EA Games Launches 'Phoenix' Site; Video from Developers

EA Games, the official game masters of the Harry Potter movies, have launched their game web site. On the site Moaning Myrtle is your guide and you can view pictures from the games in the different formats, read a story overview and more.

Additionally, you can view a developer diary video where the developers discuss the making of the game, as well as read an interview with James Hannigan, who composed the music for the new video game.

(SOURCE: HPANA)

Pettigrew Speaks: A New Interview with Timothy Spall

Actor Timothy Spall has given a new interview where he discusses his role as Peter Pettigrew in the Harry Potter movies. Promoting the release of his film Pierrepoint:The Last Hangman here in the US (it aired previously in the UK) Timothy Spall talks with Coming Soon.net about his role in the series, however was not asked about a possible appearance in Half-Blood Prince. He did say however in regards to an optioned appearance in the film version of Deathly Hallows that at this point "there's no option. I'm not on contract on it." Mr. Spall continues on to give his feelings about the series and the last book:

CS: But if you learned there was a big part for him in the seventh book and movie, would that be something you'd like to return to?

Spall: I think so, yeah. It's an amazing series of movie, isn't it? It's historical really, and it's quite especially good, and I think they get better and better. People are absolutely fascinated by them, they adore them! All over the world I go, and it's hardly a huge part. I mean, it's an important role, Peter Pettigrew/Scabbers, but everywhere in the world, that's the thing I get noticed for the most. ...
CS: Well, the "Harry Potter" movies have all of those great British actors, so it's not something to be sheepish about. Maybe in 20 years, that will be the thing to perform on stage rather than Shakespeare.

Spall: I know it's like a repertory theatre of all the good character actors. I suppose it's a bit disgruntling if you're not in it, I would think.

CS: I guess we'll know in a little over a month if your character is going to be in the seventh movie.

Spall: Well, my daughter will tell me. She's a big fan. She makes my executive decisions on "Harry Potter" for me. She's already ordered the book.

Timothy Spall is currently filming "Sweeney Todd" which also co-stars fellow Harry Potter actors Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) and Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix).

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

Confirmed: Change to US "Order of the Phoenix" Release Date, Now July 11

Update: Now confirmed to TLC by Warner Brothers: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will open in the US on July 11, 2007. No reason was given to us for the change, however as Coming Soon first reported, "this will give the movie a potential big five-day opening, from Wednesday through Sunday." Readers will remember that in the UK, the OotP release date was moved one day earlier to July 12.

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

Even More New "Order of the Phoenix" Poster Book Images

When it rains, it surely pours, for we have even more new looks at the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix poster book, including new photos of Prof. Trelawney (Emma Thompson), Prof. Snape (Alan Rickman), Prof. McGonagall (Dame Maggie Smith), Cho Chang, (Katie Leung) Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch), Neville (Matt Lewis), Seamus (Devon Murray), Fred and George with their Weasley Wheezes (James and Oliver Phelps) and much more. Courtesy of livejournal user ebonyserpent we can now see some nice scans of the following posters:

UPDATE:In addition to the ones below, even MORE new photos are now on the ootpmovie pic livejournal, including new photos of Remus Lupin (David Thewlis), Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs), Crabbe (Jamie Waylett) and Goyle (Josh Herdman). Despite a reported June publication date, these are apparently from the new OotP Sticker and Poster books. Thanks Alexander!

Snape, McGonagall, Umbridge at Welcoming feast
Prof Trelawney in her classroom
OWLS
Great Hall of Hogwarts
Cho Chang and Luna Lovegood
Cho portrait
Post Detention with Dolores
WeasleyDa
Ron Weasley portrait
Happy Ron
Hermione
Gred and Forge
Weasley Wheezes
Neville,Cho, Da group
Seamus Finnigan
Harry on a swing set
DA
Filch, Draco, Crabbe, Goyle
Cover of Poster book

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

New OotP Poster from Sweden

Alexander from MovieZine.se let us know about a new poster for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which you can see here. This shows members of the DA, including Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna.

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

OotP Character Posters Released

WB has released higher-resolution images of the previously mentioned character pictures (with no questionable photoshopping. ;) - enjoy!

