in what he calls his "lucky cooking pot." Much too soon after we meet this kind and generous man, he dies (after living to a "goodly age") and leaves everything to his only son. Unfortunately, the son is nothing like his father (and entirely too much like a Malfoy). Upon his father's death, he discovers the pot, and in it (quite mysteriously) a single slipper and a note from his father that reads, "In the fond hope, my son, that you will never need this." As in most fairy tales, this is the moment when things start to go wrong....

Bitter about not having anything but a pot to his name and completely uninterested in anyone who cannot do magic, the son turns his back on the town, closing his door to his neighbors. First comes the old woman whose granddaughter is plagued with warts. When the son slams the door in her face, he immediately hears a loud clanging in the kitchen. His father's old cooking pot has sprouted a foot as well as a serious case of warts. Funny, and yet gross. Vintage Rowling. None of his spells work, and he cannot escape the hopping, warty pot that follows him--even to his bedside. The next day, the son opens the door to an old man who is missing his donkey. Without its help to carry wares to town, his family will go hungry. The son (who clearly has never read a fairy tale) slams the door on the old man. Sure enough, here comes the warty, befooted clanging pot, now having captured both the sounds of a braying donkey as well as groans of hunger. [Spoiler alert!] In true fairy tale fashion, the son is besieged with more visitors, and it takes a few tears, some vomit, and a whining dog before the wizard at last succumbs to his responsibility, and the true legacy of his father. Renouncing his selfish ways, he calls for all townspeople far and wide to come to him for help. One by one, he cures their ills and in doing so, empties the pot. At the very last, out pops the mysterious slipper--the one that perfectly fits the foot of the now-quiet pot--and together the two walk (and hop) off into the sunset.

Rowling has always made her stories as funny as they are clever, and "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" is no exception; the image of a one-footed cooking pot plagued with all the "warty" ills of the village, hopping after a selfish young wizard, is a good example. But the real magic of this book and this particular tale lies not just in her turns of phrase but in the way she underlines the "clang, clang, clang" of the pot for emphasis, and how her handwriting gets messier when the story picks up speed, like she's hurrying along with the reader. These touches make the story uniquely her own and this volume of stories particularly special.




2. "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" [CAUTION: SPOILERS WITHIN!]
Featured at the top of what may be one of our favorite fairy tales ever is a picture of a sparkling, flowing fountain. Now that we're thirty pages into the book, it has become clear that Rowling enjoys (and is quite good at) drawing stars and sparkles. The beginning and ending of almost every tale appears sprinkled with pixie dust (à la Peter Pan--fans know that Rowling's pixies are less likely to leave such a pretty trail). This first page of the story also features a small rose bush below the text. It is quite lovely, and as anyone who has tried to draw a rose knows, not that easy to pull off--a fact that makes it less likely that Rowling did it to cover up a mistake (the way some of us might). It is a gorgeous way to start, and it gives "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" a lot to live up to. Perhaps this is why the story begins so grandly and with such a perfectly lush and mysterious fairy tale setting: an enchanted and enclosed garden that is protected by "strong magic." Once a year, an "unfortunate" is allowed the opportunity to find their way to the Fountain, to bathe in the water, and win "fair fortune forever more." Ahhhh, such is the stuff of Harry Potter fans' dreams. In fact, this tale stands out as a favorite partly because it follows the quest arc that fans fell in love with in her novels—the kind we still crave.

Knowing that this may be the only chance to truly turn their lives around, people (with magical powers and without) travel from the far reaches of the kingdom to try and gain entrance to the garden. It is here that three witches meet and share their tales of woe. First is Asha, sick of "a malady no Healer could cure," who hopes the Fountain can restore her health. The second is Altheda, who was robbed and humiliated by a sorcerer. She hopes the Fountain will relieve her feelings of helplessness and her poverty. The third witch, Amata, was deserted by her beloved, and hopes the Fountain will help cure her "grief and longing." In just a few pages, Rowling has not only created terrific fairy tale drama, but an interesting conflict--readers young and old can relate to at least one the woes of Asha, Altheda, and Amata (and can we talk about how great those names are?), so how can you choose which one should win? The witches (much like the characters from our favorite series) decide that three heads are better than one, and they pool their efforts to reach the Fountain together. At first light, a crack in the wall appears and "Creepers" from the garden reach through and wrap themselves around Asha, the first witch. She grabs Altheda, who takes hold of Amata. But Amata gets tangled in the armor of a knight, and as the vines pull Asha in, all three witches along with the knight get pulled through the wall and into the garden.

Since only one of them will be permitted to bathe in the Fountain, the first two witches are upset that Amata inadvertently invited another competitor. Because he has no magical power, recognizes the women as witches, and is well-suited to his name, "Sir Luckless," the knight announces his intention to abandon the quest. Amata promptly chides him for giving up and asks him to join their group. It is heartening to see Rowling continuing to embrace the themes of friendship and camaraderie so prevalent in her series, not to mention her ability to draw strong, intelligent, female characters. We spent seven books watching Harry learn that it is okay to need the help and support of his friends, and that same notion of sharing responsibility and burden is strong in this tale.

On their journey to the Fountain, the motley band faces three challenges. We're in familiar fairy tale territory here, but it is the strong, simple imagery (a "monstrous white worm, bloated and blind") and way the characters work together to triumph over adversity that makes this story such a rich read, and pure Rowling. First, they face the worm who demands "proof of your pain." After several fruitless attempts to attack it with magic and other means, Asha's tears of frustration finally satisfy the worm, and the four are allowed to pass. Next, they face a steep slope and are asked to pay the "fruit of their labors." They try and try to make it up the hill but spend hours climbing to no avail. Finally, the hard-won effort of Altheda as she cheers her friends on (specifically the sweat from her brow) gets them past the challenge. At last, they face a stream in their path and are asked to pay "the treasure of your past." Attempts to float or leap across fail, until Amata thinks to use her wand to withdraw the memories of the lover who abandoned her, and drop them into the water (hello, Pensieve!). Stepping stones appear in the water, and the four are able to cross to the Fountain, where they must decide who gets to bathe.

[Spoiler Alert!] Asha collapses from exhaustion and is near death. She is in such pain that she cannot make it to the Fountain, and she begs her three friends not to move her. Altheda quickly mixes a powerful potion in an attempt to revive her, and the concoction actually cures her malady, so she no longer needs the Fountain's waters. (Some of you see where this is going, but stay tuned--Rowling has more surprises in store.) By curing Asha, Altheda realizes that she has the power to cure others and a means to earn money. She no longer needs the waters of the Fountain to cure her "powerlessness and poverty." The third witch, Amata realizes that once she washed away her regret for her lover, she was able to see him for what he really was ("cruel and faithless"), and she no longer needs the Fountain. She turns to Sir Luckless and offers him his turn at the Fountain as a reward for his bravery. The knight, amazed at his luck, bathes in the Fountain and flings himself "in his rusted armour" (this is the genius of Rowling--the addition of one word gives us the hilarious image of the knight bathing in full body armor in the Fountain) at the feet of Amata and begs for her "hand and her heart." Each witch achieves their dreams for a cure, a hapless knight wins knowledge of his bravery, and Amata, the one witch who had faith in him, realizes that she has found a "man worthy of her." A great "happily ever after" for our merry band, who set off "arm-in-arm" (it's particularly nice the way this is handwritten, with the hyphens supporting a visual of linked arms). But the story wouldn't be Rowling's without a kicker at the end: we learn that the four friends live long, never realizing that the Fountain's waters "carried no enchantment at all." Best. Ending. Ever.

As in her novels, Rowling emphasizes that the true power lies within, not merely in a wand and in a mind, but in a heart. Faith, trust, love give her characters the strength to meet the challenges before them. She doesn't preach to her readers, but the message is definitely there: if you allow yourself the chance to trust and love others, you can harness the power that you already have. What a great message for kids (and adults) to learn, and oh, what a lovely and memorable package.

I finally got to see this movie last night, and i was very disappointed.  I felt like I was watching a Cliff's Notes version of the story.  I don't think someone who only saw the movie and didn't read the book would get much from the movie. 

I'm not one of those people who hold the source material sacred in a movie adaptation, but so much was omitted that I just
didn't enjoy it.  (I didn't feel the same about the previous movies.)

The cast was great, as always.  I wish they could have performed more of the story.

I have NOT read the books yet and have really enjoyed the films. I will read them after the movies as I find it better that way. Good to see it will be in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD for those that do not have both.

I'll be curious to read your review of this one, Blackride.

I don't think the other films, though they certainly changed and omitted things, suffered so much from the translation to the big screen.

3. "The Warlock's Hairy Heart" [CAUTION: SPOILERS WITHIN!]
Beware dear readers: Rowling channels the Brothers Grimm for her third and darkest fairy tale. In "The Warlock's Hairy Heart" there is little laughter and no quest, only a journey into the shadowy depths of one warlock's soul. There is no evidence of pixie dust on this first horrible page, instead we see a drawing of a heart covered in coarse hair and dripping blood (again, it's really not easy to draw an actual heart, with valves and everything, but Rowling gets it just right--gross hair and all). Beneath the text is an old-fashioned key with three loops at the top, lying in a pool of blood, making it quite clear that we are in for a different tale than the others. Don't say we didn't warn you....

At the start we meet a handsome, skilled, and rich young warlock who is embarrassed by the foolishness of his friends in love (Rowling uses the word "gambolling" here--a perfect example of how she never talks down to her readers). So sure is he of his desire never to reveal such "weakness" that the young warlock uses "Dark Arts" to prevent himself from ever falling in love. Fans should recognize the beginnings of a cautionary tale here--Rowling has explored many lessons on the rashness of youth and the hazards of such power in the hands of the young in her series.

Unaware that the warlock has gone to such lengths to protect himself, his family laughs off his attempts to avoid love, thinking that the right girl will change his mind. But the warlock grows proud, convinced of his cleverness and impressed with his power to achieve total indifference. Even as time passes and the warlock watches his peers marry and have families of their own, he remains quite pleased with himself and his decision, considering himself lucky to be free of the emotional burdens that he believes shrivel up and hollow out the hearts of others. When the warlock's older parents die, he does not mourn, but instead feels "blessed" by their deaths. At this point in the text, Rowling's handwriting changes a bit and the ink on the page appears slightly darker. Perhaps she is pressing harder--is she as frightened of and frustrated by her young warlock as we are? Almost all of the sentences on the left page nearly run into the fold of the book, as we read about how the warlock makes himself quite comfortable in his dead parents' home, transferring his "greatest treasure" to their dungeon. On the facing page, when we learn that the warlock believes himself to be envied for his "splendid" and perfect solitude, we see the first stutter in Rowling's writing. It is as if she cannot bear to write the word "splendid" since it is so clearly not true. The warlock is deluded, making him all the more upset when he hears two servants gossiping--one taking pity on him, and the other making fun of him for not having a wife. He decides at once to "take a wife," presumably the most beautiful, wealthy, and talented woman, to make him the "envy of all."

