A Magical Mid-Week Round-Up!

Mar 01, 2017

Posted by: Dawn Johnson

Bonham Carter, Charity, Davis, Events, Fans, Fantastic Beasts, Fantastic Beasts Movie, Fiennes, Films, HP Cast, J.K. Rowling, Kravitz, Lumos, Movies, News, Trailers, Waterston, Watson

There never seems to be a shortage of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts news, and this week is no exception. So here’s a mid-week update on exciting developments in the wizarding world, including a new Alien: Covenant trailer featuring Katherine Waterston, a new Beauty and the Beast featurette with Emma Watson, news of magical contributions to Lego Batman, a special event appearance by Helena Bonham Carter, and a meeting between Warwick Davis and a member of his Little People UK community.

Since you’re all probably on the edge of your seats already, we’ll dive into the most frightening suspenseful news of the lot, the new trailer for the sci-fi horror film, Alien: Covenant, starring Waterston. Though she’s known to Potter fans as the law-abiding demoted-Auror, Tina, in Fantastic Beasts, here she plays Daniels, another strong female leader following in the footsteps of her predecessors, Sigourney Weaver (Alien) and Noomie Rapace (Prometheus).

Waterston on set of Alien: Covenant

Waterston on set of Alien: Covenant

Chronologically, Alien: Covenant takes place after the Alien films, while serving as a prequel to Prometheus. This signals a return to the tone and style of the original films and, for fans of Ridley Scott’s chilling alien saga, this is thrilling news. Theyoungfolks.com reports that this second trailer vividly demonstrates that Scott is conjuring up those cinematic roots. The site describes the film as follows:

“The new trailer details the adventure of a colonization crew (comprised entirely of couples) landing on a distant planet. They find some very suspicious things: wheat, no forms of wildlife, and a giant spaceship that has more horrifying secrets inside than they could ever imagine…[there’s] eggs, face-huggers, sweaty people running down spaceship hallways, convulsing bodies on the verge of death, blood, and people holding guns while trying to find something horrifying…The Covenant trailer seems to allude that humans have been in this location before the new crew have arrived (hence the wheat), the ship that they find on the planet seems to have been inhabited before them, and Waterston’s character manages to find a set of dog tags on the ship.”

Check out the trailer and see what you make of these mysterious and heart-stopping discoveries.

Alien: Covenant is set to release in theaters May 19th. Also view the photo Leaky recently posted of the cast!

Now if you need something to call you back from that terrifying experience, we’ve come across a delightful featurette of Emma Watson, our beloved Hermione Granger, who’s starring in the upcoming live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast as Belle.

The clip gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the designing of Belle’s iconic costumes, including the peasant dress and the classic gold ball gown. We also get at teaser of the scene from the film in which the wardrobe tries to make Belle presentable for dinner with the Beast.

If that’s not enough for you, check out some other clips of the highly-anticipated film covered by Leaky here. They include a brief cut of Belle’s opening walk through the village–Watson singing all the way!–and an amusing clip of Belle’s introduction to the Beast’s ghastly table manners. The film opens in theaters March 17th.

Moving from an enchanted world to one that might appear less so, we can report that the film Lego Batman has more magic about it than you might have realized! Leaky already covered the involvement of Ralph Fiennes (Alfred) and Zoe Kravitz (Selina Kyle) in the film, which opened in U.S. and UK theaters February 10th.

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But one of the bigger surprises was the inclusion of Voldemort, voiced by Eddie Izzard. Edinburgh News reports that JK Rowling, author and creator of the Harry Potter series and Fantastic Beasts book and screenplays, contributed to the actual dialogue used in the film. Director Chris McKay said in an interview:

“Voldemort plays a bigger role in this one. It was all really positive and helpful. I can’t say enough good things about working with her.”

Her involvement in all things seems to be charmed, so it’s no surprise the film is doing so well!

One production that may receive less global attention than these blockbusters, but shows just as much creativity–if not more heart!–included a series of performances put on by the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School to celebrate the end of their South African student exchange program.

Eleven students and three teachers from Ntafufu Senior Secondary School participated in the exchange, arranged by the charity, Broaden Out Their Horizons. Helena Bonham Carter, infamous for her portrayal of Bellatrix Lestrange, is a patron of the charity and attended the event.

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The Islington Gazette quoted managing director Andrew Shelton as saying:

“I really thought the event encapsulated the power of the great work that you guys do. You have unquestionably changed the lives of those kids forever.”

What an amazing story about an incredible charity! We’re proud, yet again, to name one of its supporters as our own, which, happily, happens all the time since the Harry Potter alums are so generously involved in countless charities and foundations.

Leaky recently posted on a visit Warwick Davis, our Professor Flitwick, made to Moldova in partnership with JK Rowling’s charity, Lumos. And just a few days ago, Davis met with members of Little People UK, a charity he and his wife founded. Davis is president and patron while his wife serves as its chair. It aims to improve the lives of those with dwarfism by providing information and a support community. It’s the community, though, that seems to mean the most to its members.

Spalding Today reported on one family, in particular, and their lovely daughter, Jessica Ward, 11. Her mum, Laura, said:

“Families like [ours] would feel totally isolated if they had no one to turn to and Little People UK provides a ready made community where they can share problems or simply chat with people who understand.”

Jessica, who has come close to dying due to complications associated with hydrocephalus and now perseveres through other continuing health issues, is grateful for the support and encouragement. She said:

“When I feel down about myself, I have always got Little People UK…You get to meet new friends. I made two new friends at the last weekend – Jessica and Callie – and I chat to them on Snapchat.”

Davis met with them personally and posed for a photo (unavailable, unfortunately) in front of her dad Carl’s long-haul truck. The cab was recently painted over with a tribute to Little People UK and to his daughter. Her name, Jessica Jane, appears in a beautiful script alongside the Little People UK logo. Davis reportedly said he hopes the special cab will help introduce the charity to many who could benefit from it.

You can help support this charity by attending their next event on March 19th, a showcase at Melton Theatre featuring local talent and hosted by Davis! Visit the Little People UK website for ticket information.

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We love the magic of film, but don’t forget this is the real everyday magic of our fandom, celebrating people in all their uniqueness, wherever they’re from!

 

 





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.