Author J.K. Rowling’s first post-Harry Potter novel is getting the television treatment. BBC One and BBC Drama are teaming up on a series adaptation of Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy.  The book hit shelves this September and was met with a fairly positive response, though Rowling admittedly wrote a novel that was wildly different from her beloved Harry Potter series.  The story focuses on the lives of a number of people living in a small town who are affected by the sudden death of a town council member, but it’s not exactly that simple.  Hit the jump for more details on the series.

A new clip from the upcoming Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection Blu-ray and DVD has made it online, featuring Daniel Radcliff (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron) and director Alfonso Cuarón discussing the third film the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which Cuarón took over after original director Chris Columbus stepped down.  The clip is part of an epic collection that will span 31 discs, available September 7th.  However, if you want a piece of it immediately, your orders have to be in by Harry’s birthday (meaning today): July 31st.

The film discussed in the clip is a polarizing one for fans, some of whom (myself included) see it as an artistic achievement, and though it is long, it’s exceptionally engaging.  Others simply find it just long, too artsy, and very dark (especially compared to the first two films in the series).  To see the video and learn more behind-the-scenes info about the film and the upcoming collection, hit the jump.  Also, get the scoop on the all-new Harry Potter Reading Club.

The upcoming Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection Blu-ray box set will cost you a pretty penny ($349.96 worth of pretty pennies on Amazon), but it’s got some exclusive special features you won’t find anywhere else.  One such feature is a conversation between author J.K. Rowling and screenwriter Steve Kloves, who penned all of the movies except for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  A clip from their conversation has gone online, and now I wish I could watch the whole thing.  I’m not sure I’d pay $349.96 to watch the whole thing, but at least we know there’s going to be worthwhile content in this set.

Hit the jump to watch the clip.  The Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection Blu-ray box set will be available to own on September 7th.

We don’t often cover books here at Collider, but when we do, we prefer to talk about J.K. Rowling.  The author of the Harry Potter series and creative mind behind a lot of the franchise’s expanded marketing has a new novel that will be released September 27th.  Rowling’s first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, concerns a veritable war over an empty seat on the council of the small fictional town of Pagford.  The book is basically guaranteed to be a best-seller, but I’m curious to see how fans will react to a non-Potter story.  The Casual Vacancy promises to be a good test of Rowling’s creative story-telling ability.  Hit the jump to check out the full cover and read the novel’s updated synopsis.

Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling, is teaming up with Sony to bring the magic of Hogwarts into your living room.  The new game for the PS3 titled “Wonderbook: Book of Spells” is an innovative approach at combining reading with augmented reality gaming.  “Book of Spells” is both the first release for the PS3′s new “Wonderbook” peripheral and the first product from the joint venture of Sony and Rowling’s “Pottermore.” The game will feature new written content from Rowling herself along with spell-practice via the Playstation Move Motion Controller (which is the wand Ollivander is now contractually obligated to hand out to new students).  “Wonderbook: Book of Spells” debuts this November in Europe and this December in North America, with further releases to follow.  Hit the jump to check out the press release.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

She had hinted at as much in the past, but now it’s official: Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has signed a deal with Little, Brown publishers for her first adult novel (no, not the sexy sex kind). As expected, absolutely no plot details were given, but Rowling did make a brief comment regarding her first foray into the adult world stressing that this new novel will be “very different” from the Harry Potter series. I’m just delighted that she’s tackling new stories; God knows the Potter books, films, amusement parks, merchandise, etc. have set her up for life. It’s refreshing to see that she’s not content to sit idle. Hit the jump to read her comments on this new venture.

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.

The countdown is over and the owls have all flown away. This morning, Harry Potter series author J.K. Rowling revealed some details about her mysterious new venture, Pottermore. She didn’t announce plans for a new book or series spin-off and there was no mention of an online game as many had suspected. There was also no news of an online treasure hunt with real world prizes like we reported yesterday, however that may still be in the works. What she did reveal was that Pottermore will be “an online reading experience unlike any other…It’s the same story with a few crucial additions. The most important one is you.”

In a personal video message from Rowling, she began by thanking Potter fans for their enthusiasm and continued love for the series. She went on to say that when Pottermore goes live in October, it will be the exclusive place for digital audio books and, for the first time, Harry Potter eBooks. While this last bit smacks of a marketing gimmick to sell more books, Rowling also stressed that Pottermore will be a free experience, “This is free. You don’t have to pay to get extra materials, you don’t have to buy a single thing. That was really important to me. This was about the ‘give-back’.”

Hit the jump for more details on Pottermore, including how you can get a chance to enter it months before anyone else.

Most people are aware that on July 15, the last cinematic installment of the Harry Potter series will storm into theaters. Exactly one month before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was to premiere, a curious username popped up on Twitter. Since June 15, user @pottermore has posted only 3 tweets, but has amassed over 80,000 followers. The reason for all the excitement is because the Twitter account led fans to a cryptic website with nothing more than two owls on branches and the words, “Pottermore Coming Soon!” above J. K. Rowling’s signature. When that website led to a YouTube page full of owls and a countdown (which is now less than 24 hours away), speculation by Potter fans ran rampant across the interwebs.

Would it be a new book or even a new series? Could it possibly be an MMORPG? What about an extravagant treasure hunt that combines an online game with actual prizes hidden in the real world? If you guessed the last one, chances are you’re correct! All signs point to J.K. Rowling’s announcement tomorrow involving a race to find actual wands hidden across the globe. For more details, hit the jump.

The Harry Potter franchise will receive a BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema at this year’s Orange British Academy Film Awards.  While the series still has one more film to go (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2), the BAFTAs recognize that the series is already a remarkable filmmaking achievement.  While the films started slow, every new movie has been better than the previous one and the series eventually managed to match the magic that author J.K. Rowling conjured in her beloved books.

Hit the jump for the full press release.  Rowling and producer David Heyman will receive the award on behalf of the franchise on February 13th.