As luck would have it, the very next day the warlock meets a beautiful, skillful, wealthy witch. Seeing her as his "prize," the warlock pursues her, convincing those who know him that he is a changed man. But the young witch--who is both "fascinated and repelled" by him--still senses his remoteness, even as she agrees to attend a feast at his castle. At the party, amidst the riches of his table and as minstrels play, the warlock woos the witch. Finally, she confronts him, suggesting that she would trust his lovely words if only she thought he "had a heart." [Spoiler alert!] Smiling (and still proud), the warlock leads the young maid to the dungeon, where he reveals a magic "crystal casket," in which lies his own "beating heart." We did warn you that this was going to be a dark tale, right?

The witch is horrified at the sight of the heart, which has turned shrunken and hairy in its exile from the body, and she begs the warlock to "put it back." Because he knows it would further endear him to her, the warlock "slices open" his chest with his wand and places the "hairy heart" within. Thrilled that the warlock may now feel love, the young witch embraces him (surprising, since we're clearly yelling "Get away from him!" by now), and the horrible heart is "pierced" by the beauty of her skin and the scent of her hair. "Grown strange" from being disconnected from his body for so long, the now "blind" and "perverse" heart takes savage action. Would that we could end here, and allow you to just wonder about the fates of the young witch and the hairy-hearted warlock, but Rowling marches the story on, as the guests at the feast wonder about their host. Hours later, they search the castle and find them in the dungeon. On the ground lies the dead maiden with her chest cut open. Crouched beside her is the "mad warlock," caressing and licking her "shining scarlet heart" and planning to switch it for his own. His heart is strong though, and it refuses to leave his body. The warlock, swearing never to be "mastered" by his heart, seizes a dagger and cuts it from his chest, leaving him briefly victorious, a heart in "each bloody hand" before he falls over the maiden and dies. The last paragraph describing the death of the warlock is the first that looks uneven--the handwriting skews up and to the right just slightly enough that it's noticeable, making the ending feel all the more abrupt and unsettling.

Rowling, like most of the really great fairy tale writers, has no pity for the wicked. Acting out of pride and selfishness from the start of the story, isolating and hardening himself against all feeling, the warlock opened himself up to madness, subsequently taking an innocent life, and destroying his own in the process (sound like any other villain you've met?). As with the other tales we've read, the secret lies in the imagery, both real and imagined (particularly once you see the drawings from the first page). The disturbing and indelible vision of the crazy warlock licking the bloody heart rivals the darkest of the Grimm brothers. Given that this story (and the entire text, after all) is meant to be a book of fables for young wizards and witches, it's fitting that Rowling would make a tale about the misuse of the Dark Arts the most horrible and least redemptive of them all. The Dark Arts, as we fans well know, are not to be toyed with--ever.

4. "Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump" [CAUTION: SPOILERS WITHIN!]
A large tree stump (with twenty growth rings—we counted) squats atop Rowling's fourth and longest fairy tale. Five tentacle-like roots spread from the base with grass and dandelion clocks sprouting out from beneath them. At the center of the base of the stump is a dark crack, with two white circles that look like tiny eyes peering out at the reader. Under the text is a small narrow paw print (with four toes). Not as horrific as the bloody, hairy heart of the last story (and this time we do see bright pixie dust on the facing page), but we don't entirely like the looks of that stump.

"Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump" begins (as good fairy tales often do) long ago and in a faraway land. A greedy and "foolish king" decides that he wants to keep magic all to himself. But he has two problems: first, he needs to round up all the existing witches and wizards; second, he needs to actually learn magic. Just as he commands a "Brigade of Witch Hunters" armed with a pack of fierce black dogs, he also announces his need for an "Instructor in Magic" (not too bright, our king). Savvy wizards and witches go into hiding rather than heed his call, but a "cunning charlatan" with no magical ability at all bluffs his way into the role with a few simple tricks.

Once installed as the head sorcerer and private instructor to the King, the charlatan demands gold for magical supplies, rubies for creating charms, and silver cups for potions. The charlatan hoards these items in his own house before returning to the palace, but he does not realize the King's old "washer-woman," Babbitty, sees him. She watches him pull twigs from a tree that he then presents to the King as wands. Cunning as he is, the charlatan tells the King that his wand will not work until "your Majesty is worthy of it."

Every day the King and charlatan practice their "magic" (Rowling shines here, painting a portrait of the ridiculous King waving his twig and "shouting nonsense at the sky"), but one morning they hear laughter and see Babbitty watching from her cottage, laughing so hard she can hardly stand. The humiliated King is furious and impatient, and demands that they give a real demonstration of magic in front of his subjects the very next day. The desperate charlatan says it is impossible since he needs to leave the kingdom on a long journey, but the now suspicious King threatens to send the Brigade after him. Having worked himself into a fury, the King also commands that if "anybody laughs at me" the charlatan will be beheaded. And so, our foolish, greedy, magic-less King is also revealed to be both prideful and pitifully insecure--even in these short, simple tales, Rowling is able to create complex, interesting characters.

Looking to "vent" his frustration and anger, the cunning charlatan heads straight to the house of Babbitty. Peering in the window, he sees a "little old lady" sitting at her table cleaning her wand, as the sheets are "washing themselves" in a tub. Seeing her as a real witch, and both the source and solution of his problems, he demands her help, or he will turn her over to the Brigade. It is hard to fully describe this powerful turning point in the story (and any of these tales, really). Try to remember the richness and color of Rowling's novels and imagine how she might pack these bite-sized tales full of vivid imagery and subtle nuances of character.

Unruffled by his demands (she is a witch, after all), Babbitty smiles and agrees to do "anything in her power" to help (there's a loophole if we've ever heard one). The charlatan tells her to hide inside a bush and perform all the spells for the King. Babbitty agrees, but wonders aloud what will happen if the King tries to perform an impossible spell. The charlatan, ever convinced of his own cleverness and the stupidity of others, laughs off her concerns, asserting that Babbitty's magic is certainly much more powerful than anything "that fool's imagination" could dream up.

The next morning, the members of the court gather together to witness the King's magic. From a stage, the King and charlatan perform their first magical act--making a woman's hat disappear. The crowd is amazed and astonished, never guessing that it is Babbitty, hiding in a bush, who performs the spell. For his next feat, the King points the "twig" (every reference of this cracks us up) at his horse, raising it high into the air. Looking around for an even better idea for the third spell, the King is interrupted by the Captain of the Brigade, who holds the body of one of the King's hounds (dead from a poisonous mushroom). He begs the King to bring the dog "back to life," but when the King points the twig at the dog, nothing happens. Babbitty smiles inside her hiding place, not even trying a spell, for she knows "no magic can raise the dead" (at least not in this story). The crowd begins to laugh, suspecting that the first two spells were just tricks. The King is furious, and when he demands to know why the spell failed, the cunning and deceitful charlatan points at Babbitty's hiding place and screams that a "wicked witch" is blocking the spells. Babbitty runs from the bush, and when the Witch Hunters send the hounds after her, she disappears, leaving the dogs "barking and scrabbling" at the base of an old tree. Desperate now, the charlatan shouts that the witch has turned herself "into a crab apple" (which even at this tense and dramatic point draws a snicker). Fearful that Babbitty may turn herself back into a woman and expose him, the charlatan demands the tree be cut down--because that is how you "treat evil witches." It is quite a powerful scene, not only for its "off with her head!" drama, but because the charlatan's ability to whip up the crowd is evocative of the all-too-real witch trials. As the drama builds, Rowling's handwriting appears slightly less polished--the spaces between letters of her words widens, creating the illusion that she's making the story up as she goes along, getting the words down on the page as fast as she can.

[Spoiler Alert!] The tree is chopped down, but as the crowd cheers and heads back toward the palace, a "loud cackling" is heard, this time from within the stump. Babbitty, smart witch that she is, shouts that witches and wizards cannot be killed by being "cut in half," and to prove it, she suggests that they cut the King's instructor "in two." At this, the charlatan begs for mercy and confesses. He is dragged to the dungeon, but Babbitty is not finished with her foolish king. Her voice, still issuing from the stump, proclaims that his actions have invoked a curse on the kingdom, so that every time the King harms a witch or wizard he too will feel a pain so fierce he will wish to "die of it." The now desperate King falls to his knees and promises to protect all the wizards and witches in his lands, allowing them to perform magic without harm. Pleased, but not completely satisfied, the stump cackles again and demands a statue of Babbitty be placed upon it to remind the King of his "own foolishness." The "shamed King" promises to have a sculptor create a statue in gold, and he heads back to the palace with his court. At last, a "stout old rabbit" with a wand in its teeth hops out from hole beneath the stump (aha! The source of those tiny white eyes) and leaves the kingdom. The golden statue remained on the stump forever more, and witches and wizards were never be hunted in the kingdom again.

"Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump" highlights the winking ingenuity of the old witch--who should remind fans of a certain wise and resourceful wizard--and you can imagine how old Babbitty might become a folk hero to young wizards and witches. But more than just a story about the triumph of a clever witch, the tale warns against human weaknesses of greed, arrogance, selfishness and duplicity, and shows how these errant (but not evil) characters come to learn the error of their ways. The fact that the tale follows so soon after that of the mad warlock highlights the importance that Rowling has always placed on self-awareness: Babbitty reveals to the King his arrogance and greed, just as the Hopping Pot exposes the wizard's selfishness and the Fountain uncovers the hidden strength of the three witches and the knight. Of the first four of her tales, only the hairy-hearted warlock suffers a truly horrible fate, as his unforgiveable use of the Dark Arts and his unwillingness to know his true self exclude him from redemption.

5. "The Tale of the Three Brothers" [CAUTION: SPOILERS WITHIN!]
If, like us, you raced through your first reading of "The Tale of the Three Brothers" on your way to the finale of all finales, then you missed quite a tale (one that we think can stand among the best of Aesop). Lucky for you, you can open your copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to Chapter Twenty-One and read it any time you like. If you have not already read the final book of Rowling's series (and what a feast you have ahead of you), you might not want read this review...yet. Give yourself a chance to read the tale in context first. You won't be disappointed.

A trio of toothy skulls stare out at the reader at the top of the last of the five tales (oh how we wish there were dozens more). The skull in the middle has a symbol carved into its forehead--a straight vertical line in a circle, enclosed by a triangle. Fans will remember the symbol from Mary GrandPre's drawing on the first page of the chapter. Underneath the text is a pile of fabric, upon which lies a wand (spouting a swirling stream of sparkles), and what looks like a small stone.

