Harry Potter

Daniel Radcliffe Talks THE WOMAN IN BLACK, HARRY POTTER 3D Re-Releases, KILL YOUR DARLINGS, and Wanting to Play The Flash

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: May 23rd, 2012 at 10:32 am

One of this year’s box office surprises was the thriller The Woman in Black.  Starring Daniel Radcliffe in his first major role following Harry Potter, the Gothic horror tale was based off of a 1983 novel by Susan Hill and made over $125 million at the worldwide box office.  In fact, the film was such a success that Hammer, Alliance Films, Cross Creek Pictures and author Hill are teaming up for a follow-up entitled The Woman in Black: Angels of Death. The film will be set 40 years after the events of the first film, and will follow a new couple’s experience in the same eerie house.  For more on The Woman in Black, here’s all our previous coverage which includes trailers, images, featurettes and clips.

With the film hitting Blu-ray and DVD this week, I recently did an exclusive phone interview with Radcliffe.  We talked about the success of the film and if he was relieved that he could open a film that didn’t have the words “Harry Potter” in the title, what he thought worked really well in the film and if there was something he wished he could redo, how many takes he likes to do, and more.  In addition, we talked about his thoughts on Warner Bros. eventually re-releasing the entire Harry Potter series in 3D, the drama Kill Your Darlings (in which he plays poet Allen Ginsberg), his criteria for picking future roles, and whether there’s a comic book role he’d like to play (The Flash).  Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview.

Geek Gifts: Awesome Movie/TV T-Shirts Inspired by Studio Ghibli, SUPERMAN, BREAKING BAD, HARRY POTTER, STAR WARS, TRON, and a Lot More

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: May 21st, 2012 at 5:28 pm

A few days ago, I posted an awesome Loki figure from The Avengers made by Hot Toys.  It was the first “Geek Gifts” article in a long time and I mentioned that the response to the post would determine if we’d continue the column.  Let’s just say it was a success.  So, as promised, it’s time for another “Geek Gifts” article and this one is especially relevant for those that like cool t-shirts.

If you’ve ever seen my video interviews, you know I love wearing t-shirts.  I especially love wearing shirts that are inspired by my favorite movies and TV shows.  Recently, a friend turned me onto a company called RedBubble, and they let their users submit their own designs and some of them are pretty great.  Since I know a lot of you don’t have the time to go through the thousands of reader submissions, I’ve done the legwork for you.  So hit the jump if you like Studio Ghibli, Breaking Bad, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Tron, the original Superman, Battle of the Planets, The Lion King, and more.

Chace Crawford and Anna Kendrick Talk WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING, Karaoke, Favorite HARRY POTTER Movies, and More

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: May 13th, 2012 at 1:17 pm

Opening next weekend is director Kirk Jones’ What to Expect When You’re Expecting. The star-studded ensemble comedy tells the intertwining story of five couples that are having very different experiences while expecting babies.  The cast also includes Anna Kendrick, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jennifer Lopez, Rodrigo Santoro, Joe Manganiello, Chace Crawford, Matthew Morrison, Brooklyn Decker, Thomas Lennon, and Wendy McLendon-Covey.  For more on the film, here’s the trailer and a TV spot.

At the recent Los Angeles press day I got to speak with most of the cast, and every day this week I’ll be posting a new interview.  Up first is Chace Crawford and Anna Kendrick.  During the very loose conversation we talked about making the film, karaoke songs, favorite Harry Potter movies, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Can THE AVENGERS Beat HARRY POTTER’s Box Office Record? [UPDATED: Yes]

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 5th, 2012 at 2:07 pm

As you’re aware, Marvel’s The Avengers is an enormous success.  Disney’s massive marketing campaign looks to have paid off in spades, and the film is enjoying the rare enthusiastically positive reaction from both critics and audiences.  Joss Whedon’s all-star superhero pic currently stands at a very fresh 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and a respectable 69 on the more nuanced Metacritic scale.  Moreover, the film scored a coveted “A+” rating from Cinemascore which measures audience reaction.  The film earned $80.5 million on opening day, making it second only to the $91 million take scored by last year’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

That franchise closer currently holds the number one spot on the All-Time weekend chart, but does The Avengers have a shot at dethroning The Boy Who Lived?  Hit the jump for more. [Update: The official estimates are in, and it appears that The Avengers bested Harry Potter by a not-so-narrow margin. More after the jump]

POTTERMORE Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 1st, 2012 at 8:39 am

I rarely re-read books, but I’ve re-read J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter series numerous times because I love being in the world she’s created.  I always want to see what’s behind every corner, and what’s happening beyond Harry’s point-of-view.  I wish Hogwarts: A History was a real book, and that Professor Binns had new and exciting pieces of information about the Wizarding World rather than being brushed off as a boring history teacher.  I also wanted to know about Rowling’s thought process in writing the books; a kind of “Author’s Commentary” that went beyond annotations and provided something deeper.

