Finally! After a teaser trailer that focused solely on a chilling glimpse of the young Tom Riddle, and an international trailer that featured some Ron Weasley snogging and a lot of blink-and-you'll-miss-it action, the first full trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is upon us. It's embedded below; take a look and then make like Harry and Dumbledore and apparate past the jump to discuss. (For non Potter-heads -- all 16 of you -- that translates to "click on the jump link and then we'll talk about trailer.")
Pick up your pencils, young Potter-philes. Scholastic announced today that they are sponsoring a national essay contest for kids in conjunction with the Dec. 4 release of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter companion book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The grand prize? An all-expense paid trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, where five winners, each accompanied by an adult, will have tea with Rowling as she conducts a reading of Tales at the National Library of Scotland. (Apparently, 250 other lucky kids will be in attendance as well.)
According to Scholastic, "Fans are asked to write an essay of 200 words or less describing how they have helped others. Because so many kids today are taking interest in helping others in their schools, communities and around the world, the Scholastic contest gives them the opportunity to write about causes they care about and what they've done to make a difference."
As my colleague Michael Slezak just emailed to me, the whole thing sounds rather Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-esque, sans chocolate and that whole scary boat tour thing (we only hope). But the message behind the contest is very un-Veruca Salt—since Tales' proceeds are going to charity, Scholastic is trying to spread the word of goodwill with the contest. Some of you hardcore Potter fans might not be eligible—you can only submit an essay if you're between the ages of 8 and 17—but does a party with Rowling sound like your cup of tea?
Fans, Hollywood welcomes your support, but it's not worried about your wrath. Even if you get massive numbers of people to join the cause (and you won't, because everyone wants to see Harry Potter and Watchmen and Wolverine, and most people will go on opening weekend or watch soon after when the movies are released on DVD), all you'd be doing is taking a bite out of the ever-shrinking slice of profit pie that is the domestic box office. In the case of Potter and Wolverine, you're talking about billion-dollar franchises, with worldwide revenue streams from cinemas, TV, DVD, publishing, and merchandise, of which the next Hogwarts and X-Men movies' domestic ticket sales are just a drop in the bucket. You're spitting in the wind.
If it's any consolation, I believe that Fox, no matter what the studio says now about preferring to suppress Watchmen and receive no profits, will ultimately decide that a percentage of something is better than a percentage of nothing, and I believe (as my colleague Jeff Jensen does), that the movie will come out even if Warners has to pay Fox a settlement. I also believe that, by the time Half-Blood Prince comes out next summer, much of the current grumbling will be forgotten. With any luck, the movie will be great (as will Watchmen and Wolverine), and we'll all have moved on to some other controversy.
I'll leave the frame-by-frame analysis to more obsessive Potterphiles than I. Suffice it to say that the atmosphere of gray, bleak dread here is unrelenting. In addition to quick glimpses of Ron and Ginny Weasley in peril and lots of stuff getting set on fire, the main thrust of the trailer is a flashback to Dumbledore's first meeting with the young Tom Riddle, the future Voldemort, played in suitably Damien-creepy fashion by 11-year-old Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (nephew of Ralph Fiennes, who is briefly seen here as the adult Voldemort). Feel free to discuss the teaser clip's clues and occasional deviations from the sixth book's text in the comments section; I'm just going to sit back and start counting the days and minutes until the Harry Potter flick's Nov. 21 release. (114 to go...) Excited yet, PopWatchers?
Forbes has put out its annual celebrity power list, and as usual, it's a puzzlement. The big shift this year is the addition of many tween stars, including some names you might expect (Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron) and some you might not (Ashley Tisdale, Lauren Conrad). Other shifts, closer to the top of the pecking order, are similar headscratchers. Radar does a good job of deconstructing the list, but other questions remain, such as: Why is Beyoncé (pictured) ranked No. 4, just below Angelina Jolie? She out-earned Angelina last year by a factor of six, and besides, if La Jolie is so powerful, how come she couldn't sell tickets to A Mighty Heart? Oprah ranks at No. 1 (natch), yet J.K. Rowling out-earned her this year (the Harry Potter author took in a staggering $300 million) and has to settle for ninth place. Anyway, read through the list, then come back and see if you can explain it to the rest of us.
Happy birthday to Emma Watson, who turns 18 today. Which means, if her pal Daniel Radcliffe ever films a big-screen adaptation of his stage production of Equus, she'll be old enough to go see it.
In the April issue of Out magazine, Ms. Swinton is quoted as saying, "I'm loath to say anything good about going to boarding school, which
is one of the reasons why I'm not a believer in Harry Potter. Because
I believe it fetishizes boarding school for children." She was explaining why she would've turned down a role in HP. Most of you are probably thinking "whatever," whereas I feel compelled to "go there," much like The N, and have decided that despite her hangup, Tilda would make a great ambiguously evil boarding-school-marm type in a movie. I'm thinkin' a precise hybrid of Miss Hannigan from Annie and Miss Clavel from the old-school animated Madeline videos (pictured, inset). Yes? Yes!
By the way, can I propose a moratorium on referring to Tilda Swinton as "the milky actress"? Ewww.
We love the dame, who turns 73 today, in the Harry Potter films and in costume dramas like A Room With a View. But we really love her gams in this sketch from TheCarol Burnett Show. Agreed?
Just in case there hasn't been enough Harry Potter in your life since the final installment in the series hit shelves last July, J.K. Rowling and the online fan community have been keeping the spirit alive. Rowling outed Dumbledore on her tour of the U.S., and auctioned a handmade copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Amazon.com bought the rare book for $3.98 million). Now, the folks at The Leaky Cauldron scored an exclusive interview with Rowling that will air on their podcast, predictably named PotterCast, available to download tomorrow.