This spooky tale about three brothers, three choices, and three distinct fates begs to be read aloud--in fact, the first time we meet the three brothers is when Hermione reads the tale to Harry and Ron (and Xenophilius). Three brothers traveling along a deserted road at "twilight" (midnight, according to Mrs. Weasley's version of the story) come to a "treacherous" river they cannot cross. Well versed in magic, they create a bridge with a wave of their wands. Halfway across they are halted by a "hooded figure." Death is angry, and tells the brothers (in a funny moment from Hallows, Harry interrupts the story here "Sorry, but Death spoke to them?") that they have cheated him out of "new victims" since people usually drown when they try to cross the river. But, Death is shrewd and offers a reward to each of them for being smart enough to "escape" him (for those of you interested in the tiny details, our copy uses "escape" instead of "evade" that is printed in Book 7). Our favorite fairy tales have this same kind of "choose your fate" plot--you can learn so much about a character from a single choice, and the best stories, like this one, lead you away from where you think it's going toward an ending you never expected.

The oldest brother, a "combative man" asks for the mightiest wand ever created--a wand that will win every duel for its owner, one befitting a wizard who "conquered Death." So Death creates the (fateful) wand from an "Elder tree" (capitalized in our copy) and gives it to the quarrelsome, boastful brother. The second brother, an "arrogant man" who is determined to demean Death further, asks for the power to summon others back from Death. Picking up a stone from the ground, Death tells the brother that it holds the power to bring back the dead. The youngest brother, the most humble and wise of the three, did not "trust Death" so he asks for something to allow him to leave without being "followed by Death." Knowing he may have been outsmarted, Death, hands over "his own" invisibility cloak with a "very bad grace" (as opposed to "most unwillingly" in Book 7). Each brother's choice reveals so much about his motivations: the oldest brother wants the Elder wand to make him powerful over all others; the second brother wants to have power over Death; and the youngest brother wants to leave Death safely behind him.

[Spoiler Alert!] Eventually the brothers take their gifts and go their separate ways, toward very different fates. The first travels to a "certain village" ("distant" in Book 7) and tracks down a wizard with whom he had fought to challenge him to a duel he "could not fail to win." After killing his enemy, he retires to an inn where he brags about the Elder wand, how he won it from "Death himself," and how it makes him all-powerful. That night, a wizard sneaks up on the oldest brother and steals the wand, slitting the brother's throat "for good measure." The haunting refrain, in which Rowling describes Death as taking the brother "for his own," helps both anchor the story as a cautionary tale as well as teach a lesson about the inevitability of death. One of the most important messages from this tale, and from this particular brother, is the notion of using power for good (advice Rowling clearly takes to heart).

The second brother arrives at his empty home, where he turns the stone "over thrice in his hand" (the text in Book 7 omits the "over"), using it to "recall the Dead" (capitalized in our copy). He is thrilled to witness the return of the girl he once wanted to marry, however she is "silent and cold" ("sad" in Book 7) and suffering because she no longer belongs in the "mortal world." Desperate and filled with "hopeless longing" the second brother kills himself so that he can join her, allowing Death to win back his second victim.

The youngest brother uses the "Cloak of Invisibility" (even those of you who haven't read Book 7 yet should realize that this may not be just a fairy tale after all) to hide from Death, until at "very old age" he takes it off and gives it to his son. Then, he greets Death "gladly" and "as an old friend" and departs from "this life." Such a satisfying close to this tale--it still packs a punch even after a second reading. Simple, powerful, and poignant, "The Tale of the Three Brothers" introduces theories about the use and abuse of power (also strong in the series) and shares important messages about life and death. There are many ways in which this tale informs and enhances Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (the curious should reread Chapter Thirty-Five, "King's Cross" and discuss), but our favorite is highlighted by the message that Dumbledore himself imparts to Harry about accepting Death and embracing life: "Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and above all, those who live without love." The youngest brother did not try to cheat Death or harm others with his power; instead, he used his gift to live simply and without fear of Death, so that at the end of a long and happy life, he was able to go willingly from this world.

It is a true testament to Rowling's talent that her fairy tales carry such a strong message, but never appear preachy or overtly didactic (this goes double for her books, and is in part why they are so special). The Tales of Beedle the Bard imparts several of the same lessons as the Harry Potter series, and the stories reverberate with Dumbledore's warning about choosing "what is right and what is easy." Whether she is warning against arrogance and greed, revealing the responsibilities that come with immense power, or extolling the importance of love and faith in oneself, Rowling's boundless imagination and masterful storytelling keep her loyal fans (young and old) coming back for more, ever eager for the next lesson.

More Potter On the Way?

Author and creator of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, 42 told the London Daily Mail that an eighth Potter book is not out of the question.

The biggest reason for a possible return of the famous boy wizard comes from Rowling's 14-year old daughter Jessica. The author hinted that she has been getting some pressure from Jessica to put out an eighth Potter novel.

Her other children, now ages 4 and 2, will soon be getting old enough to appreciate the novels as well and are sure to want more stories from mommy.

Rowling does admit that if she succumbs to the temptation to write another Potter story, Harry, who is now getting older, will no longer be the central character.

She went on in the London press article to say that, "If - and it's a big if - I ever write an eighth book, I doubt that Harry would be the central character. I feel I've already told his story. "But these are big ifs. Let's give it ten years."

Rowling recently told Time magazine that "There have been times since finishing, weak moments, when I've said 'Yeah, all right' to the eighth novel."

Rowling is currently writing two different works on progress, an adult novel and, as she puts it, a "political fairy tale."

I think that Rowlings should put Potter to bed. I wouldn't mind if she did other stories about Hogwarts but I think all that can be said about Harry Potter has been said and to do another book could only weaken the work she has completed.

On another note I recently watched all five films again within a few days time and after doing so I have to say that I am not thrilled with the prospect of David Yates directing the next film. Order Of The Phoenix is the weakest of all the films and almost all of it's problems stem from directing. When watching the films that close together it really magnifies the flaws of the last film. It also seems as though Warner did not spend as much money on the production either.

Kevin

It would not surprise me in the least to see the Hogwarts franchise sold and farmed out to other writers/creators in many different genres such as film, TV, books, comics etc.  I expect it will happen sooner rather than later as well.

Super Rumor Alert: Of Spielberg and a Two Part "Deathly Hallows" Film
Rumor

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2008/1/13/super-rumor-alert-of-spielberg-and-a-two-part-deathly-hallows-film

Hang on everyone, there is a new rumor tonight regarding famous directors and a possible two part Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film. The Daily Mail is reporting tonight that crews currently working on "Half-Blood Prince" have been told the final Harry Potter film "will be released in two halves." The article then points out while the financial benefit would be significant ("it could mean a £500million bonus in ticket sales") the paper reports this purported move is artistic, citing an unnamed source who says:

    "There's so much to fit that the view is the last movie should be in two halves. There is a huge battle when Harry, played by Daniel Radcliffe, takes on Voldemort that needs to be done really well."

The article then goes on to cite that Warner Bros, which has still not formally announced a director for the final film, is considering some big name directors for the final movie, including legendary Oscar winning director Steven Spielberg. Quotage: At Warner Bros, who are rumoured to be thinking of Oscars and a big-name director such as Steven Spielberg for the final film, a spokesman said: "People are discussing all possibilities."

Readers will remember, and as cited by J.K. Rowling on her website, Steven Spielberg had considered directing the first Harry Potter film, but declined. As we have reported previously as well, other names have surfaced in regards to directing "Deathly Hallows" including Alfonso Cuaron, David Yates, Chris Columbus, and most recently Guillermo Del Toro. As exciting as all of this sounds, please keep this one very much in the rumor category for the time being. We are trying to verify this, and will update with more when we can.

Yep! Here we go again with the white shirts and their Hollywood greed! I hate this stuff! There are seven books and each book has been adapted to a single movie thus far but now that they see the franchise drawing to a close they want to leach the public for an extra film! This is atrocious! I am beginning to despise Hollywood more and more everyday!

Kevin

Another place now discussing 2 films for the final book here:   http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/extra-pottery-goodness-as-deathly-hallows-gets-split-in-two.php

I'm pretty ok with this idea if they film book 7 all at once and maybe just release them a year apart - using the LOTR model. There is a lot to cover in the last few books and most of them could benefit from longer run times or two movies. 
It's just too bad they didn't figure that out until now.

I don't think most Harry Potter fans would really mind having the final film split into 2 parts.  If both are true to the book than most Harry Potter fans wouldn't have cared if ALL the books were filmed in 2 parts.

Piggy backing on Rico's point...they could even release them a few months apart like they did with the final two Matrix movies.....if I remember that correctly.

I saw where Kenny posted the Amazon review of Tales of the Beetle Bard but he did not post the link to pictures of the book. Only 7 copies are in existence and one was put up for auction at Sotheby's. Amazon.com won the auction at 1,950,000.00 pounds which is close to 4 million dollars! Now IMHO no book is worth that unless it was original manuscripts by the writers of the Bible, but whatever!  I do have to say that the uniqueness of the book can be seen here (There are three pages of pics so be sure to click the other pages under the last picture):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=gw_cto_rarebook?ie=UTF8&docId=1000179911&pf_rd_p=343120901&pf_rd_s=left-nav-2&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=507846&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1XVPJ3PGKWGRYV5YMZM6 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=gw_cto_rarebook?ie=UTF8&docId=1000179911&pf_rd_p=343120901&pf_rd_s=left-nav-2&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=507846&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1XVPJ3PGKWGRYV5YMZM6)

Kevin

For those of you who don't visit JK Rowling's site and you are fan of HP.. you are missing out.. it's a very interactive site and you can fine lots of hidden things.. Today she has the family tree of the Weasleys along with Luna and Draco's family. Here's a snap shot of it.

Construction Begins on Hogwarts Castle for Wizarding World of Harry Potter Theme Park

February 11, 2008, 08:22 AM

Construction has begun on building Hogwarts Castle for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Theme Park at Universal Orlando, Florida. Longtime theme park blogger Jim Hill reports today that work is underway on the castle that will serve as the centerpiece of the Harry Potter attraction, and has photos of the steel beams that are forming the base of the castle. He writes "According to Universal insiders, this bare framework is just the start. In the weeks and months ahead, literally thousands of pieces of metal will be hoisted up & then bolted into place. As a full-sized recreation of Harry Potter's alma mater is built at the southwestern border of IOA's "Jurassic Park" section."

Also, Mr. Hill gives some reported background on how Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was persuaded to go with Universal for the theme park, as well as one amusing story involving Harry Potter film production designer Stuart Craig, who is overseeing things for the Harry Potter theme park as well.

