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The Daily Prophet |
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January 2002
Harry Potter actor backs campaign to save York City FC
Harry Potter in the running for Orange Film Of The Year Ananova: Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings will go head to head again for the Orange Film Of The Year Award. They are among the top ten movies of 2001 which form the shortlist for the award. The winner, voted for by the public, will be announced at the Orange British Academy Film Awards next month. The full list is: American Pie 2 Bridget Jones's Diary Cats And Dogs Hannibal Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone Jurassic Park 3 Lord Of The Rings Moulin Rouge Shrek The Mummy Returns You can vote by going to www.orange.co.uk/sponsorship, in Orange shops or by using Orange bill inserts. Last year's winner was Gladiator. The Orange British Academy Film Awards take place on February 24, and will be broadcast live on BBC1. Monday 28th January 2002 Harry Potter set to cast spell on Chinese audiences Ananova: After breaking box office records worldwide, boy wizard Harry Potter and his sorcery-school classmates are coming to China. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone appears likely to bewitch Chinese audiences with all 1,118 tickets for the film's premiere in Shanghai selling out a week in advance. Interest is so keen that the cinema, the Shanghai Film Centre, says it is even considering the unprecedented step of holding a simultaneous showing in a second hall. Harry Potter - or "Ha-li Bo-te" as he is known in China - has already won the hearts of the country's fast-growing urban middle class. Translated versions of JK Rowling's four original volumes have become the best-selling children's books in Chinese history, said Wang Ruiqin, chief editor at the People's Literature Publishing House, the Chinese publisher. More than 3 million copies have sold since they appeared in October. They are now in their 11th printing, the first children's books in China ever to reach that mark, Ms Wang said. She attributed the popularity to the books' ability to inspire the imagination without the sweet, patronising tone of most Chinese children's literature. "It's all so fresh and new. Chinese children have never seen anything like this before," Ms Wang said. She said most sales have been in coastal cities like Shanghai, where rising incomes are closing the gap with the global consumer culture. Hollywood hopes the film will replicate the books' success - and expand a growing beachhead in the world's largest potential film market. Saturday 26th January 2002 Hollywood interested in Harry Potter spoof The author of a Harry Potter spoof says he's had interest from Hollywood. Michael Gerber's book is called Barry Trotter And The Unauthorised Parody. It features a 22-year-old Barry who is too lazy to leave his wizarding school. In the book Barry tries to stop a film being made about his life. But in real life Gerber tells www.yaledailynews.com he's had interest from Hollywood about turning his book into a film. "I'm broke," Gerber admitted. "A movie could transform my life." Thursday 24th January 2002 Harry Potter Stars up for Empire Awards The first Lord Of The Rings film is nominated in eight categories of the Empire Awards. The Fellowship Of The Ring is a leading contender in the Best Film, Best Actor and Best Director categories. Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are nominated for the Best Debut award. Hugh Grant has been nominated for Best British Actor, and Renee Zellweger for Best Actress, for their parts in Bridget Jones's Diary. Other nominations include Ewan McGregor and Helena Bonham-Carter for Best British Actor and Actress. A full list of the nominations can be seen at www.empireonline.co.uk. The awards ceremony takes place at London's Dorchester Hotel on February 5, hosted by Phill Jupitus. Friday 25th January 2002 Volunteer force accuse YMCA of promoting witchcraft Ananova: A volunteer group is refusing to direct traffic at a YMCA triathlon because it claims the club promotes witchcraft by reading Harry Potter books to children. Police Captain Robert Fichthorn said the eight-member force voted unanimously to boycott the 20th running of the triathlon, scheduled for September 7. The Lancaster Family YMCA began reading chapters of the Harry Potter books to children enrolled in an after-school programme in November. "I don't feel right taking our children's minds and teaching them (witchcraft)," Fichthorn said. "As long as we don't stand up, it won't stop. It's unfortunate that this is the way it has to be." In a letter to the township and the YMCA, Fichthorn challenged the religious integrity of the YMCA, and questioned whether it was "serving the will of God" in using the books. The wildly popular children's books by J K Rowling chronicle the fictional