Harry and Voldemort: "Only One Can Survive"
Hermione and Umbridge: "The Only Way is Rebellion"
Umbridge and Dumbledore: "Dissent Will Not Be Tolerated"
Sirius and Bellatrix: "Make a Final Stand" (!)
Ron and Lucius: "No One Can Protect You"
Luna and Death Eater: "Evil Must Be Confronted"

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

Nicholas Hooper Discusses 'Order of the Phoenix' Score

Last month we let you know that Nicholas Hooper was working on the film score for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the Abbey Road Studios.

In a new interview (PDF, scroll down to page 4) with the composer, Mr. Hooper describes the process for the film as well as the themes for the soundtrack:

David Yates and I talked very carefully about how we should approach Warner Bros. First of all, we put together good examples of work I had done on other projects for the producers in England. In consultation with them, we then put together a palette of ideas for different aspects of the film which we then presented to Warner Bros. This was accepted, and included one or two bigger musical ideas which eventually got used in the final score.

In reference to the ‘Hedwig Theme’ being used in the movie:

We all felt that it was essential that we use John Williams' beautiful and haunting theme as it is so strongly identified with the films. Having worked closely with David Yates for many years, we have always tried to push the boundaries of what we do, and have often worked well in advance of the film being completed. This produced a score which grew and developed organically with the film.

The soundtrack for the movie will be released on July 10th by Warner Bros. Records.

(SOURCE: HPANA)

Amazon.com: One Million Pre-Order for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"

Earlier we reported that many of the book retailers such as Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon were experiencing large and very brisk pre-sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Today that is quite evident as Amazon.com has announced they now have over one MILLION pre-orders already for the last Harry Potter novel. This number comes from the more than 620,000 copies pre-ordered in the US, and the 250,000 plus pre-orders from the UK. The company has also now dropped the price of the book, as this one million pre-order book mark comes just 95 days after Deathly Hallows became available, beating the record set back in 2005 for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which took 174 days to get to the one million pre-order mark.

Many of the book retailers are assuring a delivery date of July 21 and if you would like to pre-order Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, you can do via our Cauldron Shop, where proceeds benefit the entire Floo Network.

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

J.K. Rowling Updates Site with New Info on Draco, More

It would seem this fine spring day will bring some news from J.K.Rowling, as she has now updated her F.A.Q section with a bit about young Mr. Malfoy, his Patronus, confirmation about the exact date of birth for Lord Voldemort, and interestingly, we learn that Myrtle was indeed a Ravenclaw and Tonks is a proud member of the House of Hufflepuff!

Update: Andy from HarryPotterFanZone.com let us know that these questions were part of their open letter to Jo. cool!

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

Jim Dale to Host 'HPDH' Release Party in NYC

Jim Dale, the U.S. narrator of the Harry Potter books will host a midnight release party for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in New York on July 20th.

The party will take place at the Barnes & Noble Union Square and beginning at 10:30 pm Mr. Dale will discuss how he got the role of narrator, how he creates his characters’ voices and he will also read excerpts from the previous books.

You can go to the B&N web site to view (just scroll down and the link is on left hand-side of screen) an interview with Mr. Dale in which he discusses how he narrates the books.

(SOURCE: HPANA)

WB Bans Advanced HP Previews in Canada

Warner Bros. announced today that they will be banning advanced previews and radio promotions of all of their films in Canada, starting with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Oceans Thirteen. The move was made in response to rampant bootlegging in Canada and weak enforcement of movie piracy on the part of the government, Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.' president of theatrical distribution.

In his announcement, Fellman pushed for legislation increasing the penalty for bootlegging in Canada. He said, "I hope it leads to some legislation, recognizing the plight that we all have, that proper laws are put into effect to protect the copyright that we enjoy. A lot of people in the motion picture industry are affected by lost revenue and I am sure the people in Canada recognize this is an illegal act and would like to see legislation preventing that from happening."

70% of Warner Bros. films have been pirated in Canada in the past 18 months. The Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association estimates that this piracy accounts for $118 million in lost revenue.