    "Mind you, that's not to say that there weren't a few bumps in the road before Rowling finally agreed to sign that contract. Like that time that Universal Security had to be told NOT to arrest the man who was climbing the hill behind IOA's "Flying Unicorn" ride. You see, that man was Stuart Craig. The three-time Academy Award winner who has designed all of the sets for the "Harry Potter" films. And Stuart was just climbing that hill to see if he could find the proper spot to build Hagrid's cottage.

    Speaking of which ... "The Flying Unicorn" is expected to shut down sometime in September of this year. So that this IOA attraction can then be transformed into "The Flying Hippogriff." More to the point, so that work can finally begin on Hagrid's cottage."

At last word, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was set to open in December 1 of 2009, but that remains still in a state of flux, given the early stages of construction for the theme park.

That sounds like it's going to be really, really cool Kenny.

I didn't see anywhere that the next Harry Potter and the Half Blood prince has been announced for a November release. I didn't think that we would see one until 2009 but now November is looking more interesting with Bond and now Potter.

Also, here is a sneak peek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLKbadsOmjo&eurl=http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=11750

Kevin

Hey Kevin.. thanks for posting this.. there is actually a thread for the Half Blood Prince Sneak Peek.. but it's buried.. I think I'll merge the two threads.

Can't wait for this movie.

Ralph Fiennes: Not in "Half-Blood Prince," Has Not Signed Yet to Return as Voldemort for "Deathly Hallows"

While promoting his new film "In Bruges" actor Ralph Fiennes gave a new interview where he discusses his role as Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series. Ralph says he will not be appearing in the upcoming "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," and has not yet signed for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." He discusses the fact he "particularly liked" doing "Goblet of Fire" under the direction of Mike Newell. Noting that he was never an avid reader of the Harry Potter book series he says that it wasn't until he went "to the premiere of the first one I did, I got a real sense of the extraordinary nature of it all." Quotage from the interview with Ain't it Cool is as follows:

Capone (of Aint It Cool) Are you even in THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE?
RF: The one they're shooting now, no, I'm not in it.

Capone: So it's just your nephew that's playing...
RF: My nephew is playing, I think just for a couple of scenes, the younger Voldemort [Tom Riddle]. I understand that the bulk of the bulk of the backstory of Voldemort is played by another, slightly older actor [Frank Dillane].

Capone: And have you signed on for the final film yet?
RF: I have not yet, no.

Capone: Has it been fun seeing yourself rendered serpentine for the two films your are in?
RF: Yeah, I particularly liked doing the first one. The second one, I think Voldemort is placed more as a sense in Harry's head, whereas in the first one I did with Mike Newell directing, there was that fantastic scene of his rebirth in the graveyard, which I enjoyed doing. I've enjoyed making the movies, but I was never an avid reader of the books. It just wasn't something I went towards. When I went to the premiere of the first one I did, I got a real sense of the extraordinary nature of it all.

Capone: Were there small children in the audience screaming at the site of you?
RF: Yes! The volume of people and the noise and excitement; it was a huge phenomenon, the whole thing is definitely. And I actually think that the David Yates-directed one, the last one, was particularly good. I liked the style of it; it was grown up. and had an edge to it, the way it was shot and lit. It's a franchise that could so easily have not developed, but I think just filmicly it has been developed, and the producers have been very smart to keep it alive and present and edgy.

David Yates on Directing Deathly Hallows: "I'm Tempted"

In a new video interview, David Yates discusses the possibility of his return to direct Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In an interview with Empire magazine at last night's awards, David Yates says "I'm tempted" when asked if he will be returning to helm the final film in the Harry Potter series. Saying he can't really say much about it, he does note they "talk about it" every day, but declined to elaborate further.

David Yates also states they have two more months of filming yet to go on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and is very enthusiastic about the filming, saying every day "is a joy" as they work on the sixth Harry Potter movie. He gives the book high praise ("smashing") and says he can not wait to bring the film to audiences later this fall, they are all really excited. To watch this interview, click here, then scroll down to the bottom left corner to where it says "Best Director for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix David Yates."

Very cool. I really liked the last one. They keep getting better. I really think the story is strong, even though they have to scale some things back for the films (Like taking out Peeves. I would have loved to see him in the films. Oh well.)

This is very exciting. Thanks, Kenny.

Still not 100% confirmed by WB.. but it seems pretty official... and I'm very excited by this news.

LA Times Says Official: Two Parts for Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Movie
DH Film
Posted by: Sue
March 12, 2008, 04:41 PM

Big News everyone! The L.A Times is reporting an exclusive today: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be made in two films, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 , and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Furthermore, the paper cites producer David Heyman confirming the return of David Yates as director for both films, with Steven Kloves to finish out his duties as screenwriter. The movies are to be filmed at the same time, and will be released several months apart, with Part One due November 2010, and Part Two, May 2011.

While we are awaiting confirmation from Warner Brothers, this does seem to be official. More when we get it!

Here is the actual Article

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-potter13mar13,0,7162166.story

Final 'Harry Potter' book will spawn two movies
'Deathly Hallows' doubled

Murray Close / Warner Bros. Entertainment

'Deathly Hallows' films are scheduled to be released in November 2010 and May 2011.
By Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
1:11 PM PDT, March 12, 2008

WATFORD, England -- It's official: Eight will be the magic number for the "Harry Potter" film franchise.

After months of rumors, Warner Bros. and the producers of the massively successful movies will announce Thursday that they plan to split "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," J.K. Rowling's seventh and final "Potter" novel, into two blockbuster films -- one to be released in November 2010 and the second in May 2011.

The films will be titled, simply, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II," according to producer David Heyman. Director David Yates, who returned for his second tour of Potter duty with "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and is quite popular with the cast, will direct both "Deathly Hallows" films, which will be filmed concurrently. Screenwriter Steve Kloves also returns and, by completion of the franchise, will have written seven of the eight films.

One devoted "Potter" reader that is especially happy to hear the news is Daniel Radcliffe, the 18-year-old actor who plays the title character in the wizardry epic.

Some cynics will see the move as simply doubling the box-office payday, but Radcliffe told The Times that the split is purely in service of the story.

"I think it's the only way you can do it without cutting out a huge portion of the book," Radcliffe said recently during a break on the set of "Half-Blood Prince," the sixth "Potter" film, which is due in theaters on Nov. 21. "There have been compartmentalized subplots in the other books that have made them easier to cut -- although those cuts were still to the horror of some fans -- but the seventh book doesn't really have any subplots. It's one driving, pounding story from the word go."

Producer David Heyman said the decision was made with some anxiety and only after considerable deliberations. The producer joked that "while my wife and Warner Brothers were pleased" to hear that the Potter movie magic will continue into the next decade, he himself fretted that the cynical observers would see the decision as a purely mercenary move.

"I swear to you it was born out of purely creative reasons," Heyman said during an interview in a converted airplane factory outside London that has been home base to all of the "Potter" productions. "Unlike every other book, you cannot remove elements of this book. You can remove scenes of Ron playing quidditch from the fifth book, and you can remove Hermione and S.P.E.W. [Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare] and those subplots . . . but with the seventh, that can't be done."

Heyman said he approached Rowling with some trepidation about the strategy but found that she signed off on its logic rather quickly. "I went to Jo and she was cool with it," Heyman said, "and that was quite a relief."

Rowling has also been a more frequent visitor to the sixth movie's set than with previous installments. One big reason is that she is no longer busy trying to finish the "next" Potter book; she walked away from her signature character in July 2007, when the climactic "Deathly Hallows" hit stores, and continued the history-making ways of the series by selling 11 million copies during its first 24 hours on shelves.

The filming of "Half-Blood Prince" began in September, and Radcliffe said "it's been brilliant." He added: "It's also, I think, the funniest of the films so far."

The "Potter" films have pulled in a staggering $4.5 billion at the box office worldwide. Heyman said now that the "Potter" team knows they can split "Deathly Hollows" in half, the next challenge is figuring out the division.

As Heyman put it: "The question will be, where do you break it? And how do you make them one but two separate and distinct stories? Do you break it with a moment of suspense or one of resolution? These are the interesting challenges. But each book has presented its challenges."

Warner Bros. Chairman Alan Horn and Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, are expected to discuss the new plans for "Potter" on Thursday during a presentation at ShoWest, the convention of movie exhibitors in Las Vegas.

Well, I feel a little better about the film being two parts now since we won't have to wait a whole year to see the end but it still gets me mad how Hollywood wants to milk the franchise for every last dollar they can squeak out now that they see the end in view. They've already made billions of dollars but they must have billions more before it's all said and done. I sure will be glad to see it completly finished though.

Kevin

I think they are doing it more for the story then money.. the Deathly Hallows is like it's said in the article one large story.. there aren't many subplots that they can cut out like they have done with past movies. I'm not saying that they are not happy to produce an eight movie for the $$$ but I don't think that is why they are making two movies from the final book.

Yeah, I agree. For my money, they could have made all of them, except for the first two, into two parts and I would've been fine with it.

Steve Kloves: Says They Almost Split "Goblet of Fire," Began Thinking of Two "Deathly Hallows" Films Late Summer 07
DH Film
Posted by: Sue
March 13, 2008, 04:18 PM

There is more news today on the decision to make two movies out of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Screenwriter Steve Kloves has given a new interview to the Baltimore Sun, where he discusses the decision to split the book into two films, and says they had been considering to do this originally for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire . In an email to the paper Steve Kloves says "Years ago," he writes, "we briefly — and seriously — considered doing Goblet of Fire as two films. So this concept is not altogether new."

Steve Kloves, who is the screenwriter for the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and will pen the scripts for both of the "Deathly Hallows" movies, continued on to explain that early after the release of book seven they started thinking of splitting the seventh Harry Potter book for two films. Quotage is as follows: "As for Deathly Hallows, I intuited — almost from the first moments I began reading it and certainly once I'd finished — that to realize the story in a single film was going to be a tall order. Others in 'the group' felt similarly. So the idea of two films began to get kicked around as early as late summer of 2007. We didn't take it lightly. But ultimately everyone felt that despite the challenges it would present, it was the most sound creative decision. I'm sure some will think we're crazy. My wife looked at me cross-eyed when I first mentioned it. But I'm really excited about it because it should allow us to stretch a bit with the characters and give them the proper send-off. The story is highly emotional and those moments deserve time to breathe. And, personally, I feel we owe it to Jo — in order to preserve the integrity of the work — and the fans — for their loyalty all these years — to give them the best and most complete experience possible. I'd love to do it in three parts!" And for good measure, Kloves adds that working with Order of the Phoenix director David Yates on the currently filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince "was a brilliant experience, so this should be a treat!"