So what does the EW Entertainer of the Year have to say for herself? In a preview of their interview (click here for the scoop), PotterCast reveals that Rowling talks about the wizarding community's attitude about homosexuality, the Harry Potter theme park, and her plans to write a Potter encyclopedia. Personally, I'm most interested in minutiae such as, how to make a Horcrux and wand-lore, but that's my inner geek speaking.
I can't wait to hear what else the author has to say for herself, and I love that the interview is on PotterCast, because Melissa Anelli, the PotterCast moderator, conducted an awesome exclusive interview with Rowling a couple years ago. But what about you guys? Are you dying to know what happened in the "missing 24 hours," or have you moved on from Pottermania? What other burning questions still need answering? Weigh in below after you enjoy my favorite HP fanvid. Ever.
It didn't take long to find out who paid £1,950,000 (roughly $4 million) at auction for one of seven copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, J.K. Rowling's handmade book of five wizarding fairy tales, referenced in the last book of the Harry Potter series: Amazon is the proud new owner of the 157-page book. But rest easy, even though you may never get to hold one of these instant classics, you will get to bask in the glory of it all as the retail giant not only posts pictures of the beautifully bound book but also reviews the tales here. The proceeds all go to charity (The Children's Voice campaign), so go ahead and dream: If money were no object, what would you pay to own this?
Last week, Yahoo announced that Britney Spears topped the portal's 2007 list of its users' top 10 search queries. Other individuals in the top 10: Paris Hilton (No. 3), Beyoncé (No. 5), Lindsay Lohan (No. 6), Fergie (No. 9), and Jessica Alba (No. 10). Which made me wonder: what would the list look like for EW.com's search engine this year? According to our internal tracking, these were the 10 most popular searches this year on EW.com:
1.Lost (pictured) 2.
Heroes 3.
The Office
4. Stephen King 5.
Sopranos
6. "Doc Jensen" 7.
24
8. Harry Potter 9.
American Idol 10.
The Hills
Britney doesn't appear until No. 49.
What does this mean? First, that you guys really, really like Lost. (No. 6, of course, refers to EW.com essayist Jeff Jensen's Lost-centric "Doc Jensen" columns.) Second, you really like TV, more than movies (only Harry Potter — and maybe, Stephen King — count in that direction) and more than music (only Idol qualifies there). Third, you're much more interested in projects than in celebrities; the only real-life individuals in the top 10 are both EW columnists. Finally, you're not much interested in gossip.
Tell us, who or what have you searched for this year on EW.com? What pop culture searches do you find yourself conducting most often, here or elsewhere?
MARC: Hey, brain. BRAIN: Yo quiero Cherry Coke Zero. MARC: Yeah, I know. But you were telling me before about which other fictional characters you want to be gay. BRAIN: Ah, that. Yes, I had five ideas. Four, really, and one that we all already know is gay but just haven't really admitted to ourselves. MARC: Please, continue while I walk us to the fridge for that refreshing beverage you asked for. BRAIN:Obi-Wan Kenobi. Totally gay. It's all there in the text: palled around for years with a young apprentice, broke up when said apprentice got evil, never made a move on the apprentice's hot secret wife/beard, was eventually forced to take him down. Just like Dumbledore...sort of. MARC: Who else?
First things first: At last night's talk at New York City's Carnegie Hall — an event for thousands of young Harry Potter fans and their parents — J.K. Rowling outed the kindly headmaster.
Responding to a question from a child about Dumbledore's love life, Rowling hesitated and then revealed, "I always saw Dumbledore as gay." Filling in a few more details, she said, "Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald.... Don't forget, falling in love can blind us. [He] was very drawn to this brilliant person. This was Dumbledore's tragedy." She added that in a recent meeting about the sixth movie, she spied a line in the script where Dumbledore waxed poetic about a girl, so she was forced to scribble director David Yates a note to correct the situation.
Warner Bros. is gloating that, with five films so far grossing $4.47 billion to date all over the world, Harry Potter is the biggest movie franchise ever, bigger than the six Star Wars films or even the 22 James Bond films. A daunting achievement, to be sure, but it always irks me that box office boasts like this one are never corrected to adjust for inflation or actual number of tickets purchased. Give me those figures, and then I'll be impressed.
By the way, if you were to assess a franchise based on its overall impact — on the box office, on other filmmakers, on the imaginations of viewers around the world — would it be one of these three or something else? Lord of the Rings? Star Trek? Superman? Go with your gut, PopWatchers.
Okay, I just now saw this clip of my inappropriate crush Daniel Radcliffe* showing his hidden talent— "truly disgusting" tongue tricks — to a member of Ellen DeGeneres' studio audience yesterday. (Courtesy of Just Jared.) Naturally, I sent the link to the EW.com staff with a note that the girl in said clip looks a lot like our own Annie Barrett. It's not Annie, but she says she, too, would have high-fived Daniel. And that his tongue looks like lasagna.
Annie also asked the question, "Do any other famous people have talented tongues?" So far, our email chain has come up with Pixie (L.A. Ink), who split her tongue in half on purpose; Sherilyn Fenn, who tied a cherry stem into a knot with her tongue during a Twin Peaks episode (though technically, we can't recall if she could do that in real life); and "that kid from A Christmas Story, on the pole." Help!
* Radcliffe is promoting his new film December Boys. I suppose I should mention that somewhere.
PopWatch inappropriate crush Daniel Radcliffe anticipates making his Broadway debut sometime next year with Equus — and tells Reuters he's a teensy bit scared of New York audiences. "I would be very nervous because I think that [the audiences are] even more discerning than in London," he said. "But I know we have a good show, it was a good show when we did it in London and hopefully if we do it again it will still be that good. It has to be better."
