135 days until Order of the Phoenix is released!
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JK
Rowling's fame spoils her cafe culture
The
Scotsman has a few excerpts of an interview with JKR where she talks about
her ideal writing place.
"My ideal writing space is a large cafe with a small corner table near a
window overlooking an interesting street (for gazing out of in search of
inspiration). It would serve very strong coffee and be non-smoking (because
I’ve now given up for two years and don’t want to be tempted) and nobody
would notice me at all. But I can’t write in cafes any more because I would
get recognized a lot."
Japanese scientist
develops invisibility cloak
Newsround
has a story about a Japanese scientist who has developed a invisibility 'coat'
similar to Harry's. Using a complex systems of viewfinders, the coat makes the
wearer semi-invisible. Professor Susumu Tachi is hoping to design one that makes
the user completely see through in the future.
A new Russian Harry Potter
parody
From Interfax:
Russia has seen another parody on the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling,
titled Porry Hatter and the Stone Philosopher. The parody was written by Andrei
Zhvanlevsky and Igor Mytko, Belarussian authors of shows broadcast on Russian
television, and published by the Vremya publishing house.
"As for the second imitation of Harry Potter, this book is a real parody
created according to all canons of the parody genre. It deliberately grotesquely
describes adventures of Porry Hatter, a negative double of Harry Potter, who
finds himself in an unusual magic family," said Natalya Dolgova of the
Rosman publishing house, the copyright-holder of the Harry Potter books in
Russia.
Rupert signed up for GoF?
The IMDb has updated to
include Rupert Grint as part of the confirmed cast of the fourth movie, Goblet
of Fire. Keep in mind that while the IMDb is a good source, it isn't always
correct, and this is still just a rumor.
Thanks, Rory, for the tip-off.
Cinesite wins PoA contract
UEmedia.com:
Cinesite Europe announced that the company has won a major contract for the
models and miniatures on the forthcoming Harry Potter installment, "Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." Warner Bros. has subcontracted
Cinesite with all the model unit construction and miniature photography.
Construction work will begin immediately on models of the Hogwarts and Privet
Drive, and on other major structures for the film. The build will continue until
early May at Shepperton Studios workshops. Photography is scheduled to run from
early June into early September.
Thanks to Counting
Down.
More DVD details
Thanks to G.V. Linares of the Brazilian HP site Harry
Potter O Filme for sending a more specific list of features from the back of
the Australian DVD (which will probably be mostly the same as the US DVD). Some
we know about, some we don't:
Over 16 Minutes Of Additional Scenes!
3 IPIX 360° Tours
Spell-Caster Knowledge Game
Interview With J.K. Rowling
Gilderoy Lockhart's Classroom
Interviews With Hogwarts' Professors, Staff and Students
Gallery Of Production Sketches
7 Challenges
EA Video Game Demo
Build-A-Scene Featurette
Spiders Screensaver
Printable 3-D Great Hall, Maze & Folding Posters
Theatrical Trailers
And More!
Decision due on Rupert's
delayed website
CBBC
Newsround:
Rupert's dad Nigel has told Newsround that a final decision on whether to go
ahead with the website will be made
over the next few weeks.
"At the moment we don't know where to go with it," Nigel said.
"We're aware that the fans are waiting for something to happen - but we
don't want to have the same old stuff you can get elsewhere. We want to make it
a bit of fun - and a bit silly."
The idea for Rupert's official site first came up about a year ago - after the
release of the first Potter film. Rupert's dad said he was keen to have Rupert's
"actual involvement" on the website.
The Vatican gives Harry
thumbs up
Reuters:
The question of whether J.K. Rowling's books and the films on the boy wizard
have a positive influence came up at a news conference on Monday where the
Vatican presented a document on "New Age" spirituality, which contain
elements of the occult.
"I don't think that any of us grew up without the imaginary world of
fairies, magicians, angels and witches," said Father Peter Fleetwood, a
Vatican official who worked on the document.
"They are not bad or a banner for anti-Christian ideology. They help
children understand the difference between good and evil," he said in
response to a reporter's question.
The Chat Event
Thanks to all of those who came to our chat tonight! We hope to see all of you
and more at the next chat!