adventures of the young Harry Potter as he attends a boarding school for wizards and battles his nemesis, the evil sorcerer Voldemort. The YMCA's executive director, Michael Carr, said he was disappointed by the department's decision, but doesn't expect it to stop about 600 triathletes from participating in the race. Township Supervisor Ronald Krause said the YMCA may have to hire police from another community to direct traffic for the race, which includes a swim, a bicycle race and a run. Penryn is a small community located about 60 miles west of Philadelphia. Thursday 24th January 2002 Bloomsbury denies July release date for new Harry Potter book JK Rowling's publisher has denied reports that a new Harry Potter book will be published in July. Bloomsbury says no date has been set as Rowling still hasn't finished working on it. But it admits it would like Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix to be published in the summer. "We are not going to set a publication date for the fifth book until the book has been finished," the company says on www.bloomsburymagazine.com. "In a perfect world the date would be July 2002, but we will wait until the book is written before making a decision. We will let you know more information as soon as we can." Wednesday 23rd January 2002 Shortlist announced for Best Make-Up Oscar Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings are among the shortlisted films for the Best Make-Up Oscar. Other films on the list include AI, A Beautiful Mind, Hannibal, Planet Of The Apes and Moulin Rouge. Members of the Academy will vote on February 9 to decide if any of the seven will make it onto a final shortlist. If two or three productions receive the required votes they will become the nominated films in the Best Make-Up category. If only one film receives the required votes it will be recommended to the Academy Board of Governors for a Special Achievement Award. But if no film achieves the required votes, no Oscar will be awarded. Wednesday 23rd January 2002 Harry and Bridget prompt record book sales LONDON (Reuters) - Teenage wizard Harry Potter and notorious single Bridget Jones have pushed 2001 book sales to a record one billion pounds, according to a book trade monitoring service. J K Rowling's Harry Potter books accounted for four of the top five sellers in 2001, selling more than 800,000 times each, said Susan Wakefield from Whitaker BookTrack, which monitors about 80 percent of all book trade in Britain. "We monitored book sales worth 1.27 billion pounds in 2001. That includes sales in major bookshops, in supermarkets, independent shops and on the internet," Wakefield said on Monday. Recorded book sales exceeded the one billion pounds level for the first time in 2001, but these figures also included internet sales, which had not been monitored before, Wakefield said. But even excluding online sales, British readers in 2001 spent 2.6 percent more on books than in the year before, leaving 979.4 million pounds in book shops, Wakefield said. In the top sellers list, Harry Potter books were followed by Dave Pelzer's "Child called 'It'" and Helen Fielding's tale of "Bridget Jones's Diary", BookTrack said. Both sold more than half a million. Luthfa Begum, marketing executive at books retailer Books Etc, said that Harry Potter and Bridget Jones had been steady bestsellers throughout last year but demand for them had increased on release of their films. "After the Harry Potter film came out, sales for the 'Philosopher's Stone' went through the roof," she said. The Bridget Jones film opened in the United Kingdom in the spring of 2001 and "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" broke box office records when it hit the screens in November. Monday 21st January 2002 Retired jockey takes the place of Harry Potter A 48-year-old former jockey is to act as a stand-in for Harry Potter. Richard Fox has landed the role in the second film to be based on JK Rowling's books. The retired flat jockey will stand in for 12-year-old Daniel Radcliffe off-camera. He won't appear in the film but will help lighting and camera angles to be checked before filming takes place. Warner Brothers had advertised for 5ft 1in men in the Racing Post. Richard told the Mail On Sunday: "I'm thrilled to be involved in the film. I can no longer race or ride through injury and illness and this is a great opportunity." He rode nearly 900 winners in his 30-year career. A Warners Brothers spokesman said: "We thought we might get a good response from Racing Post readers for obvious reasons." Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets is currently being filmed in the UK. Sunday 20th January 2002 Argonaut wins Harry Potter licence Argonaut has won a licence to develop a Harry Potter title for Electronic Arts. The Edgware-based firm was awarded the deal after the success of its game for the PlayStation based on the hit film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The game has been number one in the UK PlayStation charts every week since its release in November and has also sold well in the US, Europe and Japan. Argonaut's finance director John Crilly says the game is likely to have sold "several hundred thousand" units, earning important royalties for the firm. The details of the new game based on the young wizard's adventures are being kept under wraps but it should be ready for release later this summer. Argonaut fell £3.1 million into the red last year, partly due to delays in securing contracts from publishers suffering from a slump in the market. The firm has also won a deal to develop a game based on Lego's Bionicle robot characters, reflecting the improvement in trading conditions, according to Mr Crilly Argonaut has also bought the Sheffield-based gaming firm Particle for a total of £4.1 million in cash and shares. Particle employs 40 staff and specialises in space age and futuristic games including a forthcoming title EXO for the PlayStation 2 console. Thursday 17th January 2002 Harry Potter works his magic for Bloomsbury Ananova: Harry Potter is set to work his magic for Bloomsbury again, as the company says full-year profits will exceed expectations. Sales were strong across a wide range of titles from Bloomsbury and its A & C Black subsidiary - including Harry Potter, The Flaneur, The Fourth Hand, Recorder Magic and Raptors of the World. Bloomsbury US performed well during the year, with titles such as A Cook's Tour and Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain exceeding their budgets. Electronic reference publishing also showed improvement. During the last financial year, the company completed and delivered the first major phase of the English Language Teaching database to Macmillan. It has also concluded a number of international licensing deals for the content of its new business encyclopaedia database, including The Economist.com, due to be published in book form in September. Thursday 17th January 2002 Film producers 'chasing Harry Potter star for lead role' Ananova: Producers of a new supernatural film want Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe to play a leading role, according to reports. Sam features a teenager possessed with amazing telekinetic powers, giving him the ability to move and destroy objects. Judy Davis is tipped to play his mother, with Steve Buscemi as a cult leader who tries to kidnap him. The film is being produced by Mike Downey and Sam Taylor, from a script by Steve Attridge. An insider told Ananova: "Casting directors and producers are falling over themselves to get Daniel's name on the dotted line. "He is the hottest child star since Macaulay Culkin arrived on the scene." Radcliffe is currently filming the sequel to the first Harry Potter movie. Wednesday 16th January 2002 Jason Isaacs set to join cast of new Harry Potter film Ananova: Jason Isaacs is in talks to play Lucius Malfoy in the new Harry Potter film. Malfoy is the father of Harry's sworn enemy Draco and is first seen in Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets. Isaacs has appeared in a number of films including the forthcoming Black Hawk Down. According to www.variety.com, Isaacs would also play Malfoy in the film version of Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire. Tuesday 15th January 2002 Quidditch Lane draws Potter fans Ananova: A street called Quidditch Lane is proving a major draw for Harry Potter fans. Families in the quiet street in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, have given their houses names inspired by the novels. Julie Bignell, who lives at The Quaffle, told The Sun the children think it's marvellous. Other houses are called The Golden Snitch and Muggles, the name for non-wizards. Another resident told the paper: "We've had lots of kids coming and looking." The council says the lane was actually named after a dry ditch, called a Quidditch. Tuesday 15th January 2002 Dutch priest celebrates Harry Potter mass Ananova: A Dutch priest has celebrated a Harry Potter mass for children. He donned a wizard's hat and asked the youngsters to come dressed as Harry. Pastor Joris Ridderbos says there are a lot of similarities between the story of Harry Potter and the life of Jesus. Potter books have been denounced and even burned by some Christian clergymen, who claim they promote witchcraft. The priest from Haren, however, told the Haagse Courant newspaper: "The story of Harry Potter starts with an alternative reading of the story of the three kings, there is a speaking snake and, like Jesus, Harry Potter was a very obedient boy. "But the most important link between the two stories is that no victory is achieved without an effort. "As a result from his first meeting with evil, Harry Potter is bearing a mark. And I want to emphasise to the children that every victory has a price." The pastor has denied