The new online experience, Pottermore, provides all of this through a nice interactive experience that continues to respect fans and let them be a part of Harry’s world like never before.  Hit the jump for my full review.

THE HUNGER GAMES and BRIDESMAIDS Lead 2012 MTV Movie Awards

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 1st, 2012 at 8:04 am

Since the MTV Movie Awards air in the middle of the summer, they’re allowed to pull from successful spring pictures.  This year, they’ve done exactly that and awarded The Hunger Games with eight nominations.  However, MTV didn’t forget the movies of last summer, and also gave eight nods to Bridesmaids.  As for the other nominees, the Twilight series has always dominated the MTV Movie Awards in the past, but The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 only pulled in two nominations this year.  It may be a case of out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new, but it’s worth noting that this was the first year where nominees were chosen by a panel of industry insiders instead of online voting.  I don’t know why MTV made that change (it’s not like anyone can make the awards more respectable), but fans will still get to choose the winners.  While the MTV Movie Awards are really more of a platform for funny sketches and showing clips from upcoming movies, an awards ceremony that allows you to give Drive an award for “A Real Hero” can’t be all bad.

Hit the jump to check out the nominees.  The 2012 MTV Movie Awards air live on June 3rd at 9/8c.

HARRY POTTER Director David Yates and Warner Bros. Sign First-Look Deal

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: April 27th, 2012 at 8:11 pm

What does one do after directing four highly successful films in one of the biggest franchises in movie history?  For David Yates, director of the last four Harry Potter movies, the answer is: sign a first-look deal with the selfsame studio.  Variety reports that Yates signed the deal under the Wychwood Pictures banner.  Priority for Yates at the moment is Your Voice in My Head, an adaptation of the Emma Forrest memoir that has Emma Watson and Stanley Tucci attached. Forrest is writing the screenplay for the picture, which chronicles her dealings with a failed romance after the death of her psychiatrist.

 

J.K. Rowling to Write HARRY POTTER Encyclopedia

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: April 16th, 2012 at 7:47 am

Last week, we reported that J.K. Rowling‘s first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, would be released on September 27th.  But the Harry Potter author hasn’t left the wizarding world behind completely.  In addition to this weekend’s launch of Pottermore, an interactive experience that takes fans deeper into the world of Harry Potter, Rowling has announced on her website that she’ll be penning a Harry Potter encyclopedia and donating the royalties to charity.

Hit the jump for more.

J.K. Rowling’s First Adult Novel Gets a Title, Release Date, and Synopsis

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: April 12th, 2012 at 8:33 am

J.K. Rowling‘s highly-anticipated follow-up to the Harry Potter series finally has a title, release date, and synopsis.  Rowling’s first adult novel will be entitled The Casual Vacancy and is set to hit bookshelves (and presumably e-books) on September 27th.  The book will be Rowling’s first novel since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released in 2007.  Hit the jump for the synopsis.

Posters for HARRY POTTER, IRON MAN, 300, JURASSIC PARK and More Get the 8-Bit Treatment

by Perri Nemiroff    Posted: April 2nd, 2012 at 7:14 pm

Sure, the whole Google Maps 8-bit for NES thing might haven been an April Fool’s gag, but there’s something wonderfully timeless about the 8-bit era, when there was a limited color palette and characters moved around realms without bending their knees.  Not only is it still quite fun to pop in a Nintendo cartridge (in my case, with a Game Genie still attached), but 8-bit gaming has evolved into an art form and artist Eric Palmer is embracing it, using the 8-bit style to put a new spin on some iconic films.  Some examples are Jurassic Park, 300, Harry Potter, Office Space, Star Wars and The Matrix. Hit the jump to check them out.