(SOURCE: VERITASERUM)

Dan Radcliffe: "We're the French Resistance"

The L.A. Times has a brand new interview with actor Dan Radcliffe about working on the set of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In this lengthy new feature on the fifth Harry Potter film, which also contains new quotes from director David Yates confirming again his return to the helm of the Half-Blood Prince movie, as well as quips from actress Emma Watson and producer David Heyman, Dan Radcliffe talks about the pivotal battle in the ministry between Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon).

As these two great wizards parry and thrust their dueling wands, shooting out spells and, for now, imaginary rivers of fire that will meet and crash together like sparking electrical currents, off-camera wind machines blast and tug at their robes. Cowering to one side, Daniel Radcliffe's terrified, ashen-faced Harry Potter recoils from the pyrotechnics exploding above his head, smaller, tributary spells that rat-a-tat-tat the walls like machine-gun fire.

"It's a very intense scene," says Radcliffe during a break in filming the sequence, part of the climax to "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which premieres July 11. "Harry's so out of his depth, he's emotionally pretty much destroyed by this point and given up all hope."

The political under themes of the movie are on the mind of the cast and crew, but producer David Heyman says while it is present, its not the entire focus of the movie, noting "There's no question there are political aspects to this story." I don't want to give the impression it's a political film. It's an entertainment." However Dan Radcliffe and David Yates have a bit more to say on the nature of the politics found in the fifth movie.

"We're the French Resistance," he explains of Dumbledore's Army, "and Voldemort and the Death Eaters are the Nazis. Obviously, in a magical context." Not that his analogies end there. "Harry's like a Vietnam veteran," he says. "He's seen awful things and come back into a society that's rejected him. That's the main parallel I've been drawing on." Fudge, meanwhile, he equates to Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair.

"Dan's absolutely right," says Yates several months later in his Soho office. "What Fudge does is he spins everything all the time. He's a great manipulator of information, and there is a bit of Blair about Fudge."

Finally, as reported previously this week, David Yates again mentions his return to direct the sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as he says

"I know Alfonso and Mike, when they came out, they were kind of shredded, but I've come out feeling invigorated," Yates says. "And I don't think I'm quite done with this world yet. These can be great films about childhood. The next one's full of sexual politics, and the kids are getting better as actors, and I want to push them even more. This one's quite lyrical and intense. The next one is more fun."

He grins. "I've had more fun in the last two years than I've had making anything. The whole thing's slightly addictive. It's difficult to let go."

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

UK Pricing Wars over "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"

With pre-orders at an all time high and 12 million copies set to be in print, stores in the UK are facing very stiff competition and many are selling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at extreme discounts, creating a possible 'price war' among the many retailers vying for customers wanting to get their hands on the final book July 21st. The TimesOnline is reporting that major retailers are concerned whether a profit can be made while offering such greatly reduced discounts to their customers.

Bloomsbury, which has sold 325 million Potter copies worldwide, sells the books to retailers for about 55 per cent below the cover price, so supermarkets will be making a loss if they sell them much below £8.10.

Neill Denny, the editor-in-chief of The Bookseller trade journal, said that Harry Potter was one of the most discounted of all the children’s books series available. He said that UK retailers had sold 22.5 million copies of JK Rowling’s series for a total of £172 million compared with the £243 million they would have earned if it was sold at full price.

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

Evanna Lynch, Jewelry Designer

USA Weekend Magazine has their new 2007 Summer Movie preview online, and it contains a bit about our favorite eccentric jewelry wearing Ravenclaw from the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The article focuses on Evanna Lynch who portrays Luna Lovegood, and mentions the fabulous radish earrings that Evanna wears in her role for the fifth Harry Potter film. As first mentioned on PotterCast, Evanna did make the earrings herself (seen here in this photo) for her role, impressing the professional costume department so much, they let her wear them in the film.

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (July 13) The new student at Hogwarts, the "odd" witch Luna Lovegood, is described in the novel as wearing radish earrings. The costume department on the film hired several jewelry designers to make the earrings, but Evanna Lynch, the young actress who plays Luna, was so into the character that she made her own. "And they were better!" says costume director Jany Temime. "More artsy-craftsy, more like what a creative young girl would do. The stuff we had was too professional. So we used hers."

