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.

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!