Should Equus make it to the Great White Way, will you see it? Will you make the trip to very select theaters to see Radcliffe in the upcoming film December Boys? And are New York audiences scarier than London's?
What's the most insane thing you've done trying to avoid a spoiler? (By the way, this post is spoiler-free, I promise.) Here's why I'm asking: I'm forced to remember mine every time I spy someone reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
I felt like I had to finish the book its first weekend on shelves. Not crazy talk, especially since I work at EW and sit right outside the office of the man who edited the Potter cover package we closed the following Monday and Tuesday. No, the madness was the moment I decided I needed to see how many pages were in the book so that I could calculate the number I had left. What if my eyes drifted up the page and I saw a phrase or pronoun (yeah, I was worried about pronouns) that suggested whether Harry lived or died? I seriously spent a good 60 seconds trying to figure out whether I could trust myself — the person who, after catching 5 minutes of some episode of Supernatural a couple of years ago, occasionally finds herself standing in front of a mirror trying not to say the words "Bloody Mary" three times. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who had the Potter page panic.
If you have yet to read or finish the book, let me help you out: 759.
After the jump, we run through Rowling's answers to some burning Hallows questions, including the details she left out of the epilogue. SERIOUS SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading now if you haven't finished the book.
If you're among the speed-reading muggles who's already gulped down J.K. Rowling's mammoth final Harry Potter book, we want to know: What burning questions do you have? Is there anything you're confused about? Any loose ends you didn't see tied up? Let us know in the comments section -- and be sure to include your e-mail address (which, of course, we won't publish) in case EW decides to tackle your query.
(Editor's Note: This post is spoiler-free, but click on the links below at your own risk.)
With less than 40 hours left before J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows officially goes on sale at bookstores on Friday at midnight, rumors and leaks about the final showdown between Harry Potter and He Who Must Not Be Named have been flying around like crazy Cornish pixies. (Seems some bookstores and online merchants jumped the gun and started retailing or delivering pre-orders of the book as early as Tuesday.) Impatient as I am, I'm loving all the little tidbits that I’ve found scouring the Internet for hours, but many diehard Potterphiles feel that the loose lips of embargo-defying readers and journalists threaten to ruin their last rendezvous with Harry's world. While I will not reveal any such spoilers in this post, posted below are some links leading to information about the plot and ending of Book 7, which I can’t verify as true or not. The choice to look is yours...
Washington Post, "Spoiler Frenzy Follows Early Mailing of 'Hallows'"
Attention, Potterphiles: EW needs your help. We're looking for examples of Harry Potter's influence on pop culture. That is, we're seeking references to the boy wizard and his world that have cropped up outside the Potter books and films themselves. Example: the time on Friends that Ross wished he had an invisibility cloak like Harry's, or the allusion in Love Actually, where British prime minister Hugh Grant includes Harry Potter on a list of things that have made England great (also on his list: Shakespeare, the Beatles, and David Beckham's legs).
Spoofs count, too, like Daniel Radcliffe's self-parodying guest spot on Extras or J.K. Rowling's incisive cameo on The Simpsons, as well as the more extensive Potter parody from one of The Simpsons' Halloween specials. What other citations can you think of? As a reward for your suggestions, you get to watch the clip below of the famous Saturday Night Live Hogwarts sketch, featuring a certain unlikely SNL-er as Harry and Lindsay Lohan as a distractingly voluptuous Hermione. Oh, and we'll also award 50 points to Gryffindor.
"Are there any wizards out there? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?" No, PopWatchers, I'm not the one asking, Hollywood is. You'd think that the smashing debut of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix this past weekend would have studio suits launching high fives across conference-room tables Tinseltown-wide. But not so fast.
Here's the problem: The successful premiere of yet another HP movie means that the series is getting closer and closer to its finale. And no fantastic family-film franchise has emerged to pick up the slack once Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows leaves theaters (probably in 2010). Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events was supposed to be the big savior, of course, but that movie disappointed a few years back with a $118.6 million domestic gross, and followup films seem unlikely. How unfortunate!
So Hollywood is starting to sweat. Studios are jamming the pipeline with all sorts of possible HP heirs. In recent weeks, the rights to Angie Sage's Septimus Heap series and P.B. Kerr's Children of the Lamp books have been snapped up by producers, and Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson said that they're going to turn the classic Tintin comics into a string of animated features. There's also a film adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles due next February. But will any of them work? I mean, would you go see a Tintin movie now that you're like, not 11 years old anymore? And what other series do you think movie execs should be considering?
In case you haven't heard, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is already breaking box office records: an estimated $44.2 million for the biggest Wednesday opening ever, which includes about $12 million from the biggest midnight screening ever. This isn't exactly a surprise; Harry Potter making money is a bit like Tiger Woods winning golf tournaments — it's mostly just a question of how many records will be broken.
But that second number — the $12 million for the Tuesday-at-midnight showings — that's what I want to talk a bit more about with you, PopWatchers. It just so happens that this past Tuesday at 10 p.m., I walked by Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, and there was already a line around the block for the midnight showing of HPatOotP there. Now, I'm no slacker movie fan. I've been getting tickets weeks in advance for the opening night of a highly anticipated movie since you had to physically drive down to the theater and buy them in person. But I've never gone the extra step of waiting for two, four, 10 hours in line for a midnight screening, mostly because I figure, after even three hours in line, I'm not going to be in prime condition to watch a McDonald's commercial, let alone Daniel Radcliffe wand-dueling with a de-schnoz'd Ralph Fiennes. Pretty much, I'd only be good for dropping off an international visa application or riding the newest roller coaster at my local Six Flags.
But clearly there are multitudes who have the cinephile stamina to weather the late hour and long lines, and I want to know more about you. Is it fun? How do you while away all that time in line? Play games? Read? Do you meet new people? Is it a once-in-a-lifetime thing, or a for-my-entire-life thing? And, most of all, is the actual movie itself somehow sweeter, better, once you finally get inside, get your popcorn, and get your seat?