Amazon's 'Lucky Muggle
certificate'
Amazon.com
is offering a new promotion. If you pre-order Order of the Phoenix you'll get
access to a 'Lucky Muggle certificate' in your 'Digital Library' (usually used
for e-books, software downloads, etc.).
Strangely, there aren't any details on it. Thanks, Mike, for bringing it to my
attention.
EDIT: It's a certificate saying that you're a 'lucky muggle' because you
have a copy reserved for you. Can anybody say lame? Thanks, Terry, for
sending me a screenshot.
Harry weaves magic to make
Matthew's dreams come true
A medical consultant has arranged for the showing
of Chamber of Secrets after hearing how Kenley (UK) schoolboy Matthew Sharp
was distraught at not being able to watch it on the big screen because of his
rare medical condition, Tourette Syndrom.
JKR: I'm putting baby
before Harry
From The Sunday Herald:
It is the newest chapter in the Harry Potter saga. JK Rowling is to put her new
baby before her books, it was revealed yesterday. In a clear sign that baby
comes first, the heavily pregnant writer said she will do far less promotional
work for her new volume, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix.
[Goblet of Fire's] publication sparked a publicity frenzy, with Rowling
embarking on a whirlwind four-day tour of Britain in a hired steam locomotive
that doubled as the Hogwarts Express. In a visit to Canada and the US she
autographed up to 1400 books in one day. The experience, Rowling said later, had
left her exhausted.
Rowling's child will be just three months old when the next Harry Potter
adventure arrives in the shops in June. The announcement of her scaled-down
publicity schedule was initially placed on the publisher's website, but later
removed. A spokesman for the author said there would be 'no formal comment' on
her publicity timetable.
A publishing insider said: 'The baby will only be three months old when the book
is published and, like any new mother, she wants to enjoy the time. She will not
be touring, nor doing any of the lengthy signings she has done in the past. She
has said it's a very important time for her and [husband] Neil, and they want to
spend as much of it as they can with the baby and [her daughter] Jessica.'
Rowling would restrict her publicity work to 'some interviews' and 'a few
high-profile appearances'.
A Few Renovations
As some of you may have noticed the other day, we added two new fonts to the
fonts section and gave them their own page. The same has now been done with the
Music (formerly Songs) section that was under the 'Downloads' link, but no new
songs have been added. However, as a benefit to you, the users, we have uploaded
WMA (Windows Media Audio) format versions of the songs, which are around half
the size of the MP3 files, and require half the time to download.
Also, you may have noticed that the 'Contact Us' page was down for about an hour
recently. This was due to the page being completely taken down and
reconstructed. You'll find the links have been changed from 'Contact Us' to
'Feedback' at the top and bottom of every page. The feedback form has been
updated with some new options, and also, some of the most frequently asked
quesitons have been answered above the form, for those of you who have asked and
not received a response (including a question regarding the Fan Fiction section
of the site). Go over to Feedback
to see some of the new questions if you like, or to make a submission to
MuggleNet.
Thoughts for the crew of
Columbia
Please would all readers take a few minutes silence in thought for the crew who
tragically lost their lives in the Columbia disaster. Remember them not for how
they died, but for their heroism in joining the space age. May their names be
written down and recorded. Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, Michael P.
Anderson, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Ilan Ramon and Laurel Clark: we honour
you on this fateful day.
John
Williams might not score PoA
JWfan.net
has posted the transcript of a Q&A with John Williams where he says that he
isn't signed up to do the score for the third movie:
The next Harry Potter film will probably be going to someone else. At the
Q&A session after Thursday night's DC concert, Williams was asked about it
and he said it wasn't on his agenda, "although things could change."
Thanks to Tim for the tip-off.
Posted by Emerson
on 01/29/03 | Comments - post/view
| send
to a friend | submit news
Partial UK OotP cover
Surfing around the Bloomsbury
web site, I found that they've updated it to include a partial cover of the
UK edition:
Thanks to Potterish for the vague hint
about the cover on the site.
Posted by Emerson
on 01/29/03 | Comments - post/view
| send
to a friend | submit news
Bloomsbury's OotP FAQ
Bloomsbury
has posted a list of Frequently Asked Questions about book 5:
Will it be published in the UK and USA on the same day?
Yes it will be published on the same day in both countries.
Can I order the special edition version?
