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.

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.

Still stuffed from all the movies Hollywood was offering over Thanksgiving?  Not to worry.  This weekend will give you a chance to digest some of those titles that got leftover from last weekend’s feast.  As usual, the Friday after the holiday saw no new wide releases; which means that (also as usual) this should prove to be one of the lowest grossing weekends of the year.  The good news for Twilight fans is that the lack of competition will allow Breaking Dawn Part 1 to claim a third weekend at number one: a feat that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 could not match one year ago.  The only notable news coming from the multiplex is the increased theatre counts for both Hugo and The Descendants.  We’ll have details (insignificant though they may be) tomorrow.

If Black Friday’s estimates are any gauge, this year’s Thanksgiving weekend is going to be a bit of a downer.  Traditionally one of the biggest movie days of the year, 2011’s post-holiday Friday saw drops in both gross and attendance over a year ago.  To give you one example, this year’s 3D-animated Arthur Christmas performed about as well on its first Friday as last year’s 2D musical Burlesque. Up at the top, Breaking Dawn Part 1 continued to shine with an estimated $16.9 million.  That’s a decline of 75% from the film’s opening day, though the drop was expected given the front-heavy nature of The Twilight Saga series.  Last year’s big ‘Part 1’, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, managed to make about 20% more on its second Friday, putting 2011 at a bit of a disadvantage.  At number two with an estimated $12.2 million, The Muppets came in almost 35% behind 2010’s Tangled, though the latter did have 3D-pricing on its side.  The only film to buck the downward trend was Hugo.  Martin Scorsese’s 3D family-film earned $4.5 million on Friday – more than what it was projected to make just a few days ago.  More analysis tomorrow.

In the animated family comedy Arthur Christmas, actor Bill Nighy voices the rather naughty Grandsanta. Upon his retirement, his lovely old sleigh and all of the reindeer who guided it were put out to pasture, in favor of an ultra-high-tech operation that allows for 18.14 seconds to get into each house, deliver the presents, and move on to the next, for the hundreds of millions of children in the world. So, when Santa’s (Jim Broadbent) youngest son, Arthur (James McAvoy), discovers that one child has been missed, he sets out on a mission, with the help of Grandsanta and a giftwrapping-obsessed elf (Ashley Jensen), to get that last present delivered before Christmas morning dawns.

During this exclusive phone interview with Collider, the fantastically lovely Bill Nighy talked about at first thinking he was being asked to play Santa and then realizing what a great character Grandsanta was, navigating voice roles by what he doesn’t want the character to sound like to make sure it’s unique, and how he’s so low-tech that he doesn’t own a computer and only recently was talked into getting an iPhone. He also talked about playing a 22-foot tall giant who eats people in Jack the Giant Killer, playing Hephaestus (the armorer to the Gods) in Wrath of the Titans, his trust in Len Wiseman as a storyteller for the remake of Total Recall (he plays Kuato in the film), his fear of harming Dame Judy Dench while driving her around on a motorcycle for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, making two more films with the Johnny Worricker character from David Hare’s Page Eight, finally getting the call to be a part of the Harry Potter franchise, and getting stopped all the time by fans who love his work in both Shaun of the Dead and Love, Actually. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

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.

In its magical debut, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 has claimed another record: the all-time domestic weekend opening.  With an estimated $168.5 million from its 4,375 locations, Harry Potter’s final installment topped the former record of $158.7 million that The Dark Knight set in July 2008.

I’m standing in the Great Hall at Hogwarts.  I see Snape positioned where Dumbledore used to stand at the top of the steps.  As the new Headmaster, Snape is addressing a room full of students.  He’s telling them that anyone who knows the whereabouts of Harry Potter – whether it be student or faculty – needs to come forward with any information or the punishment will be severe.  Snape continues with the news that the school has the best magic protection and Harry Potter will not be able to enter the grounds.  The former potions teacher walks among the students, looking at them, his gaze intense and his dialogue slow and methodical.  He’s clearly hoping someone will tell him something.  As he finishes saying his last line he looks up because he hears the voice of Harry Potter saying, “I don’t think the protection was good enough.”  All the students turn, looking shocked.  Harry Potter has returned to Hogwarts.