The good news: Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe turns 18 on July 23. The bad news: You already knew that. But if you're not entirely sure how guilty you should be feeling right now, then it's time to take PopWatch's very first inappropriate-crush quiz. Give yourself one point for every statement that accurately describes you -- and feel the crimson sting of shame as your score creeps toward double digits. (Warning: If you're not caught up on the books, and are freakishly spoiler-phobic, skip question No. 10.)
1. You're scared of how high you're about to score.
2. You are over 21. 3. You participated in a debate on who was hotter, Radcliffe or Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory), after seeing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 4. You think that leather-vest shot of Radcliffe in the August issue of Details was a good idea. (Bonus point if you are my 60-year-old mother.)
5. You have a "favorite photo" of Radcliffe from that time you Google image-searched him.
6. You have one of the Equus promotional pics hanging in your cubicle or made into a stick puppet. (Technically, I used a plastic knife as the back support.) 7. You actually flew to London to see Radcliffe onstage. (Half a point if you looked into airfare or demanded an extensive debriefing from a coworker who saw the show.) 8. You tuned into The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Monday night to watch Radcliffe, and you never watch Leno. (Subtract a point if you resisted the urge. There's hope your crush is on Harry Potter and not Daniel Radcliffe! Wait, is that any better?) 9. You wish there would've been a trivia question about Radcliffe on this quiz, because you would have totally kicked ass. 10. You squirmed in your seat when Order of the Phoenix flashed back to the first Harry Potter
film, and you were reminded that Radcliffe was recently 11. (Bonus
point: After watching Harry's kiss with Cho Chang, you're looking
forward to his makeout sessions with Ginny Weasley anyway.)
It’s been exactly 600 days since the last Harry Potter flick (Goblet of Fire) hit theaters -- not that this diehard fan has been counting or anything -- so needless to say, anticipation for today's release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
has been higher than a Mariah Carey glory note. Making things even more interesting, the franchise gets a new director (David Yates) and screenwriter (Contact's Michael Goldenberg), who face the tall order of bringing the longest Potter book (896 pages) to the big screen, while
staying true to the words of J.K. Rowling. EW's own Lisa Schwarzbaum calls Yates a "shrewd choice" in her B+ review of the flick (click here to read it); here’s what other critics around the nation have to say, and be sure to
let your fellow PopWatchers know what you think once you've seen it for yourself.
Colin Bertram, New York Daily News: "In previous Potter movies, nonessential story lines and silly character set
pieces added little but minutes to the film's running time. Here, British director
David Yates (TV's Sex Traffic and The Girl in the Cafe)
keeps the subplots, the oversentimentality (most notably in a crucial death
scene) and regular supporting cast (Emma Thompson, Maggie Smith, Robbie
Coltrane, Alan Rickman) firmly in check."
David Germain, The Associated Press: "Director David Yates and screenwriter Michael
Goldenberg deliver the shortest Potter movie yet, though Order of the
Phoenix is the longest novel at 800-plus pages. The movie gains in
momentum but loses a lot of the fun and wonder of previous installments.
Granted, the stories grow gloomier as Harry's ultimate challenge approaches in
book seven, but he has faced doom and death before and still managed to have a
good time.”
Christopher Kelly,
Star-Telegram: "Even grading on a curve, this new movie
turns out to be a near disaster. Director David Yates (The Girl in the Cafe) and
screenwriter Michael Goldenberg (Contact)
-- both newcomers to the franchise -- have no handle on Rowling's shapeless
narrative. They merely give in to the sprawl. The result is talky, tedious and --
if you haven't recently read Phoenix -- nearly impossible to follow."
Desson Thomson,Washington
Post: "Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg and director David Yates (a
British filmmaker with a television background) have transformed J.K. Rowling's
garrulous storytelling into something leaner, moodier and more compelling, that
ticks with metronomic purpose as the story flits between psychological darkness
and cartoonish slapstick."
I was watching An Awfully Big Adventure on IFC, and I realized how much I enjoy Alun Armstrong, who plays Uncle Vernon (how strangely fitting when you keep reading) in the film. It made me wonder "Why hasn't he been cast in Harry Potter yet?" He would make a great Death Eater. It seems like they pick the best of the best British actors for those films. Then I thought, "Who else has been overlooked by Harry Potter?" And I thought of Alun's costar in Bleak House, Charles Dance. Anyhow I thought this was a job for PopWatch, and not myself. So maybe when Harry Potter's new movie comes out it could be a discussion point on your blog. I would like to hear your ideas. Love you guys!
Thanks, Lisa! That's a terrific idea, since there are lots of British thespians who, inexplicably, have yet to appear in a Potter picture. Some I'd like to see hanging around at Hogwarts include Samantha Morton,
Richard E. Grant,
Clive Owen,
Daniel Craig,
Helen Mirren, and
Eileen Atkins. I'd have included Vera Drake's Imelda Staunton, too, but she's made it into the new Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as Dolores Umbridge (pictured, left, with Potter vets Emma Thompson and Maggie Smith).
Who else would you like to see acting in the Potter saga? (Sorry, Yanks, it's Brits only.) And what roles should they play? Hurry with your suggestions, since you've only got two movies left.
Speaking of weird band names, how's Ebony Bones for a lead
vocalist? The British singer (née Ebony Thomas) has given up her career as a
soap star and teamed up with the Damned
drummer Rat Scabies to pursue a music career. While I can’t say I
caught her run on Family Affairs
during my sojourns on the other side of the pond (I’m an Eastenders man myself), I'm not surprised that she was nominated
three times for the British Soap Awards' "Sexiest Female" category.