This will not be published until October 2003 so you cannot currently place
orders for it, but keep an eye on our web site where it will be available for
order closer to the time. A special edition boxed set of all 5 books will also
be published at the same time.
Will JK Rowling be doing any signings for the publication of the fifth book?
Probably not, however, should any events be announced, the details will be
posted on this web site.
Thanks to The Leaky Cauldron for
the link.
Posted by Emerson
on 01/29/03 | Comments - post/view
| send
to a friend | submit news
About the Cho Chang rumors
I really couldn't phrase this any better then they already have at The
Leaky Cauldron:
We've had a few emails, and seen some livejournal postings, over the past day
or so, that look like CNN pages where such-and-such actor has been cast in PoA,
or stating more lines from Order of the Phoenix, or even reporting such-and-such
actor has died.
If you see, or are sent the url for, a "front page" from CNN, it might
be the product of http://spo0fed.com/, which also might show 66.111.43.11 as the
begining of the url. It's always best to check here to see if we're reporting on
something HP-related, or take a look at cnn.com, news.yahoo.com, or another
reputable source, when you see a shocking or unexpected news report at a site
containing either of those urls.
A link to one of the fake CNN articles can be found here(thanks
Nessie), but I wouldn't advise going as it's loaded with popups and spyware. As
you can see, everything except the actual article is exactly like the CNN
website.
Definitely off-topic, but I just thought I'd re-state that BoA has not
been offered the role of Cho Chang. I originally posted this right before the
book 5 release date announcement and I guess many of you must have missed it.
Posted by Emerson
on 01/28/03 | Comments - post/view
| send
to a friend | submit news
Take a tour of The Burrow
The
Official Site has updated to include a VR tour of The Burrow from the
Chamber of Secrets movie. Thanks, Jai.
Posted by Emerson
on 01/28/03 | Comments - post/view
| send
to a friend | submit news
Important Notice
I'm well aware that this is no way related to Harry Potter, but I have a simple
request of you, the fans: Please remove the staff@mugglenet.com staff_mugglenet@earthlink.net
and any other mass e-mail addresses from your address books (i.e. the addresses
for song parodies, fan fictions). These addresses receive quite a bit of mail as
is, but many of your computers are infected with a virus which is continually
sent to these addresses because they've been added to your address book. I
haven't found the time yet to personally contact each person that has sent me
one, but there are places to get help.
The most common viruses that are being sent are the W32.Klez and W32.Yaha e-mail
worms, and you can find removal tools for your computer here:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html
On another side note, please do not send e-mail to staff@mugglenet.com, as it
isn't accepting all messages that are sent to it, so it isn't being checked
often as a result. Please use the feedback form on the Contact
Us page. Thank you for your cooperation in this issue.
Posted by Damon
on 01/28/03 | Comments - post/view
| send
to a friend | submit news
Harry Potter books to be
published in Welsh
Get the details at This
Is South Wales. Thanks to padfooter for the link.
Posted by Emerson
on 01/28/03 | Comments - post/view
| send
to a friend | submit news
CoS at the AOL Moviegoer
Awards
Lots of nominations at the AOL
Moviegoer Awards:
Best Picture - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Best Actor - Daniel Radcliffe
Best Supporting Actor -
Kenneth Branagh
Rupert Grint
Richard Harris
Best Supporting Actress - Emma Watson
Best Director - Chris Columbus
Most Unforgettable Scene - Harry beats the Basilisk
Winners are picked by the public, so click
here to vote.
Posted by Emerson
on 01/28/03 | Comments - post/view
| send
to a friend | submit news
Chamber of Secrets 3rd
highest-grossing film of all time
Screendaily:
With an estimated international gross of $568.2m, Harry Potter And The
Chamber Of Secrets has overtaken Jurassic Park as the third highest grossing
international release of all time. The family sequel took $7.1m over the weekend
and just over one million admissions from 4,000 screens in 53 territories,
according to studio estimates. The new total puts it behind second-placed Harry
Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone on $649.59m and Titanic, which leads the
all-time international box office on $1.2bn. Warner Bros has projected a number
one opening in China for Chamber Of Secrets, on a par with its predecessor. New
reporting systems in the territory, along with rampant video piracy and poor
weather in Shanghai, have delayed accurate figures for China.
