‘Licensing 2001‘, a major showbiz merchandise and trade show, is kicking off today at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York. In a preview article, The Hollywood Reporter writes: Warner Bros.’ “Harry Potter” remains a supernatural force to be reckoned with despite some early sniping about weakness in product sales. In fact, some of …read more!

Santa Monica-based company ‘Intervisual Books’ will produce two interactive books based on the Harry Potter novels. In a press release, the company announced contracts from the U.K., Germany, Holland, France, Spain, Poland and Japan. The first book, “Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone” deluxe pop-up book, brings to life as never before a lavish visual …read more!

BBC’s Newsround spoke with Rupert Grint on the set of his new movie “Thunderpants” about his role in Harry Potter. “On Harry Potter there were loads of people rushing around. Thunderpants is smaller, it has less special effects.” But does he get to fly in either movie? “I don’t actually get on a broomstick,” reveals …read more!

Reader Jonathan mentioned that he was reading a book about haunted locations and came across a description of Glamis Castle in Scotland which mentions poltergeist activity (Peeves, anyone?), the “Grey Lady” ghost haunting it (you might remember she is the ghost for Ravenclaw), and a secret chamber in which a horrible monster resides that is …read more!

Dark Horizons has just posted a more clear picture of the 2nd teaser poster.

Parody T-Shirts which poke fun at the US covers for Sorcerer’s Stone and Goblet of Fire are available from BIG DOGS. The Sorcerer’s Stone shirt shows a messy-haired bespectacled dog on a broomstick, about to catch a flying bone, and the Goblet of Fire shirt shows five dogs – the four champion, and an edited …read more!

On June 1st, I made mention of a review of Nancy Stouffer’s books from the Barnes & Noble Web site that while apparently written by an “F.J. Lauver”, I claimed was written by Stouffer herself. Reader Nicholas Hutchinson found an article at the Unofficial Harry Potter Fan Club that mentions Fred Lauver as the first …read more!

A faithful reader just sent us this Theatrical Marketing Calendar from Warner Bros. for the Harry Potter movie. It’s a bit old and the date says “Plan as of 02/01” but I thought it gives a good overview of what’s going on. You’ll notice the next trailer is due out in July – in late …read more!

Harry Potter may soon become the world’s biggest cartoon character. The Sunday Mirror reports today that J.K. Rowling has been holding secret talks with US giant Marvel Comics. Joanne, 35, recently met Marvel’s new editor-in-chief Joe Quesada at her Edinburgh home. They discussed creating a new comic book series based on the schoolboy wizard as …read more!

As Ananova reports today, JK Rowling has missed out on the top prize in this year’s Children’s Book Award. She was beaten by Kes Gray and his book “Eat Your Peas”. But “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” won a prize in the longer novel category.