Anyway, Scabies and Co. may not have made the Ratatouille soundtrack, but Ebony — who, to my eyes, looks like Lil Kim’s English doppelganger — has picked up a
considerable word-of-mouth (read: MySpace) buzz in the UK, leading to a coveted spot on last week's Glastonbury Festival roster. With a truly wild wardrobe, a
rocking band, and a raw sound somewhere in between M.I.A. and Talking Heads
(just listen for yourself — Harry Potter fans should beware that MySpace
profile is slightly NSFW), Ebony’s definitely someone to keep an eye on. Just
don’t go blind staring at the slightly seizure-inducing video for “Don’t Fart
on My Heart,” (below), which looks more suited for the Tate Modern than MTV. If you’re
still on the fence after that, check out the Ebony Bones remixes, including a London adaptation of Sister Nancy’s calypso-flavored “Bam Bam.”
Any first impressions, PopWatchers? She’s definitely
unpolished, but her lyrics are cheekily bizarre and her influences seem to be
all over the place — both positives as far as I’m concerned. And while the unsigned hype may have to stop desecrating
Ebony magazine if she gets a
deal, I'd love to see her go to town on faux-female rockers like Avril. Could she be the
next in the M.I.A./Lady Sovereign/Lily Allen/Amy Winehouse lineage? (And by
that I mean London-bred female singers who appear to be somewhat unhinged, yet
whom we can’t stop listening to.) Or is this just noise?
Let's see, once again, Forbes magazine's annual Celebrity 100 power list is out, once again Oprah is the most powerful celeb in the universe, and once again, I'm not sure why I should care. There's some amusement in noting which stars dropped off the list this year (sorry, J. Lo). And hours of fun can be spent pondering how the mysterious formula that Forbes uses to number-crunch a star's earnings, media exposure, and other variables in order to determine the rankings results in some puzzling anomalies (Brad Pitt is No. 5 but Angelina Jolie is nine slots below him? David Letterman is at No. 17 while the higher-rated Leno is down at No. 26? The Desperate Housewives cast ranks above J.K. Rowling? Bon Jovi made the top 20?). But beyond that, what's it all mean? Is there a deeper significance to be mined from this list, a lesson about what it takes to rise to the top of the showbiz ladder in 2007? Enlighten me, PopWatchers.
It's nice to know that J.K. Rowling (pictured) will be going on a modest reading tour of the United States later this year, after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is published. Because, let's face it, her esoteric little novel is going to need all the publicity help it can get.
The release date for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (pictured) has been bumped up two days to July 11, Muggles, but there's even more exciting news: In late 2009, you'll find "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" at Orlando's Islands of Adventure.
Little is known about the theme park's plans, but presumably, we'll be romping through the Hogwarts castle (fingers crossed for shifting stairways!), down Diagon Alley (a ride through the Gringotts vaults?) and into the Forbidden Forest (the return of Fluffy!).
So let's hear your must-have attractions, PopWatchers. I'm only going if there's a wax figure of Harry standing under the mistletoe in the Room of Requirement. I wouldn't actually kiss him. I would just lean in like I was going to and make whoever I've dragged there with me take photos. Many photos.
Here we go, warthogs! The trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenixjust went up on the Web. Comments? Concerns? I don't know about you, but I'm extra psyched now, what with all the shadows and ominous talk that make HPATOOTP at times look more like the fifth installment of the Saw series than another chapter in the whole Will-Ron-And-Hermione-Ever-Get-It-On? affair. Here we have our first major glimpse at Oscar nominee Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) as Dolores Umbridge. Also, I think if you squint, Harry & Co. look a heckuvalot like The Goonies in some shots. ("Sloth love Chunk... and Hagrid!") Man, those wee wizards are getting old, PopWatchers. Seasons change. And, as the trailer promises, "On July 13th, the rebellion begins." Are you ready?
The wizards behind the Harry Potter phenomenon created quite a stir today when they released not one, not two, but three covers for J.K. Rowling's final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. For us kids of all ages who are desperate to find out how the whole shebang ends, this is quite a big day, indeed.
And we have three images to peruse for clues before 12 million copies of the book hit US stores on July 21st. The orangey North American edition features the first wrap-around cover in the series' history, with a cloaked HP holding up his arm (waving goodbye?) on the front and a sinister-looking He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named on the back. In the U.K., meanwhile, the adult edition bears the simple image of a pendant with a jeweled "S" on it, while the kids get a busier, almost comic-book-ish depiction of HP and his homies amid a pile of treasure. All of them, in their own ways, look pretty cool, huh?
But what does it all say to you? Spot anything of significance in these pics? Scholastic has added a nice feature to their website where you can magnify the cover art to search for hints. Then again, you don't have to be a Hermione to know that, well, they're probably just teasing us.
Harry Potter is going to die! Says author J.K. Rowling: "I'm mourning."
Now, relax: It's not what you think. There's still no word on what will become of our favorite wiz kid in his series' final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which goes on sale July 21. But his creator did announce on her website today that she has finally finished writing, thus ending what the AP described as "one of the great phenomena of literary history." The books, after all, have sold in excess of 325 million copies. So it's no wonder that Rowling added, "I feel an incredible sense of achievement." (The fact that she's said to be the first person in history to earn $1 billion writing books may also have something to do with it.)
Anyway, Rowling called Deathly Hallows her favorite Harry book, which is dandy. But it only shines a brighter spotlight on the elephant in her castle: Where does a 41-year-old former blockbuster writer and future dame go from here? Will this really be the end of Harry? Will she try something new? Has Rowling set the bar too high for herself and will she ever be able to live up to the hype again? Can she cast the same kind of spell over readers if she, say, goes in a more adult direction with her first non-Harry book? Will there even be a non-Harry book, or will she retire a la Harper Lee? I dunno, maybe that's a good thing. But what do you think about all that's brewing in Rowling's very own Chamber of Secrets?
