Trio Confirmed to Attend New York Premiere of Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince July 9

Warner Bros. has issued a press release today confirming Dan Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Tom Felton and Bonnie Wright will be among those attending the US premiere ofHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The premiere will take place at Ziegfeld Theater, 141 West 54th Street in New York City, Thursday July 9th, with the stars due to arrive at 6:00 pm (EASTERN) While TLC will be covering this event, if you are going, please send in your photos and reports to staff@the-leaky-cauldron.org.

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

Mark Williams Discusses End of 'Potter' Series & More

In a new interview via the LA Times Mark Williams, who portrays Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter movies, discusses the new movie, Half-Blood Prince, the end of the series, his character and when all is done what he, if he could, take from the set.

So, how much freedom did you get to shape Arthur Weasley to your liking?

Well, in the book he's kind of balding and said to Chris [Columbus] 'Well, do you want me to shave my head or something' and he said 'No! No, don't do that!' He looked at me and said 'Don't take it so literally.' J.K. Rowling has been very good about that. She's allowed the films to develop sort of in parallel to the books, but she hasn't changed the sort of characterization of the books either ... And withDeathly Hallows, I think for the first time, as the books got bigger, Steve Kloves' job got harder and harder. But having two parts to the last book is good. I'm a big champion of it, and not just because I'm in them. She [J.K. Rowling] has such a mathematical brain, or better put, a musical brain and all the themes and the melodies were resolved in the last book.

If you could, once all of the films are done, take something from the set, what would it be?

In the Weasley household, there is a clock that shows where everybody is. It's the most beautiful piece of prop-making. Lots of that is unappreciated and you just go on the set and you're like 'Oh my God!' You just want to give it a close-up ... The hands are the ends of scissors, and it says things like 'school,' 'work' ... and one of the sections says 'in mortal peril.' I'd love that. And it doesn't work, by the way, cause I've been in mortal peril and it didn't say anything. I've come back and it just said 'at work.'

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens nationwide on July 15, 2009.

(SOURCE: HPANA)

'Half-Blood Prince' Soundtrack to Include Bonus Exclusive Content

Warner Bros. has just sent HPANA a press release announcing that the soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will include an enhanced CD giving fans a free digital download of the entire soundtrack in 5.1 Surround Sound audio, along with bonus exclusive content. The soundtrack by Nicholas Hooper, who scored Order of the Phoenix, will be released on July 14th.

You can pre-order the soundtrack from Amazon.

(SOURCE: HPANA)

Watch the Premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince LIVE from London July 7

Calling all Harry Potter fans! We've just gotten a bit of exciting news as plans are underway to let fans watch the London premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince LIVE in Leicester Square, London, England on July 7th starting at 1pm (6pm GMT). The premiere which is always an exciting event, will be broadcast via this link to UK Press Association; you can see an example of a recent broadcast of the Transformer premiere currently on the site made possible by the Livestream technology. While no official announcement has yet been made, the premiere is likely to include the appearance of many of the cast and crew from HBP, stay tuned!

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

New Interview with Jessie Cave on Love, Lavender and Snogging Ron Weasley

The HeroComplex Blog in the LA Times featuring new daily reports on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been updated today with a new interview of actress Jessie Cave. The young actress discusses her role as Lavender Brown, and the relationship her character has with Ron Weasley, as played by actor Rupert Grint. In the interview we learn she read the books before landing a part in the series ("I read ‘Half-Blood Prince’ before I knew anything about the auditions. So to have already read the character was so great.") working with Rupert ("He was very easygoing and very laid-back. He didn’t at all have any kind of ego, he was just a nice guy and very normal.") and the relationship between Ron and Lavender which involves a bit of...snogging.

Do you remember what your first day on set was like?
It’s funny, I was filming for six months, but I remember my third day was the big kissing scene. I remember thinking, ‘Why are they doing this so early?’ It helped actually because the nerves kind of added to the scene. There were so many extras, like 70 other people in the room, it could have gone so wrong. The first day was kind of building up to the kissing scene, so it was immediately going into the deep end.

If I remember correctly, Lavender’s the aggressor in the relationship, right?
Ha! Yes, she is incredibly dominating of Ron. She just wants to be around him all the time and she’s the one who initiates everything. She’s one of those girls that’s very pretty and very obvious, she’s just not really aware of how she’s being perceived by anyone else. And I think that’s really sweet in a way because she doesn’t perceive barriers very well [laughs]. She treads all over them. It’s why she ruffles Hermione’s feathers so much.

She does put up a good fight.
She’s almost the catalyst in setting up Hermione and Ron in the final chapter of the saga really. Without Lavender, they wouldn’t have been forced together, to acknowledge their feelings so abruptly because she definitely caused that.

How did it feel playing someone who everyone will know doesn’t stand a chance?
Well, she does really! She does quite well. She does go out with him and does get her claws into him for awhile. Not claws -- she’s lovely. She does get her way for a tiny bit, but unfortunately, it doesn’t end up her way.

How is Lavender introduced?
She’s in the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes shop and she’s kind of ogling Ron. She’s been going to school with them for years, but it’s not that she’s making her interests known.

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

New Video: The Making of Quidditch for the Half-Blood Prince Video Game

OK this is cool: New video is now online from IGN of the making of Quidditch for the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Video Game. The piece features new interviews with cast members including one Weasley who is our King... aka Rupert Grint (Ron), Bonnie Wright (Ginny), Dan Radcliffe (Harry) as well as Tom Felton (Draco) and Emma Watson (Hermione). New footage shown includes an exhilarating flight around the Burrow. Enjoy!

You can also see 4 new still from the game here. The video game for Half-Blood Prince from EA will be available on June 30th.

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)