David Heyman Talks Splitting Deathly Hallows, Both Films Possibly Two and a Half Hours Long
DH Film
Posted by: Sue
March 14, 2008, 01:55 PM

Empire magazine has a new interview with Harry Potter producer David Heyman on the decision to make two films out of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In this new article, David Heyman describes the thought process behind the decision to split, debating on whether to make a "four and a half hour film," or the possibility of both as "two and a half hours long" and much more. He also declines to say where the split in the book will come as "don't have the first script. We do have a point roughly where we want to end, but we haven't got a draft to know if that works yet."

On the matter of splitting and length of the films he says quote: " We just thought how are we going to approach this? Is this going to be a four and a half hour film? That's probably what it would have been. Would our audience really embrace that? In some way, I think they might. But I think the younger ones would have drifted. There's always been difficulty making sure that the ones that are two hours, two and a half hours long – making sure that those are the right length. I think by having two films that are two and a half hours – although we're not sure of the length – then it will be a richer experience. One of the challenges that faces us, which we've been discussing, is how to give each film its own identity. We want them to feel like one film, but they've got to be self-contained too. We feel now that we've got a really good angle on that. But we haven't got a script yet on either part, so I don't want to say too much."

Empire: So these films will be the same length as the ones that came before? We won't see two films that clock in under two hours? David Heyman: No. The idea is to get everything people want in there. I'm sure there'll be parts that don't make it, which we won't know until the script is written. But that is the idea.

Empire: What do you think is the natural separation point in the books? Where can you end the first film in a satisfying way? David Heyman: It depends what feeling you want [to end on]. I don't want to answer that just yet because we don't have the first script. We do have a point roughly where we want to end, but we haven't got a draft to know if that works yet."

In addition there are comments on the discussion with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling on the decision to split the book, how the cast members (especially Dan Radcliffe) would handle the filming, and says again they will begin filming both movies at the same time, starting next February. Finally of note are some of the scenes David Heyman is looking forward to in the movies, as he says:

"Well, the final battle, but there's so much. I love the character stuff. I love the resolution of Dumbledore and Snape. I love the multiple Harries at the beginning. I love the scene of Hermione trapped at the Malfoys'. I love Harry and Hermione in the forest. I think there's so much, it's such a rich fabric. What we've done now, which I think is really exciting, is that we've found thematic centres for each of the films. That gives the film heart. I think it's pretty great that David Yates has crystalised it and...it's early days still, so I'm not going to say too much. But I'm just thrilled that David Yates decided to come back, because he's really found a new spirit for the sixth film and as we talk about seven, it's very different as well. I think it's going to be good."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One will be released Holiday (November) of 2010, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two due May (early summer timeframe) 2011.

Here's the official release about making the last book into two movies from Warner Bros.

http://www2.warnerbros.com/main/homepage/homepage.html
March 13, 2008 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Warner Bros. Plans Two-Part Film Adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" to Be Directed by David Yates

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that the screen adaptation of J.K. Rowling's final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be released in two parts. The announcement was made by Jeff Robinov, President of Warner Bros. Pictures Group.

Robinov also announced that director David Yates, who earlier helmed the 2007 summer blockbuster "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and is currently in production on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," will direct "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." This marks the first time any one director will helm more than two releases in the Harry Potter film franchise.

In addition, David Heyman, who first brought the project to Warner Bros. in 1997, will be completing the film franchise as the producer of all of the Harry Potter films. David Barron will also continue as producer. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will be adapted by screenwriter Steve Kloves.

In making the announcement, Robinov stated, "It has been an honor for our studio to be entrusted with bringing J.K. Rowling's extraordinary book series to the screen, and we have always felt a great responsibility to be true to her vision. In concluding the film franchise, we recognized that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is packed with vital plot points that complete the story arcs of all of its beloved characters. That said, we feel that the best way to do the book, and its many fans, justice is to expand the screen adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and release the film in two parts. We could not imagine the final chapter of the film franchise being in better hands than those of David Yates."

"This is a very special moment for us, as it is the final episode in the great journey that J.K. Rowling undertook more than a decade ago," said Alan Horn, President and COO, Warner Bros. Entertainment. "It has been a journey for all of us at Warner Bros. as well, and we are confident that our filmmakers will finish our series of films as a fitting complement to Jo's completion of Harry's story on the page."

"Over ten years ago, we made a commitment to Jo Rowling that, above all else, we would be faithful and true to the spirit of her books, and ever since we have endeavored never to compromise on the creative ambitions of the films. The Deathly Hallows is so rich, the story so dense and there is so much that is resolved that after discussing it with Jo, we came to the conclusion that two parts were needed to do it justice" said David Heyman. "I am thrilled that David Yates is returning to direct 'The Deathly Hallows.' He is both inspired and inspiring and is a passionate fan of the remarkable world and characters Jo has created. I know he will lead our incomparable cast and crew—most of whom have been with us since the very beginning—in bringing the series to the unforgettable conclusion it deserves."

Director David Yates remarked, "I've had great pleasure working with a tremendous cast and crew thus far, on both 'the Order of the Phoenix' and 'the Half-Blood Prince.' It's a wonderful world to work in and be part of and to create within, and I consider it a great privilege to continue to bring Jo's extraordinary world to the screen, and to be the director to complete this epic and exhilarating journey."

Part one of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will open Holiday 2010, with part two to be released in quick succession in Summer 2011. Both parts will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

I think it is strange that they put the statement "Both parts will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company." - like two different companies could be releasing the different parts.

Yes, I know, focusing on the minutia. I still found it mildly amusing.

"Half-Blood Prince" To Screen in IMAX, Finale in 3D
March 15, 2008, 07:45 AM

We have some more great movie news this morning, as it has now been confirmed that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be shown in IMAX, released the same day as the film opens on November 21, 2008. Also of note to fans is word that sections of the film such as the dramatic events at Hogwarts and the finale of the movie will be shown in 3D, just as parts of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" were shown in IMAX 3D.

E! went to England and has some BTS stuff from the next film Half Blood Prince. No spoilers..

Here's the first official photo from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

I have a friend who is working on the trailer and he said the teaser should be out in May in front of Prince Caspian.

Sweet....when is the release date for this flick

Official: "Deathly Hallows" Part One Due November 19, 2010

As readers will recall, last month we told you that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows would be made in two films, with the LA Times stating the first of the films was due out in November of 2010. Thanks to Coming Soon who let us know they can now report an exact date for the release of the first of these films: November 19, 2010.

UPDATE: This date has also been officially confirmed to us by Warner Bros. While no date for the second of the "Deathly Hallows" films is yet available, the LA Times previously stated May, 2011, and in their official press release, WB said to look for the film in Summer, 2011.

A reminder that both Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films will be directed by David Yates, with Steve Kloves as screenwriter , David Heyman producing, and will star Dan Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson among others.

Thanks to Coming Soon and WB!

Quote from: Darth Gaos on March 20, 2008, 09:27:14 PM
Sweet....when is the release date for this flick

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince will be out November 21, 2008

Looking forward to this movie a lot.  The last two books had a lot going on.  Can't wait!

Loved the books, enjoying the films - can't wait for this.

November 21st eh?  I know what I am doing for my birthday!  I loved the last two books and like RIco said there is a LOT of stuff going on.  I wonder if there are those who have not read the books that are only seeing the movies?  If so, the end of the sixth movie is gonna be a whopper for them.

I hate when this happens.. but I guess it's for the best.

Half-Blood Prince Movie Pushed to July 2009

The sixth Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, originally scheduled for a November 21 release, has now been moved to July 17, 2009 in the US and major international markets, according to MarketWatch.com. WB has confirmed the move to TLC.

The press release says the reason for the move was two-fold: First, the studio says summer releases are better for "family tentpole" events, and second, they are still feeling the aftereffects of the writer's strike and need the time to make sure the film reaches the widest audience possible.

The new date, said Jeff Robinov, president of WB's motion picture group, does not alter the production schedule for the last two Harry Potter films; filming on the first of the two book-seven films will begin in February. "The good news for [fans]," he said, "is that the gap will now be shortened between 'Half-Blood Prince' and the first part of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.'"

The writer's strike, the release says, "impacted the readiness of scripts for other films--changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of. We agreed the best strategy was to move 'Half-Blood Prince' to July, where it perfectly fills the gap for a major tent pole release for mid-summer."

A little disappointing, but I'm OK with it, I guess.  We're ending up with the same amount of HP movies, in the end.

I've been on a binge of Potter lately.  I went back to the beginning and have been listening to the audiobooks for the past month or so.  I'm halfway through Azkaban now.  Great stuff.

Oh yeah.. I got a hold of the Stephen Fry versions of the books (He does the British Audio books) and I'm at the Yule Ball in Goblet of Fire...

Still love Jim Dale's version but Fry's have their own charm.

I'm intrigued.  I didn't know there were different versions.

Darn, oh well.  

I'm patient.

King

Well you know the British books are different then the American books.. words have been changed or Americanized.. hence the title of the first book Philosopher Stone was changed to Sorcerers Stone.. they figure American's wouldn't understand the word Philosopher. The changes got less and less as the books were written.

Yeah, I knew that there were minor changes.  I just assumed Dale did both versions. 

I noticed while listening to Goblet of Fire that Quidditch was compared to "soccer" and not "football".

Well it was the same with the Bond filme Licence to Kill. Originally it was called Licence Revoked but the studio's though that the US public would not understand the word Revoked. HMMM Quantum of Solace not going to cause too many questions then aye. Never understood changing the names of these things, in fact it does annoy me quite a bit. I undertand that you need to change certain words for America such as pavement would have to be sidewalk, boot would be trunk, trousers would be pants (still can't get my head round that as in the UK pants are, well boxers/undies etc) I knew that Jim Dale did the US versions which is still a bit weird as he is English as well. Fry for me is the king of delivery, his wit and humour adds the best to Harry Potter. Those seeking more should check out his excellent Stephen Fry podcast on itunes, though be ware episode one he is full of pain killers and so sounds like he is off his face a bit.  I believe the Fry books have come out Un-Abridged at a fantastic low price. Hmmmm nice.

Quote from: StarTrekFanatic5 on August 14, 2008, 03:47:25 PM
Well you know the British books are different then the American books.. words have been changed or Americanized.. hence the title of the first book Philosopher Stone was changed to Sorcerers Stone.. they figure American's wouldn't understand the word Philosopher. The changes got less and less as the books were written.

So they say that Americans would not know what Philosopher was? So they go and change the name to something which has an entirely different meaning?? Philosopher and Sorcerer are two different things entirely. Who are the idiots now?

Quote from: HawkeyeMeds on August 14, 2008, 11:17:29 PM
...the studio's though that the US public would not understand the word Revoked.

I find that difficult to believe.  Granted, the US, like most countries, is full of idiots, but "revoked" isn't a difficult word.