For Harry Potter fans, the question of the week seems to be, "Is Daniel Radcliffe crazy? Or crazy like a fox?" Now that Scholastic has announced that the seventh and final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is being published on July 21 (161 days and counting!), one week after the fifth movie hits theaters, that makes three separate Radcliffe-related news bombs in seven days. First, on Sunday, HBO aired an episode of Ricky Gervais' Extras that hilariously featured the 17-year-old British actor as a hypersexualized version of himself, leading to the fall-out-of-your-chair-funny moment where he asks Dame Diana Rigg if he could have his "prophylactic" back. A day later, several shirtless publicity pics of the upcoming (and of age, people!) Equus star appeared online and naturally spread like crazyfire in the blogosphere. Now, we're finally getting word of the date when we find out if HP lives or joins the 'rents in the great wizarding beyond. Quite a coincidence, no?
If Radcliffe's intent was to shake up his image, clearly he's succeeded. Personally, I think the guy's an actor and needs to lay the foundation for his post-Potter life. It's not like he's running around drunk, nude, and high through the streets of London. He's starring in a serious and admittedly adult play opposite a Tony-winning actor—the brilliant Richard Griffiths, who interestingly enough, plays his Uncle Vernon Dursley in the Potter series. And there's no way he or his parents wouldn't have anticipated the reaction he's received this week. Either way, the actor (and his happy trail) are surely making the decision-makers at Scholastic nervous. Does anyone else think the news about the final HP book release date may have been part of a not-so-crazy conspiracy to help save Radcliffe's image and keep him a magical child for just a bit longer?
Apparently, the BBC's planning a search for the "real" Harry Potter in the form of something called The Sorcerer's Apprentice, about a group of children learning magic at a boarding school. A reality show… about magic. Obviously, this called for a sure-to-be-nonsensical Friday afternoon IM chat with Slezak.
Annie: Um. Have you seen this? Slezak: Crazy! I have never read Harry Potter. Annie: Me neither! Slezak: Do we want to admit that? Annie: Hmm. Slezak: ... Annie: Okay no. Slezak: I worry it's a level of pop-cultural illiteracy that is unforgivable, And I hate myself for it. Annie: But what if you just don't like books about sorcery and/or children? That's understandable. Slezak: YES! Annie: I hate American Idol and you know it! You still talk to me. (Wirelessly.) Slezak: But I don't hate HP as much as I hate the idea of a reality show starring children. Shouldn't they, like, be taking maths and history, and not worrying about "advancing in the competition"? Annie: I know. Maybe they'll have a scary wizard tutor for that other stuff. BTW the use of the word Apprentice in the title is making my brain hurt. And I don't get how they'll "judge" the "competition." Isn't magic, like… NOT REAL? Slezak: WHO would let their kid be on this show? Annie: Idiots? What if the kid disappeared during a "challenge"? Instead of getting voted off? Ha! See ya! Slezak: Like when Elle Fanning disappeared in The Lost Room! (That kid is no Dakota, btw.) Well, THEN I'd totally watch it. That would be awesome. Annie: That would rock. Especially if he or she was annoying. And you know they're all gonna be annoying. Slezak: I liked Willy Wonka for that very reason. They should call the show When Bad Things Happen to Annoying Children. Annie: Weed 'em out! Slezak: Then I'd watch.
After teasing us with a story about how she's been dreaming about Harry Potter recently, J.K. Rowling has given her fans the best holiday present of all: the name of her seventh and final HP book! (Well, a release date for said book would be great too, but hey, I'm not complaining.) And the winner is... Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Creepy. And reinforcing of the whole "I'm going to kill off two more characters" thing. It's not exactly what I was expecting, but then, none of her titles ever are. It definitely doesn't sound PG-rated though, and I'm sure it's going to give younger readers a shock.
Almost as great as learning the new title was the method Rowling used to reveal the title on her website: through a game of hangman. This isn't just any game, however -- you must first click through a series of clues after being transported to another room courtesy of the eraser on her homepage (it's a portkey!). If you get tired of trying to navigate the clues yourself, check out this set of hints. You lazy Muggle.
The teaser-trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (July 13) flashes by in an instant, but this is what I got from it: It's darker (don't they say that about every Harry Potter movie?). It's got Sirius Black (that's gonna be my rap name, by the way). It's Helena Bonham Carter, dressed up in her usual awards-show gear. And it's got a lot more action -- not just Harry fighting Voldemort, but kissing cute-as-a-button Cho Chang. Who's excited?
This just in from the Department of Refreshingly Honest Celebrities: Daniel Radcliffe may be the face of one of the most profitable and beloved movie franchises of our time, but (hallelujah!) it doesn't seem to have turned the artist frequently known as Harry Potter into a frightening Celebumonster. Here's what he tells Newsweek magazine about his earliest film roles: "I would like to look back at them in 10 or 20 years and possibly cringe a little bit. I wasn't an actor when I was 11, really. I was just a kid having the time of his life." Sweet, right? Let's just hope Radcliffe's humility (nor his amusing self-deprecation; see his forthcoming cameo on Extras) isn't part of an ingenious PR campaign to disarm the moviegoing public before announcing his eight-figure film deal with a major studio and clothing line joint-venture with Baby Phat's Kimora Lee Simmons.
This just in from the Office of Straight-From-The-Set! Movie Buzz: Newsweek caught up with Emma Watson on the set of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and the 16-year-old actress sounded noncomittal about reprising the role of Hermione Granger for the final two installments of the blockbuster film series that made her famous. Of course, since Watson doesn't speak our language, we decided to call in a British-to-American translator (with a minor in teen lingo) to help us determine what's the big idea.