only holding the event to make the church more popular. He added: "I see the Harry Potter story as a new story that can make the old Bible story much more comprehensible." Sunday 13th January 2002 Media accused of hounding Potter owl to death Ananova: The Dutch media has been accused of hounding a rare owl to its death in an attempt to get its picture. Bird watchers claim repeated harassment from cameramen and their flashes confused the exhausted bird into flying into a moving truck. Photographers were especially interested in the snowy owl because of the species' link to the Harry Potter movie. The snowy owl was the only one known to have visited the country recently. It died a few hours after being injured in Heerlen, reports De Volkskrant newspaper. It was reportedly chased by newspaper and TV photographers for four days. Bird watchers say the media repeatedly tried to flush it out to get images in flight. Marc Plomp, of the Dutch Birding Association, said: "He was scared and tried to hide behind bushes and heaps of snow. He was always looking around very alert, ready to fly when another flash of light appeared. And this situation got worse. He got pursued by a camera crew of a local news channel so many times, he hit a truck on the motorway." Rob de Boer, director of a bird sanctuary in Heerlen, who sent a team to help the injured bird, said: "It was awful. The owl was surrounded by a lot of photographers who pushed him and tried to persuade to fly. But the little beast was so terrified he didn't even know how to anymore. "It's a scandal. The owl didn't have to die. Everyone could see the owl needed rest and nourishment." A spokesman for the TV news channel involved, L1, insisted its camera operator stayed well back when trying to film the bird and didn't startle it. The newspapers have not commented. Saturday 12th January 2002 Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings nominated for top award Ananova: Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings are both nominated for the Producers Guild of America's Best Film award. The two fantasy films are among a list of five nominees for the award. The other contenders are Shrek, Moulin Rouge and Russell Crowe's new film A Beautiful Mind. The PGA Awards are a good indication of what is likely to be nominated for the Oscars. The winner of their award has gone on to win the best-picture Oscar nine out of 12 times, including last year with Gladiator. In the television categories The Sopranos and The West Wing will face each other for the Best Drama Award while Friends, Frasier and Sex And The City compete for Best Comedy. Friday 11th January 2002 Boy wizard works his magic at Ottakar's Ananonva: Ottakar's is reporting an increase in sales as Harry Potter books and merchandise continue to fly off the shelves. It says JK Rowling's boy wizard accounted for 3% of all business, while JRR Tolkein's books have been in demand because of the Lord of the Rings film. Like-for-like sales gained 7.5% in the six weeks to December 29 as Ottakar's built on a strong performance last Christmas. Finance director Edward Knighton believes the company's figures, which include a 12.7% increase in all sales, are among the strongest in the sector. He says: "Harry Potter and Tolkein have come through strongly. Children are also coming back looking for things to read before the next Harry Potter book." Total sales for the 48 weeks to the end of December were up 13.6% on the previous year, with like-for-like business - excluding new store openings - up 6.1%. Ottakar's says new bookshops which opened last year at Lymington, St Helier, Wilmslow and at Northallerton in North Yorkshire had performed ahead of expectations. The group, which intends to open between six and eight stores this year, states: "We have now demonstrated that the Ottakar's retail format can perform successfully across a broad range of store sizes." The company, which has a portfolio of 78 stores, also intends to refurbish four outlets this year. Chairman Philip Dunne says profits for the year to January 26 will meet market expectations, adding: "We are encouraged by the trading performance over the Christmas period, with both like-for-like stores and those stores opened in 2000 and 2001 performing well." Friday 11th January 2002 Special Effects make Harry Potter Monsters Scarier Ananova: Today's children are more frightened of villains from movies like Harry Potter than traditional baddies. A new survey reveals they are also more scared of the dark than previous generations. The research says special effects has made film monsters more realistic. Two out of every three children under 10 admitted being scared of the dark, according to the Powergen survey. Psychologist Dr Aric Sigman told the Daily Record: "Today's children have grown up having their monsters spelled out for them.” "Widespread exposure to high-paced, continuous, entertainment has produced