Quote

I understand that you need to change certain words for America such as pavement would have to be sidewalk, boot would be trunk, trousers would be pants (still can't get my head round that as in the UK pants are, well boxers/undies etc)

"Trousers" means the same thing here, I think.

Quote
I knew that Jim Dale did the US versions which is still a bit weird as he is English as well.

That's what surprised me.  I was listening to an English guy already; who knew there was a different English version?

Quote from: pickard on August 17, 2008, 03:14:12 PM

Quote from: HawkeyeMeds on August 14, 2008, 11:17:29 PM
...the studio's though that the US public would not understand the word Revoked.

I find that difficult to believe.  Granted, the US, like most countries, is full of idiots, but "revoked" isn't a difficult word.

Quote

I understand that you need to change certain words for America such as pavement would have to be sidewalk, boot would be trunk, trousers would be pants (still can't get my head round that as in the UK pants are, well boxers/undies etc)

"Trousers" means the same thing here, I think.

Quote
I knew that Jim Dale did the US versions which is still a bit weird as he is English as well.

That's what surprised me.  I was listening to an English guy already; who knew there was a different English version?

First i'm just saying waht the studio said at the time of that Bond film release, i think its pretty daft if you ask me. Still all the same i think Licence to KIll is a better name anyway.


2.  I was led to believe you call trousers 'pants' over in the states.

3J  Jim Dale, so cool in the Carry On Doctor films.

Oh and the film being put back is apparently because od Daniel radcliifes performance in Equus that is going to be showing in Broadway. He gets all naked in that and the studios think that may tarnish the image of Harry Potter. Rubbish i say, that didn't hapen when Daniel was on at the West End performing the play, in fact if anything some people may get quite excited about seeing Harry Potter in the buff.

What's with this new Potter book coming out I saw in the bookstore the other day?  I'm not sure if its been talked about in this thread or elsewhere honestly, and I didnt have time to check it out walking past the borders in the mall.  Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Quote from: Jobydrone4of20 on August 20, 2008, 09:17:24 AM
What's with this new Potter book coming out I saw in the bookstore the other day?  I'm not sure if its been talked about in this thread or elsewhere honestly, and I didnt have time to check it out walking past the borders in the mall.  Anyone know what I'm talking about?

If you go back a page (page eight) in this thread you'll see all the info about the "new" book.. it's the childrens book mentioned in the final harry potter book.. it's called Tales of Beetle the Bard.

We've ordered ours yay

Oh yeah.. soon as they announced it I bought both versions.

BOTH, oh you are such a geek (AND THATS A GOOD THING)

25 Minutes of Half-Blood Prince in IMAX 3-D

Source: IMAX Corporation, ComingSoon.net
September 21, 2008

The last time we had anything to report on Warner Bros' Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it was the decision by the studio to move the highly-anticipated sixth installment to next summer from its original release date in November. As disappointing as that may have been, fans who enjoyed the 17 minutes of IMAX 3-D sequences in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix should be thrilled by the fact that there will be even more 3-D for the next installment.

Last month, during the IMAX Corporation's 2008 Q2 Earnings Report conference call, Rich Gelfond, the Co-Chairman and Co-CEO of the IMAX Corporation told shareholders, "we believe this film will include approximately 25 minutes in IMAX 3-D split between the opening sequence of the film and the finale."

It'll be almost ten months before we'll see which sequences exactly will be in 3-D, but who knows? Maybe we'll even see a bit of 3D Quidditch next time.

Been a while since I last read the books.....Half Blood Prince is the one where Ron becomes Keeper on the Gryffindor Quidditch team yes?  If so.....3D Quidditch would be AWESOME!!!....Well it would be awesome anyway.

TEN MONTHS!!!!!  Uggh that is gonna suck

Here are some new Harry Potter photos for the sixth movie...

(http://bloghogwarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/harry-draco-principemestizo-1.jpg)

(http://bloghogwarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/harry-draco-principemestizo-2.jpg)

(http://bloghogwarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/harry-draco-principemestizo-4.jpg)

Just found some promo photo of Emma Watson as Hermione Granger in The Half Blood Prince.


(http://www.ohmywatson.net/gallery/albums/Movies/Harry%20Potter%20and%20the%20Half-Blood%20Prince/Official%20photoshoot/normal_hbp004.jpg)

(http://www.ohmywatson.net/gallery/albums/Movies/Harry%20Potter%20and%20the%20Half-Blood%20Prince/Official%20photoshoot/normal_hbp006.jpg)

(http://www.ohmywatson.net/gallery/albums/Movies/Harry%20Potter%20and%20the%20Half-Blood%20Prince/Official%20photoshoot/normal_hbp007.jpg)

http://www.sliceofscifi.com/2008/12/02/abc-family-to-show-deleted-scene-from-goblet-of-fire/ (http://www.sliceofscifi.com/2008/12/02/abc-family-to-show-deleted-scene-from-goblet-of-fire/)

ABC Family to Show Deleted Scene from "Goblet of Fire"
December 2, 2008 by Michael Hickerson   || Category: Film

Part of the annual ABC Family "25 Days of Christmas" is a weekend long marathon of the "Harry Potter" films.  And while most Potter fanatics may have the films on DVD and the novels memorized, they may want to tune in this weekend when the network debuts "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."

On Sunday, December 7th, ABC Family will air an extended version of "Goblet of Fire" and include a never-before-seen deleted scene from the fourth Potter installment.  As if that weren't enough for Potter fans, the network will also include an exclusive look at next summer's "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" during the weekend-long marathon.

The marathon kicks off this Friday with the original "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."  "Goblet of Fire" will air Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. EST

This going to be great...

A sneak peek at the next Harry Potter movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7suOLk3mUWU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7suOLk3mUWU)

Oh that looks amazing.

Here's a Japanese trailer for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6GA2ZBH1P4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6GA2ZBH1P4)

Some sad news....

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double suffered a horror injury in a film set explosion yesterday.

The 25-year-old was rehearsing a flying sequence using a harness when he was sent plummeting by the blast, which was part of the stunt. He was conscious after smashing to the ground but told horrified colleagues: "I can't feel my legs."

The 25-year-old, who doubles for Harry star Daniel Radcliffe, was sent plunging yesterday by an explosion that was part of the stunt.

A source said: "The stunt double was badly hurt. He was rehearsing a flying scene which involved an explosion and it seems to have gone badly wrong. The guy was rigged up to a harness for the scene and was flying through the air.

"It is thought he may have been caught by the explosion and hit the ground very hard.

"He told crew members who went to help him he couldn't feel anything from the waist down. Everyone is just hoping he makes a good recovery. It has come as a terrible shock." Paramedics were called to the studio and the stuntman was taken to hospital

amid fears he may have been paralysed.

The accident happened at the world famous Leavesden studios near Watford, where tests are being carried out on stunts for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

A spokesman for the studio said: "We can confirm a member of the Harry Potter production was injured in an accident. We are awaiting further news.

a bit more here...
http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/01/29/harry-potter-stuntman-suffers-horror-injury-in-film-set-explosion-115875-21079076/ (http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/01/29/harry-potter-stuntman-suffers-horror-injury-in-film-set-explosion-115875-21079076/)

Yikes, hope he comes out all right. Strangely, even with all the "making of's" and other DVD extras we see, it's easy to forget how many risks stunt people take just to entertain us.

Stunt work is risky business. I hope he recovers fine from the fall.

Kevin

New Teaser Posters for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Check this out.. a person did Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movie trailer in claymation.. it's FANTASTIC!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pedUIot5a7k#hq (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pedUIot5a7k#hq)

THIS MOVIE IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ugf5Z6iz9A#ws-hq (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ugf5Z6iz9A#ws-hq)

wow!  That looks very intense!  They have certainly come a long way on the film side of things.

Finally, they are putting a Quidditch match after 3 movies without one.  They owe us!!  :)  

Looks excellent so here is to a great movie!  We all are hoping!

King

Gonna be a darn good film.

More Potter goodness...

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-AU&brand=ninemsn&vid=3007d1b9-a5c8-453b-9063-3dbd7efce392 (http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-AU&brand=ninemsn&vid=3007d1b9-a5c8-453b-9063-3dbd7efce392)

You can download that piece in beautiful HD here.. http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2009/2/27/-8 (http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2009/2/27/-8)

Or right click and save this..

http://wbads-60.vo.llnwd.net/e1/wbmovies/halfbloodprince/ncm/HP6_NCM_FT1_1080.mov (http://wbads-60.vo.llnwd.net/e1/wbmovies/halfbloodprince/ncm/HP6_NCM_FT1_1080.mov)

Wow.. this is trailer day.. first Wolverine, them Star Trek now Harry Potter 6

check it out..

NEW Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince TRAILER 4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZCfEJZSmlI#ws-lq-lq2-hq)

Wow Kenny, this is trailer day. Going to be great year for films.

WB just released some new posters.

A few more.

Nice posters but just like for the Trek movie, I'm not a big fan of all these individual posters.  I prefer the one poster style featuring most of the cast, a few movie images, etc.

I don't know. I've always liked the individual Potter ones and I've seen enough of them that I expect to see them for each film now.

Thanks

I love these posters. I like that if you want to buy one you can get the set or just the character that you want to get.

Cant wait for the movie

Here's the tailer that was shown a few weeks back with Japanese subtitles.. now it's the clean version of the International Trailer for HP6.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - International Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9memLopBGBM#noexternalembed-ws-lq-lq2-hq-hd)

Thanks Kenny.

What a great trailer. And you know what gets me excited, its that small snippet of the theme music everytime i hear it i get goose bumps.

E Online has a new HP6 Trailer.. it brought me to tears.. it's incredible.

http://www.eonline.com/videos/v19920743001_Harry_Potter_Sneak_Peek.html (http://www.eonline.com/videos/v19920743001_Harry_Potter_Sneak_Peek.html)

[spoiler]The Katie Bell scene though quick in the trailer gives me chills as it is exactly as i pictured it. [/spoiler]

New Photo released today.

Okay you can now download the new trailer in HD... http://mugglenet.com/app/news/full_story/2316 (http://mugglenet.com/app/news/full_story/2316)

Also they released four new posters.. pretty sweet..

Looks like the release has been moved up by 2 days for a midweek release.

Quote"Harry Potter" release moved up two days

By Carl DiOrio Carl Diorio   – Thu Apr 16, 1:16 am ET

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Film distributors continue to jockey for position just weeks before the start of the summer box-office season.

In the two latest maneuvers, Warner Bros. has moved up "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" to a midweek domestic bow on July 15, and Universal slipped another wide release into the last full month of summer with an August 14 slotting of horror thriller "A Perfect Getaway."

