In answering a fan letter about the possibility of his playing Dumbledore, Sir Ian McKellen had this to say (dated Jan 11, 2003): Dear concerned mailer, I have not been offered Dumbledore but another knight is considering it. Best wishes From the actor who plays Gandalf for God’s sake, Ian McKellen In case you were …read more!

Thanks Lia, for pointing us to this article in the Observer-Eccentric about a young Michigan teen who has just had her first book published, and got her start in the HP fanfic world. Aimée Carter – congratulations, and please contact us if you can – we’d love to interview your talented self. 🙂 Edit: Carter’s …read more!

SoFanatic has uploaded a scan of an article about Tom Felton, but we’re not sure which publication it’s from. Thanks to Courtney Beth for letting us know about the article – but if anyone knows where it comes from, please do tell us! The site seems to be down for the moment – but check …read more!

Hi all – we’ve just received word from Book Aid International – fantastic word – that the $23,000 donation you all made happen is going to provide 11,000 books for readers in the developing world. Please take this moment to pat yourselves heartily on the back. We have authorized the use of the money for …read more!

One of the main supporters of the (valiant, if unsuccessful) fan campaign to get actor Jason Carter cast as Sirius Black has written to inform us that a conversation with WB’s PoA casting office yielded the quote, “The part’s on offer, it’s gone.” They did not say who it went to, did not say a …read more!

The Hollywood Reporter has posted a piece in which Alfonso Cuaron talks HP3: “I don’t know if ‘dark’ is the word for it because there’s a great deal of humor (in the third tale),” Cuaron says. “I would say that rather than going into darker territory, it goes into more emotional territory. Because the characters …read more!

According to Alex Fung’s Film Page, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets has been nominated for six Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards: Best Ensemble Acting; Best Live Action Family Film; Best Costume Design; Best Visual Effects; Best Makeup; and Best Performance By A Youth In A Leading or Supporting Role – Female (Emma Watson)

According to an article in The Scotsman, JKR’s lawyers are paying close attention to homosexually explicit fanfic, more commonly termed “slash” [before the term became over- and misused to denotate every possible romantic pairing or batting of an eyelash within the books, that is – and it should be noted that the general definition of …read more!

This is not confirmation, but our reader Sara tells us that Book V is being listed on the Barnes & Noble employee database as available on none other than Harry’s birthday, July 31, 2003 – and seems to be accepting pre-orders. Again, this sounds like a “safe” date that can change at any moment (the …read more!

We’ve been hearing of new advertisements in various newspapers for CoS, including this one from Australia. If you’ve seen anything new in your local papers, please scan it in and let us know, so we can add it to the fandom’s collection.