a generation that has lost its sense of make-believe." Friday 11th January 2002 Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings in Running for an Oscar Ananova: Harry Potter and The Fellowship Of The Ring are in the running for this year's Achievement in Visual Effects Oscar. Eight films are being considered for the award. The others are AI, Black Hawk Down, Cats And Dogs, The Fast And The Furious, Jurassic Park 3 and Pearl Harbor. Three films will go on to a shortlist for Oscar consideration. They will be announced along with all the other nominees on February 12. Thursday 10th January 2002 Wizard Still Charms Book Buyers LONDON (Reuters) - Boy Wizard Harry Potter is still casting his spell over British readers with J.K Rowling's young hero claiming five of the top 10 places in this week's book chart. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", which has moved in and out of the top spot during its 157 weeks on the best-seller list, is back at number one, according to data from Whitaker Booktrack, which monitors all book sales in the UK. At two and three are "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." A celebratory edition of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" is at number six and the paperback version of the book, on which the blockbuster film of the same name is based, is at nine. Non-Potter books in this week's top 10 include fantasy rival JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring" at four, legal thriller writer John Grisham's "Painted House" at five and Joanne Harris's "Five Quarters of the Orange" at seven. With the film version of Tolkien's epic adventure outdoing Potter at the box office, six other books in the classic Hobbit series also feature prominently in the top 20. Celebrity chefs Delia Smith and Jamie Oliver, whose cookbooks topped the charts in the run-up to Christmas, were this week's biggest fallers. Smith's third "How to Cook" book dropped three places to eight and Oliver fell to 12 from four. The Booktrack list (www.booktrack.co.uk) is based on data of weekly book sales at around 6,000 UK outlets and Internet retailers. It includes all categories of books for both adults and children -- paperback, hardcover, fiction and non-fiction. Wednesday 9th January 2002 Harry Potter works magic for Belgian card company Ananova: Harry Potter playing cards have turned up trumps for a Belgian company. Sales of playing cards featuring the boy wizard boosted Carta Mundi's 2001 turnover by £2.2 million. The company had to recruit an extra 50 staff to cope with the demand. Director Harry Van Doorslaer says: "They are so immense popular that we got through our stock and we have to produce them all again. "At the moment, we have sold out of the cards, but we hope to have them again in stock by the end of next week." Carta Mundi, which is based at Turnhout, has the rights to produce the Harry Potter cards for 22 European countries. Tuesday 8th January 2002 Competition for Harry Potter lookalike Ananova: A chain of opticians is holding a Harry Potter look-alike competition for children amid claims the schoolboy wizard has made wearing glasses "cool". With the huge popularity of J K Rowling's four books and the number one film, more and more children are happy to wear glasses like their young hero, according to one store boss. The young wizard is known by children around the world for his trademark round lenses and Harry has now become a role model for short-sighted youngsters. The Specsavers chain is running a lookalike competition to celebrate the playground popularity that glasses now enjoy. John Ludlow, director of the chain's store in Blyth, Northumberland, said: "The success of the Harry Potter books and the huge popularity of the film The Philosopher's Stone has led to more and more youngsters asking for specs and it seemed appropriate to launch the hunt for our very own lookalike. "Our staff are very experienced at working with children and can convince any apprehensive youngsters that spectacles can enhance their looks, but it's great that youngster spec-wearers now have a role model when it comes to choosing glasses. Would-be wizards can enter the competition by sending a photograph with their age, name and address and phone number to participating Specsavers stores across the country. Saturday 5th January 2002 Harry Potter tops US 2001 Box Office Ananova: The first Harry Potter movie was the top earning film in the US in 2001. The film took £198 million, despite having only been released late in November. Shrek was second in the list after taking £185 million, followed by Monsters Inc with £163 million. Jackie Chan proved his box office worth, as Rush Hour 2 took fourth place in the list with £156 million, while action adventure sequel The Mummy Returns completed the top five , earning £140 million. Thursday 3rd January 2002 |
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