September turns out to be D-Day for sexy Blu-ray sets. Even with the unfortunate delay of The Avengers Phase 1, we’ve still got giant collections for Titanic, James Bond, Indiana Jones and Alfred Hitchcock. The good people at Warner Bros – prepping the Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection to kick off the fun – likely realized early on that they needed to bring their A-game to compete, especially with the series so recently ending and a glut of other Potter DVDs and Blu-rays readily available. Looking at the new set, however, “A-game” is an understatement. It’s more like “exercising the nuclear option.” Good luck making a splash with this 600-pound gorilla in the room. Hit the jump for my full review.

The most successful film franchise of all time will be available on home video in one nifty box set early next week with the release of the Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection, and a devoted fan has put together a rather impressive video retrospective to mark the occasion.  Titled “Mischief Managed,” the video goes through all eight film adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s wondrous series, with scenes accompanied by the franchise’s various scores.  It’s a great watch for Harry Potter fans, but it’s also interesting to see the different directors’ visions back-to-back.  The story gets dark quite fast, but it’s neat to see it progress from the colorful, faithful touch of Chris Columbus on the first two films, to Alfonso Cuaron’s inventive and playful twist on Azkaban, to the bombastic Britishness of Mike Newell’s Goblet of Fire, and finally David Yates’ grounded yet haunting stamp on the final four films.

Hit the jump to watch the fan-made video retrospective.  The Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection will be available on September 7th.

Warner Brothers did what they could to drag it out, but after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, the Harry Potter franchise is finally closed. Perhaps not for good – author J.K. Rowling has got her new Potter-centric website, and she may get bored and write another adventure in that universe. But no matter if it comes back or not, for performers Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint Potter will be part of their legacy. They spent ten years playing Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. And no matter what they do, they are as stuck to this as Sean Connery is to James Bond.  Continued after the jump.

With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 getting released on DVD/Blu-ray a few days ago, Warner Bros. Home Video invited a number of reporters from around the world to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida to help promote its release.  While there, I got to speak with the cast as well as some of the filmmakers behind one of my favorite films of the year.  Over the weekend I posted the interviews with director David Yates and Warwick Davis, and now I’ve got James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley).

During the interview they talked about how the theme park’s Butterbeer compare to the Butterbeer they drank onset, their reaction to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, their memories from making the movies, were there any deleted scenes that still haven’t shown up on the home video releases, the camaraderie with the other actors, the best pranks they pulled during the run of the series, and more.  Hit the jump to watch.

The Harry Potter film franchise came to an end this summer with director David Yates’ brilliant concluding chapter Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.  As an avid fan of the books, I thought the film hit all the right notes and Yates captured our farewell to these beloved characters with nuanced grace.  I’m currently in Orlando, Florida at Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the Blu-ray/DVD release of the franchise’s final installment, and got the chance to sit down with Yates for an extended conversation.

The director talked about what he’s been doing since the last film hit theaters, his impressions of Universal’s Harry Potter theme park, his reaction to Warner Bros.’ decision to pull all Harry Potter DVDs from the shelves after the end of this year, his opinion on post-converting past Harry Potter films to 3D for their eventual theatrical re-release, and he also revealed why he decided not to take on the feature film adaptation of Steven King’s The Stand, and gave an update on his Al Capone biopic. Hit the jump for more.

While Warwick Davis is a name you might not instantly recognize, I can assure you you’ve seen his work. His career began as the Ewok “Wicket” in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, after which he starred in such films as Labyrinth, Willow, the Leprechaun series, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and of course Harry Potter. In the wizarding franchise, Davis played two characters: Professor Flitwick and Griphook. Steve is currently in sunny Orlando at Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the DVD/Blu-ray release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, and he got the chance to sit down with Davis for an extended interview earlier today.

The actor spoke about his impressions of Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, getting recognized in the street, the evolution of make-up effects over the years, what props he’s been able to keep from various films, Bryan Singer’s big-budget Jack the Giant Killer, his hilarious new TV series Life’s Too Short with Ricky Gervais, and of course the lasting legacy of the Harry Potter franchise. Hit the jump to watch the interview.

There was a bit of a question as to whether or not Warner Bros. would mount an awards season campaign for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.  On the one hand, it’s the culmination of a singular series that both honored it source material, but eventually became a great work of artistic achievement in its own right.  However, the franchise has moved through different directors, the final film put an emphasis on action, and it’s technically half a movie.  If the Academy stuck to its ten Best Picture nominations rule of the last few years, then it would have a better shot, but the new rule states that anywhere between five and ten movies can be nominated.

But Warner Bros. is going to give the boy wizard’s final film a shot and they’ve released a 30-second “For Your Consideration” ad.  It’s going to be an uphill battle, but if Warner Bros. can get Academy voters to remember how they honored the Lord of the Rings movies (both franchises are blockbuster action-fantasy-dramas), then Deathly Hallows – Part 2 may have a chance at a nod for the top prize.  Hit the jump to check out the FYC ad.

Well this is a bit drastic. Very soon, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to buy any of the Harry Potter films. Deadline reports that Warner Bros. is set to stop shipping all Harry Potter theatrical releases (including both Deathly Hallows films) starting December 29th. Coincidentally, a comprehensive set that includes all eight Harry Potter films is set to be released on Blu-ray November 11th. The report doesn’t state whether or not this set is included in the shipping hault, but it’s highly unlikely. It seems that WB might be making Harry Potter: The Complete 8-Film Collection fans’ only way of purchasing the most successful franchise in film history [Edit: Variety reports that the 8-Film Collection is included in the shipping stop, so it will be unavailable after the 29th as well].

