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The Daily Prophet |
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April 2003
Potter 3 Trelawney casting rumours squashed
Et tu Harrius! Latin Potter books on the way BBC: Learning Latin could get more exciting because Harry Potter book bosses Bloomsbury say they're publishing a Latin edition of The Philosopher's Stone. Even though it's not even spoken anymore! Bloomsbury told CBBC Newsround's website the book - Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis - comes out in July as a special hardback version. At the same time, a version in Welsh will hit the shelves. They reckon it's a great idea because there are lots of references to ancient classical stories. JK's books also use loads of Latin words and phrases too. Loadsa languages Harry Potter has been published in over 40 languages all over the world already. But now there are even more versions on the way, with ancient Greek and Gaelic editions coming in 2004. Bloomsbury told us it's not unusual to publish modern books in Latin. Lots of others are available - even Winnie the Pooh! Thursday 17th April 2003 Harry Potter works magic on home front Reuters: "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" has worked its magic on the home video front, selling an estimated 11 million copies worldwide on its first day. Industry sources said the figure was made up of combined DVD and video sales in Britain, the United States, Germany, Australia, Spain and Scandinavia. Warner Home Video executives declined to comment on sales. "Potter" is considered an evergreen title that will continue to build up steam over time, unlike most other home video releases that do the vast majority of sales during their first few weeks. This was the first Friday release for a "Potter" title, making logistics at retail more complicated than the industry standard of a typical Tuesday release date. Since DreamWorks Home Entertainment set the precedent of releasing a major title on a Friday with "Shrek", several studios have followed suit. The home video release of the second "Potter" movie, which earned $260 million (164 million pounds) at the box office, topped both Nielsen VideoScan's First Alert DVD and VHS sales charts during its first three days in release and came in at No. 3 on Video Store magazine's weekly rental chart, earning an estimated $7.96 million in gross domestic rental revenue during its first three days on rental shelves in the United States. Thursday 11th April 2003 Potter DVD smashes fastest-selling record BBC: The Chamber of Secrets DVD has sold faster than a firebolt. In fact, Potter fans have snapped up so many copies of the second movie that it's outsold the previous record-holder. And that was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone! The Chamber of Secrets is now the fastest-selling DVD in UK history. It sold more than 1,012,000 copies in the first two days. Some shops even opened up at midnight to cope with the thousands of fans who wanted to buy it straight away. The film was an instant smash hit when it was released at the cinema in November 2002. It made a whopping £18.8m in its first weekend in the UK and Ireland. The DVD contains loads of extra bits, like deleted scenes, interviews with JK Rowling and director Chris Columbus, and a car game called the Forbidden Forest. Monday 14th April 2003 'Chamber' is Britain's most borrowed book BBC: JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets has broken yet another record! It's the most borrowed book in libraries across Britain - having been lent out more than half a million times in a year. For the last 17 years, a Catherine Cookson book has been the most popular, so Harry, Ron and Hermione have had stiff competition to beat! The wizards and witches of Hogwarts have obviously been waving their magic wands to get both kid and adult Muggles to rent out the novel. The Chamber of Secrets was the top children's book when it first came out, and the film had the most successful opening weekend of any film in the history of UK cinema. And there are likely to be even more records broken. The DVD - which is out on Friday - could become the most popular ever, because so many people have pre-ordered it. But despite the success with "Chamber" in the libraries, JK Rowling is only the 15th most popular children's writer who's being loaned out. Far more kids prefer to take out books from Jaqueline Wilson. And Catherine Cooksoon is the most borrowed author in libraries overall. Friday 11th April 2003 Potter's US publishers reveal details of OOTP BBC: Who will be the new Gryffindor Keeper and what is terrifying Harry in the middle of the night. The answers to these questions, and more about the secretive fifth book, have been revealed by Harry Potter's American publishers Scholastic. The info comes from a summary about the fifth book, The Order of the Phoenix, in a catalogue of Scholastic's summer and autumn releases. SPOILER WARNING - if you don't want to know any plot details about the next Harry Potter book, stop reading NOW!!! Really, don't go any further if you don't want to know anything! Ron Weasley will be the new Gryffindor Keeper and Harry has terrifying dreams of a single door in a silent corridor. It adds to what we already know about Book Five, such as:
Thursday 10th April 2003 Secrets revealed about Potter 3, 4 and 5! BBC: The team behind the Harry Potter movies have been giving us a few bits of extra information about films three, four and even five! At Tuesday night's Chamber of Secrets DVD launch, producer David Heyman revealed more casting for The Prisoner of Azkaban. British actress Julie Christie will play Three Broomsticks barmaid Madam Rosmerta. And comedienne Dawn French, last seen in the Comic Relief Potter spoof, will now play the Fat Lady. Professor Trelawney will be in the film, but hasn't been cast yet. But they're still not sure if Cho Chang will appear or not. Filming started six weeks ago, and it all seems to be going well. Before Tuesday's launch Heyman says they finished a scene in the Gryffindor Common Room where Professor McGonagall is furious after Neville has left the password list lying around, as well as some of the Boggart scene. Robbie Coltrane said he's looking forward to starting his scenes as Hagrid. "Hagrid has a new look," he says. "He's got a waistcoat. His clothes are looking more like he made them himself, which indeed I'm sure he did." Work is even starting on the fourth film. Screenwriter Steve Kloves started on the script for Goblet of Fire last week. "The approach is that he's going to write the script as though it's one film," says Heyman. "And hopefully he'll be able to do that. "When he gets to the end we'll make an assessment about whether that's the right thing to do or not. The goal is to try, if not we'll split it in two, but at the moment we're trying to do it in one. "We will start pre-production towards the end of the year, and start sometime next year. And [it'll] come out a year, year and a half after the third film." There's been lots of speculation about whether Dan, Emma and Rupert will return for the fourth movie. "My hope would be that it'll be the same cast, it's too early to tell though." is Heyman's comment. "We've only just started writing the screenplay. It's early days yet." There have also been rumours that Chris Columbus who directed the first two films, but isn't directing the third, will return to direct the fourth. "Maybe Film Five," says Columbus. "Four is starting a little too quickly, but Five is a possibility." Wednesday 9th April 2003 Rupert's gossip from the Potter DVD launch BBC: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Tom Felton...you name 'em, and they were there. The young stars of Harry Potter were out in full force for the launch of the Chamber of Secrets DVD at Leavesden Studios. Rupert Grint couldn't be happier! No, not because it's finally dawned on him that he's one of the Big Three actors in one of the most successful films of all time. Or because he's got an army of girl fans following his every move. But because, simply, he doesn't have to go to school. Fair enough. The Ron Weasley actor is back on the set of Harry Potter 3, where he belongs. "I'm having so much fun," he told Newsround. "Filming is sooo much better than school, it's so good to get back to it. "We've been doing it for six weeks now and we're having such a laugh. It's weird - me, Daniel and Emma get on really, really well now. They're cool. "I had to go back to school for a bit. My friends were great - it's the teachers who are the problem. They suck up a bit. I'm sorry!" Rupert may be in the thick of filming the Prisoner of Azkaban right now, but that doesn't give him any privileges with a certain JK Rowling. He said he "couldn't wait" for book five, but he'd have to go out and buy it like the rest of us. Rupert's on-screen brothers, Chris Rankin (Percy) and Oliver and James Phelps (the twins), were almost as happy to be back filming. But they were quick to put young Rupert in his place. "Rupert's a little brat!" Chris joked. "Filming's awful 'cos he's such a horrible child. Only joking Rupert!" The twins added: "Being on set is just like going back to school. Everyone's like, 'hi, did you have a nice summer?' It's such a laugh." Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger, said she was ecstatic to be back on the set of Potter 3, even though filming is pretty time consuming. "It does take up a lot of your life," she told Newsround. "But it's worth it. It's a fantastic experience. "I completely understand that I've been handed this on a silver plate. But it's really cool." All of the young cast have had to cope with massive attention since the Philosopher's Stone came out in 2001. And some cope with it differently to others. Sean Biggerstaff, who plays Quidditch heartthrob Oliver Wood, reckons he has a sneaky way of hiding from fans. He told Newsround: "I avoid it by going out in disguise. I wear a beard and long hair, so it's not a problem for me!" But Sean's cool about not being not being in Potter 3, even