HARRY POTTER Now Available on E-Books

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: March 27th, 2012 at 2:15 pm

The Harry Potter books have now breached the digital frontier.  Yahoo! reports that J.K. Rowling has finally decided to make the series available on e-Books.  The books are now available for download on the Pottermore website and are compatible with Kindles, iPads, and other e-readers and tablets (click here for a list of compatible devices).  The arrival of Harry Potter on e-Book isn’t too surprising since it’s been rumored ever since the announcement of Pottermore in June 2011.

For those unfamiliar with Pottemore, the site was developed with Rowling’s input, and will provide an interactive experience where users will be placed in Hogwarts houses, earn Galleons, learn spells, and more.  The site will also offer additional content and background on the books.  While the interactive stuff sounds fun, I’m hoping that Pottermore will provide a kind of commentary track for the novels where readers can see pages of rough drafts and notes on characters and settings.  The site (which is free) was originally supposed to move out of beta and become open to the public last October, but was delayed due to technical issue.  It’s now set to open next month.  Just remember: it’s not the worst thing to be placed in Hufflepuff.  It’s just close to the worst thing.

HARRY POTTER Wizards Collection On Sale September 7; Includes All Films on 31 Discs, Never-Before-Seen Footage, More

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: March 22nd, 2012 at 11:37 am

I’ve been holding out on buying any of the Harry Potter films on Blu-ray in the hopes that a big, ultimate box set would be released at some point down the road. Sure enough, early this month a ridiculously intricate Harry Potter Wizards Collection went up on Amazing of course!. Details were scarce at the time beyond the fact that all the films would be included on 31 discs, with over five hours of never-before-seen footage thrown in as well. Today Warner Bros. announced that the Harry Potter Wizards Collection will be available in stores and online on September 7th, and revealed more details about the set. Hit the jump for much more including a trailer for the box set.

Go Behind-the-Scenes of the HARRY POTTER Studio Tour

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: March 6th, 2012 at 7:47 pm

If you haven’t made any vacation plans yet, perhaps you’d like to consider a trip to London? There you can visit Leavesden Studios, home of Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter, where the sets, costume and magic are still intact and you can relive each film all over again. While it might be cheaper to just buy the Harry Potter Wizards Collection on Blu-ray or DVD, there’s nothing quite like going to the set where the actual movies were filmed. Steve got a chance to visit the studio before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was released and he had nothing but great things to say about how detailed and immaculate the set was. Tours will be opening up to Potter fans around the world starting March 31st. We’ve got a behind-the-scenes video for you to check out after the jump.

Ultimate HARRY POTTER Wizards Collection Announced; 31 Discs and Over 5 Hours of Never-Before-Seen Footage!

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: March 1st, 2012 at 8:13 pm

Many of you know that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is preparing to write a new novel aimed at adults, but what’s a Potter fan to do in the meantime? Well, now that all eight films have been released, you can pre-order the ultimate movie set dubbed, Harry Potter Wizards Collection on Blu-ray / DVD Combo with UltraViolet Digital Copy. Details have yet to be confirmed and there is not currently a street date , but the pre-order price is set at about $350 (“marked down” from $500). It’s a limited and numbered edition of 31 discs with over 5 hours of never-before-seen footage. The special collectibles include a map of Hogwarts and concept art, while some of the features appear to have extended editions. Hit the jump to check out the collection.

Saturn Award Nominations Announced; HUGO and HARRY POTTER Lead with 10 Nominations Each

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 29th, 2012 at 7:33 am

Now that the Oscars are finally over, the Saturn Awards have come along and graced with nominations that are actually fun/infuriating-in-their-own-way.  There’s some cross-over between Oscars and Saturn Awards this year with Hugo racking up 10 nominations.  But since the Academy doesn’t want to recognize genre movies, they ignored Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.  The Saturns are giving Mr. Potter his due, and the final chapter of the saga also nabbed 10 nominations.  Also doing well on the film side were Super 8 (8 nominations), Captain America: The First Avenger (7 nominations), The Adventures of Tintin and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (6 nominations each).  As for TV, Breaking Bad led with six nominations.  I can live with all of these (although eight nominations for Super 8 is pushing it).

Wait.  I just saw that there were no nominations for Drive.  Never mind.  The Saturn Awards are sham.  Hit the jump for the full list of nominees.  Winners will be announced on June 20th (a long ways off, but meant to hit in the heart of the summer movie season).

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