Posted by Emerson
on 01/28/03 | Comments - post/view
| send
to a friend | submit news
Mac Harry Potter game due
out in February
MacCentral:
First unveiled to Mac gamers who attended Macworld Conference & Expo in
San Francisco earlier this month, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is due
out in February. The game is now available for pre-order on Aspyr's Web site.
At its core, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 3D, third-person
action game. You control Harry as he and his friends explore the grounds of
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Players take the Weasley's flying
car to Hogwarts, face the horrible Whomping Willow, explore the Forbidden
Forest, fly a magic broom in Quidditch, the fast-paced arena sport of witches
and wizards, overcome foes like Aragog the giant spider and the deadly basilisk,
and much more.
HP tops
list of most challenged books for the fourth year in a row
No surprise here:
The Harry Potter series tops the list
of books most challenged in 2002, according to the American Library
Association's (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom. The series drew complaints
from parents and others concerned about the books' focus on wizardry and magic.
This is the fourth year in a row that Harry Potter has been at the top of the
list.
Chamber
of Secrets gets 3 BAFTA nominations
Chamber of Secrets was nominated in 3 categories at the Orange British Academy
Film of the Year Awards. CoS is up for Production Design (Stuart Craig),
Achievement in Special Visual Effects and Sound. Check out the full list at icLiverpool.
Harry
Potter Ecstasy pills seized
Sydney
Morning Herald:
Harry Potter's image was stamped on Ecstasy pills smuggled to the US to
target children as young as 12, police said today. New York detectives
discovered 400,000 of the tablets imprinted with the young wizard's face and
pictures of cartoon characters, including the Smurfs and the Flintstones.
"These Harry Potter brands are targeting a young audience," said
Anthony Plasido, a special agent with the US Drug Enforcement Agency.
I should have posted this when I first saw it earlier this week, but better late
then never. A picture of these pills can be found here,
just so you'll be able to indentify them in the unlikely event you come across
them.
Indignant
Russians object to President's elfin double
"How dare the
mean bourgeois mock our President?" wrote "Denis," posting on a
newsgroup about Putin. "That domestic elf masochist . . . externally
reminds me very much of Putin."
If Mr. Putin's poll numbers can be taken seriously, so can those compiled by
CBBC, a children's Web site run by the British Broadcasting Corp. With almost
5,500 votes cast as of last night, 54 per cent saw the resemblance between Dobby
and the President.
"Who can help it if Putin looks like a house elf? I pity Dobby!"
posted "Laura," a visitor to http://www.mugglenet.com.
Others, however, failed to see any resemblance at all. "Give me a break! My
word, Putin may be ugly but he is no Dobby and that's a fact!" wrote
"Crystal," another MuggleNet patron. "With all the problems
Russia has, you think they would be focusing on something a lot more serious
than that!"
Why WB
hasn't confirmed Oldman as Sirius yet
FilmJerk.com:
One casting agent, who spoke on the condition he be identified only by
"Nil by Mouth" (an apparent nod to the actor's first directorial
effort in 1997) said, "Oldman's deal is already signed, as of at least ten
days ago. He has the time in his schedule blocked out for the film (this can be
verified by IMDB, as no 2003 or 2004 releases other than the third "Harry
Potter" installment is on his slate there), and he's ready to head back to
London, where I believe he was born. I think this is going to be a great fit for
Oldman."
"The reason the studio is not publicly acknowledging he has been cast is
press strategy. They're going to do a slow burn on the casting announcements for
the remaining characters, including Dumbledore, until they hit production time.
They want to publicly maximize these announcements, and are most likely
coordinating around last week's news about the fifth book in the series. Any
press-smart studio with this kind of franchise will do this sometimes, as this
is a business, first and foremost. Add in that "Chamber of Secrets" is
still playing on over 1,000 screens right now and the DVD announced to be
hitting in April. With a director unknown to most audiences, they're playing up
as much as they can right. They're doing it smart."
CoS
DVD cover
DavisDVD has what appears to be the Chamber of Secrets widescreen DVD cover.
Check it out here.
More on
the CoS DVD
Check out the official press release with feature list here.
Casting
confirmations
Newsround
confirms that David Thewlis is to play Lupin and Jim Tavares will be Tom, the
bartender of The Leaky Cauldron.
Thanks To Mugglenet for this news.