Quote: ''Every film is such a huge production, and it's a long time.'' Translation: ''I am, like, so totally over the Harry Potter look. Black robes? Neckties? Haven't these wardrobe people ever heard of Juicy Couture or Jimmy Choo?''
Quote: ''Daniel and Rupert seem so sure…'' Translation: ''Let me break it down for you: Only one of us is getting hotter with each progressive sequel. And it ain't Maggie Smith.''
Quote: ''I love to perform, but there are so many things I love doing.'' Translation: ''I'm currently in the studio with Lindsay Lohan's producers, working on my major label debut, I Belong to the Me I Am (Super Raw).''
Quote: ''I've been given such an amazing opportunity, but I'll just have to go with the flow.'' Translation: ''I am so locked in to playing Hermione till I'm 37, not even my firstborn and a kidney could get me out of it.''
OMG! Things are getting hot and heavy on the U.K. set of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, according to this breathless report, which sounds not unlike the transcript from an MTV dating show. Here's what I've learned:
1. Katie "Hot Lips" Leung (at left), who plays Cho Chang, says Daniel "Lady Killer" Radcliffe (Harry Potter) is a great kisser.
2. Daniel says they were "awkward and nervous" at first, but eventually they were fine.
3. Katie says that Daniel is "energetic and makes you feel relaxed. He talks to you all the time and tells you not to be nervous."
4. "It was great, the kissing scene was great, it was good, and it was a lot of fun," says Daniel.
5. Daniel says he and Katie got it right on "about the 30th take."
5. Members of the crew gathered around the director's monitors one day because they "needed to see" the filming of the kiss scene because Daniel is like a son to them.
6. Director David Yates: "[The crew] got quite emotional watching his first kiss, it was a very interesting experience and I wanted make it feel as real and truthful as possible. We did many, many, many takes and it’s very tender and loving."
(Ew, who the hell wrote this -- BOP's London bureau chief?)
Helena Bonham Carter, like all British thesps, is fulfilling her patriotic duty and making the long march to Hogwarts. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, she will play Sirius Black's goth cousin, the evil Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange. (Don't you sometimes get the feeling J.K. Rowling's just, I dunno, making these names up?)
Also, in case you haven't heard, Stephen King and John Irving have been cast inHarry Potter and the Dumb Debate, the prequel to Harry Potter and the Let Me Die! It's a Schiavo-like tale of two mega-authors renowned for cruelly killing off beloved characters for dramatic effect, ganging up on a third mega-author who clearly wants to do the same. Will the Boy Who Lived be downgraded to the Boy Who Made It Through Puberty, Just? And when will Gore Vidal weigh in?
In the meantime, check out Carter next week (Aug. 11) as a dour bridesmaid who hooks up with Aaron Eckhart in Conversations With Other Women.
This just in from our colleagues at The Daily Prophet:
J.K. Rowling reports that not one, but two characters will die in the seventh and final Harry Potter novel, which at this point is scheduled to be released some time before I die. For those keeping score at home, that's one dead character for each $500 million of Rowling's net worth. Rowling obviously wouldn't confirm the doomed ones' identities, but for Harry's sake, I hope her thoughts about killing off a main character were just idle chitter-chatter with the pesky press.
"I've never been tempted to kill him (Harry) off before the
end of book seven, because I always planned seven books and
that's where I want to go," the author told Britain's Channel 4. "I can completely understand, however, the mentality of an
author who thinks 'Well, I'm going to kill them off because
that means there can be no non-author-written sequels ... so it
will end with me, and after I'm dead and gone they won't be
able to bring back the character'." Gulp.
Me? I've always embraced the books' masochistic tendencies, so I'm putting my money on both Ron and Hermione to bite the eternal Floo powder in Book 7, especially considering what happened to You-Know-Who at the end of Book 6. At the end of the day, Harry is a miserable little boy, and as such, will need other deaths to brood on.
What do all you closet Potter-philes out there think?
-Britain's Empire magazine interviews the stars of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
(Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint, pictured), who say
shooting is going great with director David Yates. Or rather, so say those who've appeared on
camera so far; Jason Isaacs says he's still waiting to be asked back to
play blond-maned baddie Lucius Malfoy. Says Isaacs, ''I can't bear the
idea that somebody else would get to wear my Paris Hilton wig.'' That's
hot.
-Entertainment Tonight visits the set of Young Hannibal and chats with Gaspard Ulliel, the young French actor who's playing the cannibal-in-training. ''There are some really nasty killings, especially near the end,'' says the little Lecter's portrayer. ''The more savage it is, the more great it is,'' Uh, okay. The online report includes video, so judge for yourself whether you think Ulliel will make a worthy precursor to Anthony Hopkins.
-Empire also talks to Bourne Supremacy director Paul Greengrass, who says he's returning this summer to shoot Bourne Ultimatum. He says the story will not resemble that of the book, but he promises an even better car chase, more exciting action, and a film that's ''f---in’ classy.'' Isn't that an oxymoron?
Break out the Mr. Pibb and Red Vines: the next Chronicles of Narnia installment is now officially underway. Disney announced Wednesday that deals are in place for director Andrew Adamson and all four kids (far left) to return in Prince Caspian, in which the siblings return to Narnia and help the title character retake the realm from his usurping uncle Miraz.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. announced yesterday that filming will start next week on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, under new director David Yates, with the three young principals (left) returning, and with Vera Drake's Imelda Staunton as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Both sequels are due in 2007.
Harry Potter may be known for his way with wizardry, but he owes his success to the Grim Reaper. ''My books are largely about death,'' author J.K. Rowling says in a new interview with Tatler magazine. ''They open with the death of Harry's parents. There is Voldemort's obsession with conquering death and his quest for immortality at any price.''