If this opening sounds familiar, that’s because right before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 got released, I posted a huge set report about what it was like to visit Leavesden Studios outside London and watch Harry Potter get filmed.  However, while my set report was quite detailed, I actually held a few things back.  The reason was when I was on set, they were actually filming scenes from Deathly Hallows – Part 2, and Warner Bros. asked us not to write about it.  As you can tell from my opening, I didn’t exactly follow the rules.  Hit the jump for more.

The film world was rocked to it’s very core today with the announcement of the nominees for the 2011 MTV Movie Awards, the only movie awards show with the courage to hand out trophies for categories like “Best Kiss,” “Biggest Badass Star,” and “Best Scared-As-S**t Performance” (MTV still thinks it would be too much to include the letters “h” and “i”). Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was The Twilight Saga: Eclipse that lead the pack with 8 nominations, followed closely by Inception with 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 with 6, and The Social Network with 5 nods.  Obviously Twilight will win everything because fandom doesn’t care about critically comparing their favored property against other material.

As previously announced, Jason Sudeikis will be hosting the awards live on Sunday June 5^th. If you’re desperate to make sure that Steve-O gets that coveted “Best Jaw-Dropping Moment” statue for the Poo Cocktail Supreme in Jackass 3D (7) (about which he told MTV, “Being nominated in this category for my work with poo really means something.  I’m not sure what, but I’m very grateful.”), voting will take place at MovieAwards.MTV.com from today until June 4. That is except for the “Best Movie” category, which fans can continue to vote for while the awards ceremony is taking place. Hit the jump for the full list of awards and nominations.

Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern is one of the most special-effects heavy films of the year and with only a little over six weeks until the film’s June 17th release date, Warner Bros. is spending more money to get all of the effects work finished.  Variety reports that the studios is spending an additional $9 million and has new visual effects houses working overtime to make the film’s release date.  But this isn’t an anomaly in Hollywood.  When it comes to tentpole movies, it’s become the norm and a dangerous one at that.  The problem is that studios are setting release dates and then rushing films to make sure that date is met.  Hit the jump for more on this troubling trend.

If you’re among the folk who believe the Academy Awards are too stodgy, too reluctant to embrace sci-fi, fantasy, and horror — the Saturn Awards are for you.  Sure, Best Picture nominee Inception led the field with nominations, but Let Me In and Tron: Legacy (just one Oscar nomination between them) fall close behind with 7 Saturn nominations apiece. Hereafter, Alice in Wonderland, Black Swan, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Never Let Me Go, and Shutter Island all landed 5 or more nominations.

The Walking Dead racked up the most television nominations with 6, followed by Breaking Bad, Fringe, and Lost with 5 each.  Hit the jump for the full list of nominees and a breakdown of the number of nominations by film/series.

Warner Bros. has announced that the penultimate film in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on April 15^th. Most interesting, though, is the fact that the Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack of the film includes a “Sneak Peek of an opening scene from the final film.” That final film would be Part 2 of Deathly Hallows. Both films were shot simultaneously, and then split into two. No other details are offered about this “sneak peek”, including whether it will be the entire opening scene of the film or just a snippet. The combo pack is set to retail for $35.99 and includes a Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy version of the film. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 hits theaters in 3D on July 15^th. Hit the jump for more details on the Part 1 Blu-ray release, including what other special features the disc has in store.

Warner Bros. has released the first still from its upcoming final installment in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.  The image puts Neville Longbottom (played by Matthew Lewis) in the middle of the epic battle of Hogwarts and features what appears to be Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) peering creepily from behind.

To check out the full image, hit the jump.  In addition to Lewis and Bonham Carter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Gary Oldman, Ralph Fiennes.  The film hits 3D theaters on July 15th. [Update: Image removed at the request of the studio]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has narrowed down the contenders for the Visual Effects category to seven: Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Hereafter, Inception, Iron Man 2, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Tron: Legacy.  Given the face replace magic and impending Oscar dominance of The Social Network, I’m a bit surprised David Fincher’s movie didn’t get a nod.  But I’m glad Scott Pilgrim has the chance represent the relatively smaller-scale films in a big-budget category.  (Basically Scott must battle six evil FXes to win the heart of Oscar.)

The voting members will be invited to view 15-minute segments from each film on January 20th, then vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.  Hit the jump for the press release.