While I’m inclined to run out and grab this comprehensive set, I’m hoping for a much more impressive retrospective set released sometime in the next few years that’ll include new special features. But at this time, no plans for such a set are confirmed. Maybe Warner Bros. is planning on releasing the single films vault-style like Disney, where the movies are available one at a time for a limited period? At this point, all we know is that production ceases on December 29th, so if you own some or most of the films already and were planning on completing your collection, I’d suggest you do so before Christmas.

The Harry Potter series is now the most successful film franchise in history, and it came to an end this summer with David Yates’ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. While there are always going to be people unhappy with the finale of a series as popular as Harry Potter, Yates drew overwhelming critical praise for his conclusion of the franchise, and as a fan of the books I was extremely impressed with just how “right” it all felt. The film is hitting Blu-ray next month, and included on the set is a 48-minute documentary covering the filming of Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2.

A trailer for that documentary has just gone online, and it looks pretty great if you’re a fan of the series. Instead of stringing together a bunch of monotonous behind-the-scenes shots of action scenes being filmed, it appears that the documentary is focusing more on the actors and how they feel about wrapping up a series that for some has encompassed half their lives. Not to fear, though, there’s still plenty of behind-the-scenes footage from the set, the premiere, and even the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The DVD/Blu-ray hits shelves November 11th in the U.S. and on December 2nd in the U.K.

We all knew Harry Potter would go out with a bang after a decade in multiplexes.  Yet Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is shattering even our very high expectations at the box office.  Warner Bros. announced today that Deathly Hallows is the unequivocal highest-grossing film of 2011 in less than a month of release.  As of August 8, the final chapter in the Harry Potter saga has totaled $344.8 million domestically to best Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and an astounding $801.5 million internationally to surpass Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  The worldwide total of $1.146 billion lands Deathly Hallows just behind Avatar and Titanic on the all-time charts.  Inflation and the artificial boost of 3D surcharges muddle the true importance of these rankings, but any gross measured in billions is still very impressive.

Read the full press release after the jump.

I’m letting everyone know right out of the gate that I’m cheating a little on this week’s “Top 5.” As you may know by now, every week I do my best to condense all of our weekly coverage into what the editorial staff deems our “Top 5″ stories. This week, I find that we have a plethora of coverage for various titles. As a result, after the jump you’ll find that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, John Carter, and Final Destination 5 all have multiple links. Also included in this week’s installment is The Dark Knight Rises teaser poster and Matt’s take on Netflix’s announced price increase. Hit the jump for brief recaps and links to each.

Splitting J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was a risky proposition from a narrative standpoint.  Financially, it was an unsurprising move, but if you have one movie that’s all slow, methodical character development and the second movie that’s all fast-paced action, then each movie could be monotonous because they’ve lost the other half of their story.  Both parts of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows managed to avoid that problem.  The first part, while mostly centered on wandering and quiet moments, still managed to work in humor and thrilling set pieces.  By contrast, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is an almost non-stop epic battle that still finds time for the character development and deeply moving moments the series became known for.  It is the grandest of all of the Harry Potter films in scope, in action, and in heartbreak.

For the majority of the Harry Potter series, Severus Snape is simply a bully.  There are brief hints as to why he particularly hates Harry, but nothing so revelatory as to change your perception of the character until the final book in the series.  While Alan Rickman has always played the role with great relish, the final movie finally provides him with a new side to play for Snape and he does it brilliantly.  Rickman and director David Yates basically have five minutes to make you reevaluate your opinion of Snape and they pull it off.  There’s a lot to love about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, and Alan Rickman’s performance is near the top of the list.

Warner Bros. has release a new featurette about Snape and it shows plenty of footage that’s not in the trailer.  Watch at your own caution.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 opens in 3D this Friday.  Look for my full review tomorrow.

With the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 only four days away, Warner Bros. has released a five-minute retrospective that looks at the previous seven films in the franchise.  It won’t catch you up but for fans of the series, it’s nice to see how the actors have grown and how the visual style and tone has changed over the years.  I re-watched all seven movies this past weekend and after the jump you can check out the retrospective as well as my brief thoughts on the films.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 opens in 3D this Friday.

Here are my brief thoughts on the films.  Hopefully when the Blu-ray box set comes out, I can do full-length reviews for each of the movies.

With the weekly “Top 5″ feature now in full-swing, I feel obliged to remind readers that these are indeed meant to synthesize what we perceive as our top five pieces into a recap article. We do this with the hopes that readers will not miss out on some of the best stuff we have to offer on a weekly basis. This in mind, if you are an extremely loyal visitor (for which, we say a sincere “thank you”) who is 100% positive that you’ve read all we have to offer, the recaps may seem somewhat redundant. The best remedy for such redundancy is to steer clear of the jump. Otherwise…

…In this week’s “Top 5″ you’ll find us musing on which director might take over the Transformers franchise, our Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows set visit and video blog, our take on the next Star Trek video game acting as canon, the first look at Nori, Ori, and Dori in The Hobbit, and Steve’s video interview with Guillermo del Toro and Katie Holmes. Hit the jump for brief recaps and links to each.