The USA Weekend is found in many newspapers here in the States.

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

Teenage Rowling was 'Extremely Intelligent'

A Minnesota educator reminisces about his days as a foreign student teacher in the UK, when 13-year-old Joanne Rowling herself was a pupil:

"I was contacted by the teachers in England who I had stayed with, and they told me that the Harry Potter author had gone to Wyedean at the same time I was there and perhaps I knew her," [Dale] Neuschwander said. "It had been a long time, but I went to the grade book that I kept from that time and when I saw the class that she was in and her grades, I remembered her."

It was easy for the teacher to remember his former pupil. Her writing shone.

"She got straight A's and A-pluses in creative writing," he said.

When Neuschwander wrote to Rowling in 2000 to congratulate her on publishing Harry Potter, the author wrote back and her handwritten letter (the contents of which are in the full article) now hangs on his wall.

(SOURCE: HPANA)

Yates Announces He'll Direct HBP Movie

Order of the Phoenix Director David Yates announced today that he'll come back to helm the sixth movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. "I am doing 'Half-Blood Prince,' and I'm doing it because I love the [Potter] world, I love the characters," he said. "I think I have more business with this world and these characters."

He also said: "I've made a kind of tonal shift with the fifth film, which I want to continue and develop into the sixth film. And I can see the fifth story evolving into the sixth story in a really interesting way. So I'm on a journey with this material and this world, and I'm keen to complete it."

This marks the first time since Chris Columbus that a Harry Potter director has signed on for two consecutive films in the series.

(SOURCE: VERITASERUM)

Helena Bonham Carter Talks Bellatrix on Jonathan Ross Program

Helena Bonham Carter appeared on the Friday Night with Jonathan Ross program which aired tonight in the U.K. TLC reader Sarah writes that the actress spoke briefly about her role as the Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix saying something along the lines that despite filming for a total of twelve weesk, she only had 5 lines, 3 of which were cut (her words). She also apparently described a bit about what it was like for the actors to wait before filming.

UPDATE: You can now see a video of this, here.

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

OotP to Have "Over 100 Centaurs"

Over the years at TLC we've told you about several of the companies who create the special effects seen in the Harry Potter films. One such company, Framestore CFC is sending out their latest email with news on work they are doing for the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix film. The company states:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
(UK & US release July 13th 2007)

Another year, another magical adventure. Framestore CFC has been contributing fantastic VFX and creatures to the Potter films from the outset, and the boy wizard's latest adventure – his 5th – is no exception. We have been hard at work on some of the film's most demanding beings, including over 100 centaurs, a house-elf named Kreechur [sic], the return of Fawkes the Phoenix and assorted magical effects. In addition, we are creating the films title sequence for the first time.

You can see some of their work in the most recent trailer for OotP which is now on the WB Order of the Phoenix website (you can also see the earlier teaser trailer as well).

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

Harry Potter Mentions in New Disney Adventures, Nick Magazine

With a new month comes new issues of magazines, and there are two mentions of Harry Potter included in several magazines now on newsstands.

The May issue of Disney Adventures Magazine contains a brief mention of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, with this photo of Dan Radcliffe as Harry Potter on the cover. The mention features the previously released photo of Umbridge sitting at her desk with the following copy:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Heroes-the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army-clash with zeroes-You -Know-Who and the dreadful Dolores Umbridge-in Harry Potter's most dangerous adventure yet.

We can't wait to see...If you love to hate the bad guy, then you're in for a sour treat with actress Imelda Staunton's portrayal of Dolores Umbridge. As Daniel Radcliffe(Harry Potter) told us, "Umbridge has this mad need for control and order all the time, and she doesn't really have it. In terms of people in the book who are not on Voldemort's side, she's probably the most evil."

Also, inside the back page of the new issue of Nick Magazine (with Spider-Man on the cover) there is a full page ad for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, similar to what we saw previously promoting the Scholastic "There Will Soon Be 7" campaign, this one with the covers of the previous six Harry Potter novels. Anyone with scans from either or both magazines, please send them in!

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)