Warners initially had the latest "Potter" sequel set to unspool last November before postponing its bow until July 17. The latest move -- to a Wednesday opening -- is in keeping with the studio's established pattern with "Potter" pics that debut in the summer.

"We just wanted to wait to get a look at the competitive environment before doing it," Warner Bros. president Dan Fellman said Wednesday. "But the last one opened up to $44 million on a Wednesday, so there's certainly no reason not to do it this time."

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" opened in July 2007 and grossed $77.1 million over its first five days, eventually ringing up $292 million domestically.

"Getaway," which had not yet been scheduled, is set to compete against a whopping four mid-August wide openers. Those include Warners' literary adaptation "The Time Traveler's Wife," Sony's sci-fi film "District 9," Summit Entertainment's youth comedy "Bandslam" and Paramount Vantage's used-cars laugher "The Goods: The Don Ready Story."

Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said the rival releases target different audiences and aren't a concern.

"We likely having an action thriller in that corridor," Rocco said.

(Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090416/media_nm/us_potter (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090416/media_nm/us_potter)

The movie looks great.  The new trailer is amazing.  I love the look of this movie from what I have seen so far.  Can't wait.

Pulled the trailor up on mytube after reading Rico's post; agreed, it does look groovy! Chris

Guess where they're going to split Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Empire Online reports that the upcoming two-part Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movie will split at a cliffhanger moment.

The magazine spoke with star Daniel Radcliffe and franchise producer David Heyman.

"We've played around with a couple of places," Heyman told the magazine. "And ultimately settled on a place that we think is very exciting, and I think quite bold, in that it's not necessarily where one might expect. You want to give a sense of completion, on one hand, but a sense that there's another piece, more to come. We tried one, and then Steve [Kloves, the screenwriter,] came up with the idea to try it another way, and when we tried that, it felt just right."

Radcliffe added that the split is "at a very tense cliffhanger", which may be a bigger clue for fans.

The pair also discussed the end of final film installments, which are based on the seventh of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. (Spoilers ahead!)

As readers of the book know, the final scenes take place 19 years after the events of the main story. Heyman wants to use Benjamin Button-like technology to age the three main actors to play their older selves, and Radcliffe hopes they get it right.

"I am nervous about that, because if it's good, I'll be really, really pleased," Radcliffe said. "If it's not good, and that's what people are left with, that would be awful.If it's a choice between having me, Rupert and Emma looking a bit stupid and it being slightly comical or having other actors play us, I would go for other actors every time. So we'll see." The first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is slated for release in November of 2010. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, based on the sixth book, opens July 15.

New TV spot.

New Half-Blood Prince Commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBklbAhp0VE#ws-lq-lq2-hq-vhq-hd)

Looking good.

The Official US Harry Potter Poster

MTV Commercial for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Real life Quidditch.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/movies/403904/how-much-do-you-love-quidditch.jhtml (http://www.mtv.com/videos/movies/403904/how-much-do-you-love-quidditch.jhtml)

HBO's First Look

This movie is going to be the best yet.. I can't wait...

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - HBO First Look (part 1) [HQ] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug78GFUP96Q#lq-lq2-hq)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - HBO First Look (part 2) [HQ] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=058gI6XHFl4&feature=related#lq-lq2-hq)

Just watched an hours worth of 'making of' on ITV2 with interviews and set visits etc. It's looking very very good!

Can't wait to see this one!

Yeah saw that as well. Have just booked my tickets we're going Friday morning at 11am.

Harry Potter cast lifts veil on final films

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince—the sixth film based on J.K Rowling's beloved books—finally makes its worldwide debut on July 15, but there's no rest for the weary back in England, where the epic, two-part conclusion, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is in its fifth month of production.

Armed with their fresh-from-the-set stories and behind-the-scenes teases, the Potter cast and creative team (including stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint; director David Yates; and producer David Heyman) took a short break from filming to promote the latest installment in New York City on Thursday.

The next movies will split Rowling's seventh and final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, with part one debuting on Nov. 19, 2010, and part two bowing July 15, 2011.

Heyman said in the press conference that the two films will be very different, although they are two halves of a whole story. Part one is essentially an edgy, verite "road movie" that's a strong departure from the more comedic Half-Blood Prince, he said. "We are really enjoying it, actually," he said. "It's quite intense and very raw. We are way away from Hogwarts. It's a bit like three refugees being pursued across the landscape by these terrible Death Eaters. It feels very different. Actually, it's very hard coming back to [talk about] Half-Blood Prince, as we finished it a year ago."

Watson, who plays Hermione Granger, agreed with Heyman, adding that she's amazed at how different an experience shooting the Deathly Hallows installments has been.

"It feels totally different," Watson said in a separate cast press conference. "I feel like I am on a different film. The other films had a structure where it's like we come into the Great Hall, and then it's the opening talk, and ... that is just gone. It's not very often in the middle of filming you stop yourself and go, 'This is going to be awesome.' And I've done that on a number of occasions. We just [shot] this amazing scene in the forest, where we are being chased by the Snatchers. I've never done anything like it; nothing even close. I have never done any serious stunts or real action, and this is so exciting and dynamic. And all of us are now done with school, so we are totally focused on this finale at Hogwarts. I hope it's going to be brilliant."

As for part two, Yates said it's basically a "big opera." "It's a great big epic with huge battles," he said. "And it's oddly moving, because it concludes the whole saga."

Of course, the team wasn't spilling everything about the films, especially when asked where screenwriter Steve Kloves has split the book: where part one ends and part two begins. Producer Heyman suddenly got very tight-lipped and refused to divulge the specifics. "I could [tell you], but I'm not going to," he said.

"It's been an interesting process, because when we began all of us didn't want to make two films," Heyman added. "Why do it now? And it wasn't told to us that we had to do it; rather, it was an organic process of working on it and Steve working on it. The films took a fundamental turn when Steve, working with Alfonso Cuarón [director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban] made the decision to tell the story from Harry Potter's point of view, as opposed to translating the books to film. From that point, there were necessary omissions along the way. Something that we love—like SPEW [Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare], which is Hermione's interest in the house elves—we loved that, but it is omitted because it wasn't part of Harry's story. It allowed us to create a cinematic structure for the films rather than literally translating the books."

Heyman continued: "The seventh book is a long book, but it is a book in which there is almost nothing that isn't related to Harry and almost nothing that you can cut out. So Steve was working away in the vacuum of his house, struggling, in some ways, to figure out what to cut. Together, all of us made the decision ... to make two films. There is so much material in the seventh book, so making two films was the very best thing we could have done for the book to adapt it in the right way."

Heyman said they have their break point worked out, but it could change in the edit. "Because we are shooting both films as one, shooting them together, we'll see what happens ultimately," he said. "It's written in a very specific way, and that, I'm sure, is where we'll end up, but I don't want to say now and then all of a sudden we go, 'Hmmm?'"

The filmmakers also declined to discuss how the final film will depict the epilogue to Deathly Hallows—spoilers ahead if you haven't read the book!—which shows Harry and his friends 19 years in the future, as they send off their children to Hogwarts.

"It's an absolutely beautiful part of the book," Yates said passionately. "One of the most unique things of this franchise is the fact that we've grown up with these characters. I think it's what makes it special for the audience. So we will be delivering that at the end of part two, but we are looking at various options of how we do it. We still haven't quite figured it out yet."

Asked if the Academy Award-winning technology used for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button might be utilized in some way, Heyman said it was possible but unlikely at this juncture. "Benjamin Button was making him look younger, and we are taking people who are 20 years old and making them look like they are in their late 30s. We may use some of the techniques of Button, but we are still in an exploratory stage. We will do everything we can, but it will be Dan, Rupert and Emma in those parts, not some other actors."

There is a new deleted scene to promote the upcoming release of The Half Blood Prince..

Harry Potter and the half blood prince : Deleted Scene 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyDrF8azi2U#)

JK is up to something.. this has hit several of the Harry Potter websites.

Following the completion of the seven Harry Potter books and eight films, J.K. Rowling has something new to announce. Even though this is not a new book, we have been informed it is something equally exciting.

As a teaser before the official announcement, ten letters have been hidden on the website below for you to find. To locate them you need to find ten sets of coordinates, enter them into the search box one set at a time, and take a look around.

So far there are two coordinates out there. 42.523356,-70.890698  and  51.530377,-0.123259

The rest will be revealed among nine other Harry Potter fan sites at intervals throughout the 15th and 16th of June 2011. Find the coordinates, enter them on the site below and you could be one of the first to piece the word together.

(Please note - These letters are magic, therefore do not exist in the real world...)

Good luck to you all.

www.secretstreetview.com (http://www.secretstreetview.com)

I've gotten two letters so far.. I won't spoil it so you can find the letters yourself. I wonder what this big news is???

Third coordinate -34.410362,150.900671

Odd.

When you find out what it is feel free to post it in spoiler tags Kenny, I'm interested to know.

Yeah I thought about just waiting until she announces whatever it is.. but it's find of fun bouncing around websites looking for coordinates.

This is a guess, the guess that most people seem to be making.   :confused
[spoiler]
Some are saying this has to do with the books coming to Ebook format.  (The official announcement) It has been widely reported that she was close to allowing this.

OR

It may be the long awaited HP Encyclopedia she's been working on is finished.  She said it was not a new book.  Which the encyclopedia would be more HP without being a new book.  
But at this moment in time it's a wild guess.
[/spoiler]

Fixed the spoiler tag for you.

@billybob476
Thanks, I inserted the spoiler tag, but couldn't get it to work. 

Quote from: Quarks Ally on June 15, 2011, 01:49:35 PM
This is a guess, the guess that most people seem to be making.   :confused
[spoiler]
Some are saying this has to do with the books coming to Ebook format.  (The official announcement) It has been widely reported that she was close to allowing this.

OR

It may be the long awaited HP Encyclopedia she's been working on is finished.  She said it was not a new book.  Which the encyclopedia would be more HP without being a new book. 
But at this moment in time it's a wild guess.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler]or maybe its finally coming to Audible?  ;)[/spoiler]

King

Here are more coordinates

43.640408,-79.388795

29.952313,-90.067849

-23.547149,-46.520266

-29.239004,24.507602

34.730748,137.383786

51.781383,-2.56844

So if you put all those into http://www.secretstreetview.com/ (http://www.secretstreetview.com/) and zoom all the way in.. you get these letters. I've found Nine of the Ten but think I know what it is.

E T O R P E T O R (last letter M?)

MORE POTTER

Hmmm maybe the last letter is L which would spell Potter Lore

I just blogged this...

JK Rowling loves to make announcements in style. Today various Harry Potter sites posted this...

Following the completion of the seven Harry Potter books and eight films, J.K. Rowling has something new to announce. Even though this is not a new book, we have been informed it is something equally exciting.