though his dedicated fans started a petition to keep him in it. "It's a huge book, something has to go. It's fair enough. I wish them all well, but I might be back!" he said. One person who's definitely back for more is his mate, Tom Felton, who plays the malicious Malfoy. Tom said filming was going well, but he's got no idea about his future in the movies. "I've heard I might die in book five," he gulped. "But there's rumours that everyone's going to die. It will be the end!" One of Malfoy's many enemies is Hagrid, who's also one of the people rumoured for the chop in the long-awaited Order of the Phoenix. But actor Robbie Coltrane, who plays him, was cagey. "There's rumours that I know what's going to happen in book five," he told Newsround. "I'm glad I don't! "Yes, she (JK Rowling) has given me hints. But if I told you about them you'd have to die!" he joked. Guess we'll just have to wait then. Wednesday 9th April 2003 Chamber of Secrets DVD smashes record! BBC: The second Harry Potter film, the Chamber of Secrets is so popular, the new DVD has smashed a sales record before it's even released! You lot adore Hogwarts so much there have been 40,000 pre-orders for it on the online seller Amazon.co.uk. That means it's set to be their biggest pre-selling film ever. The new DVD comes out on Friday 11 April, but we got a sneak preview at the Chamber of Secrets DVD launch on Wednesday. On the DVD there are another 19 extra or extended scenes that have never been seen before which includes more Dobby mischief and flying car adventures from Harry and Ron. JK Rowling, the author of the books, and Daniel Radcliffe, the young wizard Harry, are interviewed on the DVD too, along with many of the other characters. Hogwarts fans will be able to explore sets in the film, including Dumbledore's sitting room and the bustling Diagon Alley. Tuesday 8th April 2003 JK wins 'Tanya Grotter' court case BBC: JK Rowling has won her court case to stop a Harry Potter-like book from being published. She's managed to stop the Russian book about a girl wizard called Tanya Grotter because she says it copies her best-selling novels. The book, called The Magic Double Bass by Dmitry Yemets, is all about Tanya Grotter and her days at a witch school called Abracadabra. She's an orphan, has a strange mark on her face and has magical powers. Tanya also battles with an evil force which is so terrible it cannot be named. Sound familiar? Judges at a court in Amsterdam agreed with JK that it was too similar to Harry Potter and shouldn't be published there. The decision means 7,000 copies of the book will now be stopped. Although Byblos, the Dutch publishers of the book, do have the right to appeal the decision. Thursday 3rd April 2003 Special report from Harry Potter 3 location BBC: If you're a wizard, it's dead easy to get the Knight Bus - just stick your wand out and signal. But if you're a Muggle journalist, it's a little bit harder. There's a mysterious journey to the little known London suburb of Palmers Green, a deadly struggle with on-set security and a 30-minute rainstorm with no umbrella. I went through all this and more to get just a glimpse of the purple triple decker that magically whisks Harry from Magnolia Crescent to the Leaky Cauldron at the beginning of Prisoner of Azkaban. What was most surprising was that there were in fact two Knight Buses. I saw both buses (one was for stunts) parked next to each other before filming started. They were there to be shot driving along the road at night, and as I was upset to hear, no celebs were on set! But suddenly, one drove off, with your intrepid Newsround reporter in hot pursuit - could this be a hot story about to break? But because I was on foot, and it was a bus with an engine and wheels, it got away. Fortunately, a three storey purple bus is pretty hard to hide, and I found it down a small street surrounded by kids. I managed to get pretty close, and saw Harry's Hogwarts trunk, the light fittings inside and even the beds which are meant to hold sleeping witches and wizards. Fairly predictably I wasn't allowed to take any pics of the inside of the bus, but, believe me, it looked just how I'd imagined it from the book. As the sky started to get dark enough, the crew began to herd all the local people who had gathered for a peek at filming down the street. The roads had to look deserted, and about three hundred gawping Potter fans might have ruined that effect. They had planned to spray the roads with water to make the massive lights which towered over us on cranes reflect better. But they didn't need to, because it rained for half an hour, drenching the streets (and the crowd) just nicely. Eventually, the bus came, but we'd all been pushed so far away we couldn't really see it. After an hour of watching the bus go up and down the same street about 10 times, I figured that this was probably enough for even the biggest Potter fan. All the filming inside the bus (with Harry and the others) is going smoothly at Leavesden Studios, well away from the public. Tuesday 1st April 2003 |