Castwatch: Emma Thompson Talks About Working with Kids and Animals, and More

In a new interview in today's Toronto Sun, Emma Thompson (Professor Trelawney) talks about bringing the "Nanny McPhee" children's stories to the big screen, a process that took her nine years. She also discusses childhood discipline and working with (many)Continued...

Happy Birthday, John Hurt!

Actor John Hurt (Mr. Ollivander) celebrates his 66th birthday today. Cheers!
Thanks, Diane, for the reminder.

Rankin Confirms OotP Role

As rumored and suggested, Chris Rankin (Percy) has confirmed to us (and now on his site) that he will be in Order of the Phoenix, ending a lot of speculation and wonder about whether he and his role would be in the film adaptation of the book.

Lewis and Rankin Pull Out of Show for Filming Commitments

Matthew Lewis (Neville) and Chris Rankin (Percy) have both pulled out FXShow 2006 due to filming commitments "on Harry Potter 5," the site says, suggesting Percy will be in the fifth film after much speculation that he wouldn't be.
We'll have more for you on this soon.

ThanksContinued...

Spanish HBP Cover Published Online

The cover of the Spanish translation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince may now be viewed at HarryLatino.com. As we have reported, the book will be released on February 23, 2006.
Thanks, Pablo!

JKR Donates Handwritten Item to BookAid International for Auction

We're really happy to revisit history a bit on this page, to announce J.K. Rowling has donated a handwritten, signed item to Book Aid International for its fundraising auction.
Bloomsbury Auctions of Mayfair, London, will play host to the auction, which is also supported by JeremyContinued...

Leaky Shortlisted for Yahoo! UK Entertainment Find of the Year

Well, it only took us two weeks to remember to tell you and there are only five days left to vote, but at least we're in under the deadline: Leaky is very thrilled and honored to have been chosen by a panel of judges as one of the finalists in the Yahoo! UK and Ireland 2005 FindsContinued...

HBP Book Thief Sentenced to Prison Term

In June of last year, we reported on the case of two men, who stole early copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and then tried to sell them to the tabloids. These men were later caught and arrested. Today, one of the men involved was sentenced to four - and -a half years in jail for his involvementContinued...

Goblet of Fire Receives Three BAFTA Nominations

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was nominated today for three BAFTA awards. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts are recognizing the fourth Harry Potter film in the categories of" Achievements in Special Visual Effects", "Production Design", and "MakeupContinued...

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to be Released in Paperback July 25 in US, Canada

Scholastic, the American publishers of Harry Potter, announced this morning, in a release sent to TLC, that the American edition of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will come out in paperback on July 25, 2006. This 2 million-book print run willContinued...

Potter Actors Receive Olivier Award Nominations

Three Harry Potter cast members have been nominated for Laurence Olivier Awards, the most prestigious theater awards in the U.K. Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursley) received a nomination for Best Actor in a Play for Heroes, which was also nominated for Best Play. David Bradley (Argus Filch)Continued...

HP News Widget Now Available for Windows; Floo Search Widget Now Available, Period!

Chris Chang has been up to it again: you can now have a Harry Potter News Widget on your Windows or Mac machine (please note you will need the latest version of Konfabulator/Yahoo Widget software, whether on Mac or Windows. The Dashboard version is still availableContinued...

PotterCast #22: Part One of the Arthur Levine Interview and More

PotterCast #22 is now available for download!

In this show:
-The first part of our interview with Arthur Levine, editor of the American Editions of the Harry Potter books. We set the record straight (finally!) on how Harry Potter crossed the shore to America, why Scholastic went withContinued...

GoF is Now One of Top 10 Grossers of All Time

Box Office Mojo reports that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has entered the list of Top 10 Worldwide Grossers of All Time, in the tenth spot with $867.2M. CoS is in eighth place with $876.7M and SS/PS is in third with $976.5. PoA is not in the top ten, but appears on the list in the sixteenthContinued...

Luna Lovegood Auditions Update: Down to 400 Candidates

Newsround has a new update on the audition process for the role of Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The report says that after Saturdays open call where some 15,000 girls auditioned, the filmmakers have narrowed the field down to 400 girls in the next step to castingContinued...