As a teaser before the official announcement, ten letters have been hidden on the website below for you to find. To locate them you need to find ten sets of coordinates, enter them into the search box at www.secretstreetview.com (http://www.secretstreetview.com) one set at a time, and take a look around (meaning zoom all the way in).

Over the next two hours All Ten Coordinates showed up each revealing a letter and a little tidbit about the Harry Potter World and that particular location.

42.523356,-70.890698 - The letter E was revealed and Salem: The Salem Witches' Institute visited the Quidditch World Cup.

51.530377,-0.123259 - The letter T was revealed and King's Cross: The Hogwarts Express leaves from platform nine and three-quarters.

-34.410362,150.900671 - The letter O was revealed and Australia: The Woollongong Warriors are a Quidditch team referenced in the book 'Quidditch through the Ages.'

43.640408,-79.388795 - The letter R was revealed and Toronto (Skydome): Where J.K. Rowling achieved the world record for a public reading event.

29.952313,-90.067849 - The letter P was revealed and New Orleans: The Phoenix Rising Convention in New Orleans. One of the largest Harry Potter fan conventions.

-23.547149,-46.520266 - The letter E was revealed and Brazil: The location of an eagle-eyed fan site which spotted a recent trademark registration.

-29.239004,24.507602 - The letter T was revealed and Africa: The Erumpent - whose horn contains a deadly fluid that can make objects explode at the slightest touch (one of which destroyed the Lovegood house) - is originally from Africa.

34.730748,137.383786 - The letter O was revealed and Toyohashi: Toyohashi Tengu is a Quidditch team referenced in the book 'Quidditch through the Ages.'

51.781383,-2.56844 - The letter R was revealed and Forest of Dean: The beautiful forest where Harry & Ron reunite in the Deathly Hallows.

53.476311, -2.22971 - The letter M was revealed and Manchester station: The train line between Manchester and London is where J.K. Rowling first conceived the idea of Harry Potter.

So this left us with: E T O R P E TO R M and if you rearrange the letters you get MORE POTTER

Well just a few moments ago it was official announced that POTTERMORE is a new JK Rowling website. You can follow them @pottermore and the url of the website is www.pottermore.com (http://www.pottermore.com) It's just a front page saying coming soon.. so all us Potter fans are on pens and needles waiting to hear what JK Rowling is up too.. .let the speculation fly.

She's been teasing for a little while now that more Potter is going to happen.  More books, obviously first.  I can see that around the time of the last movie coming out would be the perfect time to announce it isn't quite over and more is coming.  I'd love more books.  I think I almost enjoy them more than the films (which I like a great deal too).

I believe in the press release to announce this internet letter game, that it was stated this was not related to a new book.  A lot of people who watch, the copyrights and internet copyrights, say WB has been busy with POTTERMORE for some time.  A lot of people say this is going to be a JK sanctioned Harry Potter massively multiplayer online role-playing game.  At least that's what the rumor mill is saying. 

Something is brewing.. a new countdown has shown up on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/jkrowlingannounces (http://www.youtube.com/jkrowlingannounces)

Quote from: Quarks Ally on June 15, 2011, 04:30:59 PM
I believe in the press release to announce this internet letter game, that it was stated this was not related to a new book.  A lot of people who watch, the copyrights and internet copyrights, say WB has been busy with POTTERMORE for some time.  A lot of people say this is going to be a JK sanctioned Harry Potter massively multiplayer online role-playing game.  At least that's what the rumor mill is saying. 

An MMO?  Really??  I find that doubtful.  First, why would Rowling announce that?  I don't she ever even announced the movies.  Second, this is a whole lot of hoopla for a game - if that's what it is.  Lastly, we gamers know even a Trek MMO has had a hard time chipping away at WOW and others MMO's out there.  So, nope.  I'm still guessing it's more books.

Quote from: Rico on June 16, 2011, 08:27:07 AM

Quote from: Quarks Ally on June 15, 2011, 04:30:59 PM
I believe in the press release to announce this internet letter game, that it was stated this was not related to a new book.  A lot of people who watch, the copyrights and internet copyrights, say WB has been busy with POTTERMORE for some time.  A lot of people say this is going to be a JK sanctioned Harry Potter massively multiplayer online role-playing game.  At least that's what the rumor mill is saying.  

An MMO?  Really??  I find that doubtful.  First, why would Rowling announce that?  I don't she ever even announced the movies.  Second, this is a whole lot of hoopla for a game - if that's what it is.  Lastly, we gamers know even a Trek MMO has had a hard time chipping away at WOW and others MMO's out there.  So, nope.  I'm still guessing it's more books.

Yeah I don't know what it will be.. maybe it's the HP encyclopedia that she's been talking about. It could be about the MMO that there has been rumors of or it could be something complete different.. guess will know in 6 days.

Kenny, do you really think they would do all this for an encyclopedia or a game?

I think it would be worth they hype for an MMO. They have to find a way to generate buzz for such a thing. An encyclopedia? Not so much.

Maybe.  But another thing about an MMO, they take years to make.  So they make a big announcement of a game in 2011 and not see it for 2-3 years?  What is this Duke Nukem? ;) Again, it just doesn't make sense to me at least. 

Quote from: Rico on June 16, 2011, 08:34:14 AM
Kenny, do you really think they would do all this for an encyclopedia or a game?

Oh I do.. we haven't had anything new in the HP world for quite some time.. and Jo likes to go big.. regardless of what it is.

I know several of the HP websites have said they have seen this "pottermore.com" and it's fantastic. So I really don't have a clue what it can be.

But whatever it is.. Jo got the response she wanted.. everyone is speculating.

Nothing new?  How about two movies??  ;)

Quote from: Rico on June 16, 2011, 08:49:04 AM
Nothing new?  How about two movies??  ;)

Well they aren't new.. I mean that book was written many years ago. I meant nothing new from Jo

Quote from: Geekyfanboy on June 16, 2011, 08:52:06 AM

Quote from: Rico on June 16, 2011, 08:49:04 AM
Nothing new?  How about two movies??  ;)

Well they aren't new.. I mean that book was written many years ago. I meant nothing new from Jo

Yes, I realize that Kenny - hence the winking eye.  But I'd still call them pretty cool to see for the fans.  Some people don't read the books at all, so the movies are Harry Potter to them.  On the game idea, I also have a hard time wondering how much JK would be involved on that.  Anyway, it certainly is good marketing.

Quote from: Rico on June 16, 2011, 08:54:51 AM

Quote from: Geekyfanboy on June 16, 2011, 08:52:06 AM

Quote from: Rico on June 16, 2011, 08:49:04 AM
Nothing new?  How about two movies??  ;)

Well they aren't new.. I mean that book was written many years ago. I meant nothing new from Jo

Yes, I realize that Kenny - hence the winking eye.  But I'd still call them pretty cool to see for the fans.  Some people don't read the books at all, so the movies are Harry Potter to them.  On the game idea, I also have a hard time how much JK would be involved on that.  Anyway, it certainly is good marketing.

Well I know JK Rowling is extremely protected/involved in all aspect of the Harry Potter world. That's why we don't see any ebooks or audiobook available online. And why it took years to get the Harry Potter park up and running in Orlando.

If JK wanted to get the attention of the press, it worked!   :D

QuoteAn MMO?  Really??  I find that doubtful.  First, why would Rowling announce that?  I don't she ever even announced the movies.  Second, this is a whole lot of hoopla for a game - if that's what it is.  Lastly, we gamers know even a Trek MMO has had a hard time chipping away at WOW and others MMO's out there.  So, nope.  I'm still guessing it's more books.

I don't know that it's a fact, but a lot of people are saying that the pottermore.com stuff was copyrighted back in 2009 by WB.  And the the WB has been copyrighting pottermore stuff left and right for a couple years.  So what ever it is, it's been worked on in secret for sometime. 

Also on the MMO front, it's not as though they didn't know how many movies there would be, when they'd roughly be done movies, the popularity of the franchise, etc.

They could have been working on an MMO since the before the first movie came out. I doubt they have been, but it's a possibility. Heck, maybe Blizzard's "project Titan" is a Potter MMO :)

Only 2 days and counting.. you go to the you tube site and it started with 3 owls.. now there's 20 of them.. can't wait to see what is Pottermore thing is.

http://www.youtube.com/jkrowlingannounces (http://www.youtube.com/jkrowlingannounces)

AMC Theatres® (AMC), a leading theatrical exhibition and entertainment company, today announced guests nationwide can see Harry Potter's final chapters in their entirety with HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PARTS 1 and 2, July 14 for just $20. In addition, select theatres around the country will showcase all eight movies during the week, finishing with the premiere of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2.

"During the last decade, an entire generation of fans has grown up watching the Harry Potter movies and Harry himself has become an iconic character in not only the literary world but the film world as well. We're excited and proud to celebrate this final chapter," said Robert J. Lenihan, president of film programming at AMC Theatres.

On July 14, AMC guests at many locations can see Part 1 and Part 2 of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, with Part 1 beginning at 9:00 p.m. Part 2, shown in 3D, begins at approximately 12:01 a.m. The total cost for both movies is just $20.

Additionally, 35 theatres around the country will feature all previous Harry Potter movies in chronological order during the week leading up to the premiere of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2. Starting Monday, July 11, AMC Theatres will show two movies from the series per night, beginning with HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE and HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS. The event caps Thursday, July 14, with HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PARTS 1 and 2, with Part 2 being shown in 3D. Guests who attend this event will receive a commemorative Harry Potter lanyard and a Harry Potter booklet.

AMC Harry Potter Events Pricing:

HARRY POTTER –Eight movies in four nights
• $45 (includes all eight movies, with two movies per night beginning July 11)
• $40 AMC Stubs member pricing

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS Event
• $20 (HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PARTS 1 AND 2, July 14)

For more information about times and locations, please visit www.amctheatres.com/harrypotter (http://www.amctheatres.com/harrypotter).

AMC Harry Potter – Eight Movies in Four Nights Schedule:

Monday, July 11
6 p.m. HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE
8:52 p.m. HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

Tuesday, July 12
6 p.m. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
8:41 p.m. HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE

Wednesday, July 13
6 p.m. HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
8:38 p.m. HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRICE

Thursday, July 14
9 p.m. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 1
12:01 a.m. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2

Are you going Kenny?

They asked Jk over here about it and all she would say is it not anything to do with Harry, just wait and see.

Quote from: Feathers on June 21, 2011, 04:44:21 AM
Are you going Kenny?

No I can't take of early from work 4 days in a row... but I would if I wasn't working.

Only two theaters in Chicago... Both a decent distance from home given that the next day is a work day... Gonna have to work this out.

We have it here too. I'm trying to trade shifts to pull at least part of it off.