Hmmm. Just thinking out loud here, but given Rowling's extraordinary success (and the massive fortune it's brought her), maybe it's time PopWatch took a darker tone, too.
My New Year's resolutions involve more frequent trips to the gym, and fewer trips to the blasted vending machine that dispenses a handful of peanut M&Ms for a quarter. This fills me with ''mingled feelings of excitement and dread,'' which means I'm just like J. K. Rowling, who said the same exact thing about writing the seventh and final installment of her Harry Potter book series in the coming months. So, PopWatch posse, do any of you happen to know Wentworth Miller's ab routine? Or better still, got any advice on how the bespectacled wizard's chronicles should end? Then, by all means, do tell!<
Pick up your pencils, young Potter-philes. Scholastic announced today that they are sponsoring a 
Forbes has put out its 
Happy birthday to Emma Watson, who turns 18 today. Which means, if her pal Daniel Radcliffe ever films a big-screen adaptation of 
In the April issue of Out magazine, Ms. Swinton is quoted as saying, "I'm loath to say anything good about going to boarding school, which
is one of the reasons why I'm not a believer in Harry Potter. Because
I believe it fetishizes boarding school for children." She was explaining why she would've turned down a role in HP. Most of you are probably thinking "whatever," whereas I feel compelled to "go there," much like The N, and have decided that despite her hangup, Tilda would make a great ambiguously evil boarding-school-marm type in a movie. I'm thinkin' a precise hybrid of Miss Hannigan from Annie and Miss Clavel from the old-school animated Madeline videos (pictured, inset). Yes? Yes!
Last week, 
The news of 
First things first: At last night's talk at New York City's Carnegie Hall — an event for thousands of young Harry Potter fans and their parents — J.K. Rowling outed the kindly headmaster. 
Warner Bros. is gloating that, with five films so far grossing $4.47 billion to date all over the world, Harry Potter is 
Okay, I just now saw 
PopWatch inappropriate crush Daniel Radcliffe
What's the most insane thing you've done trying to avoid a spoiler? (By the way, this post is spoiler-free, I promise.) Here's why I'm asking: I'm forced to remember mine every time I spy someone reading 
If you haven't finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and intend to, you better not have watched Today this morning, which featured 
If you're among the speed-reading muggles who's already gulped down J.K. Rowling's mammoth final Harry Potter book, we want to know: What burning questions do you have? Is there anything you're confused about? Any loose ends you didn't see tied up? Let us know in the comments section -- and be sure to include your e-mail address (which, of course, we won't publish) in case EW decides to tackle your query. 
(Editor's Note: This post is spoiler-free, but click on the links below at your own risk.)
"Are there any wizards out there? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?" No, PopWatchers, I'm not the one asking, Hollywood is. You'd think that the smashing debut of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix this past weekend would have studio suits launching high fives across conference-room tables Tinseltown-wide. But not so fast.
In case you haven't heard, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is already breaking box office records: an estimated $44.2 million for the biggest Wednesday opening ever, which includes about $12 million from the biggest midnight screening ever. This isn't exactly a surprise; Harry Potter making money is a bit like Tiger Woods winning golf tournaments — it's mostly just a question of how many records will be broken.
The good news: Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe turns 18 on July 23. The bad news: You already knew that. But if you're not entirely sure how guilty you should be feeling right now, then it's time to take PopWatch's very first inappropriate-crush quiz. Give yourself one point for every statement that accurately describes you -- and feel the crimson sting of shame as your score creeps toward double digits. (Warning: If you're not caught up on the books, and are freakishly spoiler-phobic, skip question No. 10.)
It’s been exactly 600 days since the last Harry Potter flick (Goblet of Fire) hit theaters -- not that this diehard fan has been counting or anything -- so needless to say, anticipation for today's release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
has been higher than a Mariah Carey glory note. Making things even more interesting, the franchise gets a new director (David Yates) and screenwriter (Contact's Michael Goldenberg), who face the tall order of bringing the longest Potter book (896 pages) to the big screen, while
staying true to the words of J.K. Rowling. EW's own Lisa Schwarzbaum calls Yates a "shrewd choice" in her B+ review of the flick (
PopWatch reader Lisa Wood writes:
It's nice to know that J.K. Rowling (pictured) will be going on a 
The release date for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (pictured) has been 
The wizards behind the Harry Potter phenomenon created quite a stir today when they released not one, not two, but three covers for J.K. Rowling's final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. For us kids of all ages who are desperate to find out how the whole shebang ends, this is quite a big day, indeed.
Harry Potter is going to die! Says author J.K. Rowling: "I'm mourning."
After teasing us with a story about how she's been dreaming about Harry Potter recently, J.K. Rowling has given her fans the best holiday present of all: the name of her seventh and final HP book! (Well, a release date for said book would be great too, but hey, I'm not complaining.) And the winner is... Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Creepy. And reinforcing of the whole "I'm going to kill off two more characters" thing. It's not exactly what I was expecting, but then, none of her titles ever are. It definitely doesn't sound PG-rated though, and I'm sure it's going to give younger readers a shock. 
The 
This just in from the Department of Refreshingly Honest Celebrities: Daniel Radcliffe may be the face of one of the most profitable and beloved movie franchises of our time, but (hallelujah!) it doesn't seem to have turned the artist frequently known as Harry Potter into a frightening Celebumonster. Here's what 
OMG! Things are getting hot and heavy on the U.K. set of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, according to 
Helena Bonham Carter, like all British thesps, is fulfilling her patriotic duty and making the long march to Hogwarts. In 
This just in from our colleagues at The Daily Prophet:
News from three of your favorite film franchises:
Break out the Mr. Pibb and Red Vines: the next Chronicles of Narnia installment is now officially underway. Disney announced Wednesday that deals are in place for director Andrew Adamson and all four kids (far left) to return in 