Two bits from EW this week: “CASTING: Gosford Park star Michael Gambon, 62, is negotiating to play Dumbledore in Warner Bros. Harry Potter franchise. “They’ve offered, and he wants to do it,” says his agent. Gambon would replace Richard Harris, who died in October. The third film in the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner …read more!

The probability that the holder of the copyright on the Harry Potter books will sue the Russian publishers of books featuring Tanya Grotter is considered to be very strong, according to this article from Hoover’s Online. A final decision on whether or not to initiate litigation will be made on 13 January.

To go along with our earlier post about “The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter”, Team Nimbus – 2003 announced today that Dr. Roger Highfield has agreed to be another featured guest speaker at Nimbus – 2003! Dr. Highfield is the science editor for the Daily Telegraph and is the author of the book, The Science …read more!

According to this article from MTV news, Gary Oldman has been offered the role of Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. “They’ve asked him to do ‘Harry Potter’ and I know he’s really seriously looking at it,” said Oldman’s manager, Douglas Urbanski, who stressed that a deal has yet to be …read more!

From The Cincinnati Enquirer comes this article on upcoming book, The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter – Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon, which is being called the “first book-length analysis of Potter adventures from a broad range of perspectives: literature, folklore, psychology, sociology and popular culture.”

SeanBiggerstaff.com had this to say regarding the circulating rumours that he’s not slated for PoA: We have received a number of inquires as to Sean and his position with the upcoming Prisoner of Azkaban movie. There have been rumours circulating that Sean will not be returning as Oliver Wood. Please understand that rumours are exactly …read more!

We’re thrilled to be one of the four (current) fansites mentioned in Australia’s NetGuideWeb Magazine. Jenna’s Unofficial Harry Potter Fan Club was also mentioned, although she pulled it down in November, and we take this opportunity to say best wishes to her in her future endeavours (and that she should email us if she has …read more!

Nimbus – 2003 is thrilled to announce that until January 15, 2003 (11:59 pm, US Pacific Standard Time), registrations for Nimbus – 2003, the first international Harry Potter symposium (July 17 – 20, 2003 in Orlando, Florida) can be paid via PayPal. This is a limited time offer, and is only available to those who …read more!

A report from the Bloomberg.co.uk website states that “Bloomsbury Publishing Plc said it hopes to publish Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth book of the series on the boy wizard, in July. Bloomsbury will agree on a release date with other publishers, which include Scholastic Corp. in the U.S., after author …read more!

The IMDB says: The family of late Irish actor Richard Harris are urging the makers of Harry Potter to pass the part of Professor Dumbledore to his drinking friend Peter O’Toole. …Harris’ brother Noel says, “Dicky (Richard) made the role his own. He will be a hard act to follow. Peter was a great, great …read more!