Harry Potter Mania

Three more months to go for the HP DVD release. It's not a long wait, isn't it?

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceThe release date for the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince DVD is December 8th, according to DVD Times. As previously reported, the release will also contain the documentary J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life. Interviews to be included are “Close Up with the Cast,” “One Minute Drills,” and “What’s on Your Mind.” Deleted scenes include the following:


There will also be a featurette on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which will probably be similar to those shown during the web cast presentation that I attended.

The film is expected to be available on a 1-Disc DVD (Widescreen and Full Screen formats), 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (see the cover here) and a Blu-ray Combo (Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy). No prices are shown at this time. As soon as pre-order is available, we’ll let you know.

This sounds excellent. I have seen G-Force trailer. As a family film, I'll see to it if it suits my little boy. What about you?

Full story from source:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince remains the UK's number one film, despite an impressive start for family film G-Force.

The top ten films at the UK box office are: (last week's position)

1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - £2.92 million (1)
2 G-Force - £2.48 million (-)
3 The Taking of Pelham 123 - £1.78 million (-)
4 The Proposal - £1.49 million (2)
5 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - £1.14 million (3)
6 Land of the Lost - £642,553 (-)
7 Bruno - £612,577 (4)
8 The Hangover - £517,895 (5)
9 Coco Before Chanel - £423,268 (-)
10 Love Aaj Kal - £405,673 (-)

Let's see how well you know about Harry Potter. The questions are quite easy.

From source:

On Wednesday, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth of eight films in the series, was released. Test your knowledge of wizards and Muggles and Death Eaters.

1. J.K. Rowling is the author of the Harry Potter series, which has sold more than 400 million copies in 67 languages. What year was the first book published?

a. 1980.
b. 1992.
c. 1997.
d. 2001.

2. The title of the first book was changed for its release in the United States. What was the original title?

a. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
b. Harry Potter and the Wizard's Stone.
c. Harry Potter and the Gall Stone.
d. Harry Potter and Fluffy, the Three-Headed Dog.

3. Name Harry's best friend at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

a. Don Weasley.
b. Ron Weasley.
c. Percy Weasley.
d. Fred Weasley.

4. True or false: In the Half-Blood Prince, Richard Harris returns in the role of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

5. Who plays Hermione Granger?

a. Emma Thompson.
b. Emma Samms.
c. Emma Holmes.
d. Emma Watson.

6. What is a Death Eater?

a. A guard at Azkaban prison.
b. Students' nickname for sinister potions teacher Severus Snape.
c. A follower of Harry's archenemy, Lord Voldemort.
d. A member of the student army Harry forms to fight Lord Voldemort.

7. Who is Bellatrix Lestrange?

a. A Dementor.
b. A Death Eater.
c. A Hogwarts professor.
d. A Hogwarts student.

8. True or false: Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, the onetime prisoner of Azkaban, returns in the sixth film to lead the fight against Voldemort.

9. As a boy, this character was known as Tom Marvolo Riddle.

a. Albus Dumbledore.
b. Sirius Black.
c. Severus Snape.
d. Lord Voldemort.

10. Who is the half-blood prince?

a. Harry Potter.
b. Albus Dumbledore.
c. Severus Snape.
d. Lord Voldemort.

ANSWERS

A parents guide to select new movies:

'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'

Rating: PG for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality.

What it's about: The Hogwarts students cope with their junior year in school — with hormones and Death Eaters as their main worries.

The Kid Attractor Factor: Harry Potter and friends, beloved by a generation.

Good lessons/bad lessons: Of all the life lessons you learn, figuring out who you can trust is the most important.

Violence: Death and destruction, blood is spilled.

Language: A bit of coarse Brit-slang, mild stuff.

Sex: Quite a bit of "snogging" (kissing).

Drugs and alcohol: Butter beer is consumed in mass quantities.

Parents' advisory: It's a dark film that flirts with PG-13, but stays just this side of that line. Suitable for all ages.

We have seen them grow up on the HP film series. Now let's see what their hopes and dreams are in reality.

From source:

USA TODAY
Updated 8h 5m ago

The three young stars of the Harry Potter films talk about their future plans:

Daniel Radcliffe, movie star

"Hopefully in the next couple of years, I'll be back on stage in some form. I'd love to come to Broadway again," Radcliffe says. "They responded to the fact that I have a work ethic. I was on Broadway at the same time as Jeremy Piven, and I think he made me look really, really good because I didn't miss a show." He was jokingly referring to Piven's run in Speed-the-Plow, which was shortened by the actor's mercury poisoning.

First thing he'll do after Potter? "Sleep. Ideally, I would have three weeks off and go straight to something else. I get bored not working. … I have a huge amount of energy. When I'm on set, I use it all up. At home, I go wild in my head."

Emma Watson, model bookworm

As the series' outspoken, super-smart female lead, Watson says she's often confused with her character, Hermione Granger, off screen. That's why she has gone to great lengths to separate herself from her iconic teen wizard.

"People see me as Hermione in real life. They forget that I'm acting. We're quite different people. I want people to understand that I'm versatile," Watson says. "My way of hoping people would see me differently was through modeling. I worked very hard and did a lot of modeling shoots. Burberry offered me the campaign. That has moved me away a little bit. I'm not good at selling myself."

Rupert Grint, clown prince

As Harry's best friend and upbeat sidekick Ron Weasley, the red-haired Grint has provided most of the film series' comic relief. And now that his run as Ron is almost over, "I look forward to seeing what else is out there and to move on, really. This is a bubble, really. You don't get a sense of the real kind of industry. I look forward to it."

The least gregarious of the three, Grint peppers most of his responses with "really" and is every bit as reticent as Radcliffe is outgoing. Yates says Grint "has never changed. He's just Rupert, really laid-back and cool. He's the coolest person I know. He's so relaxed."

Nope, it had originally been scheduled for November 21, 2008 release but was moved back to July 15, 2009.

From source:

Warner Bros president and chief operating officer Alan Horn said the move has nothing to do with any problems on the shoot of the new picture, which he said had already been finished. Instead the film was being moved to take advantage of a "free" weekend in the busy summer schedule.

"The picture is completely, absolutely, 100 per cent on schedule, on time. There were no delays," Mr Horn said. "I've seen the movie. It is fabulous. We would have been perfectly able to have it out in November."

The Half-Blood Prince centres on Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts' school of witchcraft and wizardry, and the book version is notable for the death of one of the series' major characters. It is directed by David Yates, working on his second Potter film after this year's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson once again reprise their roles as Hogwarts pupils Harry, Ron and Hermione.