February 28, 2005
No Oscars for Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban did not take home any Oscars during last night's 77th Annual Academy Awards. In the two categories for which PoA was nominated, Finding Neverland won for best 'Music Score' and Spiderman 2 won for best 'Visual Effects'. Better luck to Goblet of Fire!
February 27, 2005
More Lily, More Snape & (a bit more kissing for Harry)!
(Source: Mugglenet.com) One of the readers at mugglenet.com, a school librarian, has allegedly seen a promo ad for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in the "Publishers Quality Library Service" catalog.
The ad states: "With something huge revealed about Lily Potter, the truth about why Dumbledore trusts Snape, and a little romance for Harry, this promises to be one of his best years at Hogwarts yet."
As always, treat this as a rumor until official confirmation is received.
UPDATE: The Leaky Cauldron.org has received confirmation from the publishers of the library catalog that the HP snippet is completely unofficial and culled by their staff from fan sites.
February 24, 2005
Recycled Harry?
(Source: Greenpeace.org) If Bloomsbury and Scholastic, the UK and US publishers for the Harry Potter series respectively, used recycled paper in the printing of the books, many thousands of trees from ancient forests would be saved.
And so it has become a Greenpeace mission to convince the two publishing giants to switch to 100 percent ancient forest friendly paper.
Bloomsbury has recently sent word that it "ordered exclusively Forest Stewardship Council accredited paper for the printing of 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'". If they are true to their word, the next Harry Potter book could become the first major UK fiction book to be printed on 100% ancient forest friendly paper.
Raincoast Books, the Canadian publisher of the Harry Potter series went 100 percent ancient forest friendly in 2003.
No word yet on any response from Scholastic.
Read more here
February 22, 2005
Birthday Week Bursting at the Seams!
Following right on the heels of Alan Rickman we have four more Potter birthdays this week! Today, Julie Walters (Molly Weasley) turns 55; Friday the 25th, Oliver and James Phelps (George and Fred Weasley respectively) turn 19; and on Sunday the 27th, Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew) turns 48.
Have a great week one and all.
February 21, 2005
Don't Cry Alan. . . It's Your Birthday!
Fan girls (and boys) the world over are swooning for it is the birthday of Alan Rickman, aka Snape. Born to Irish and Welsh parents in 1946, Mr Rickman turns 59 today. And it truly does look like he needs some comforting. Any volunteers?
Be sure to click the comments to check out Alan's special birthday surprise. :P
It's a Wrap!
The IMDb database has updated it's comments section for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, reporting that principle photography finishes 18 March 2005. Trailer #1 is no doubt coming soon! Source: Mugglenet.com
February 18, 2005
Buckbeak Unable To Make It To Awards Ceremony
Buckbeak won the award for "Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in a Live-Action Motion Picture" at this week's 'Visual Effects Society' awards ceremony. Unable to accept the award himself, visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett was at the ceremony to pick it up in his place.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban also took home the award for "Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Motion Picture".
Good going PoA. Perhaps this is an omen for things to come at the Academy Awards!
February 17, 2005
Happy Birthday Bonnie Wright!
Bonnie Wright turns 14 today. The London born actress claims to have landed the role of Ginny Weasley by sheer determination - "I stayed as Ginny throughout the whole audition." We think talent and an extraordinary sense of presence had something to do with it as well, and look forward to seeing more of Bonnie as Ginny's role continues to gain prominence in the Harry Potter series.
Thanks to Wizardnews.com for some of the info.
February 16, 2005
JK Rowling Key Funder for Domestc Violence Project
According to Contactmusic.com JK Rowling "is providing financial backing for graphic 15-minute movie FRIDAY NIGHT SHIFT, about a young mother involved in a violent marital relationship."
A domestic violence survivor herself (during her first marriage), JK Rowling has stated she's "keen to back projects where women's concerns were raised".
February 13, 2005
PoA is Awarded Orange Film of the Year at BAFTAs
Emma Watson was present at this evenings BAFTAs in London to accept the Orange Film of the Year, the only award decided by the public, for Prisoner of Azkaban. Congratulations go out to Alfonso Cuaron and crew.
February 11, 2005
UK Prince 608 Pages Long
The Leaky Cauldron.org has received a tip about the length of the UK version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Both the adult and children's version from Bloomsbury are being confirmed at 608 pages. As reported a few weeks back, the US Scholastic version will be 672 pages long.
Half-Blood Prince is a Big Seller on Amazon
AmazonUK has received 100,000 pre-orders for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book in the Harry Potter series due out on July 16th.
February 07, 2005
Academy Nods Twice for PoA
Prisoner of Azkaban has garnered two nominations for this years Academy Awards. Variety.com has written two articles about PoA's chances of winning in the Best Visual Effects and
Best Score categories.
Thanks to The Leaky Cauldron.org for the tip.