the Cast

Cast

Daniel Radcliffe … Harry Potter
Emma Watson … Hermione Granger
Rupert Grint … Ron Weasley
Michael Gambon … Albus Dumbledore
Alan Rickman … Severus Snape
Helena Bonham Carter … Bellatrix Lestrange
Jim Broadbent … Horace Slughorn
Robbie Coltrane … Rubeus Hagrid
Timothy Spall … Peter Pettigrew
David Thewlis … Remus Lupin
Maggie Smith … Minerva McGonagall
Julie Walters … Molly Weasley
Mark Williams … Arthur Weasley
Tom Felton … Draco Malfoy
Evanna Lynch … Luna Lovegood
Matthew Lewis … Neville Longbottom
Katie Leung … Cho Chang
James Phelps … Fred Weasley
Oliver Phelps … George Weasley
Natalia Tena … Nymphadora Tonks
Bonnie Wright … Ginny Weasley
David Bradley … Argus Filch
Warwick Davis … Filius Flitwick
Ralph Fiennes … Lord Voldemort
Helen McCrory … Narcissa Malfoy
Jessie Cave … Lavender Brown
Richard Griffiths … Uncle Vernon Dursley
Hero Fiennes-Tiffin … Tom Riddle - Age 11
Dave Legeno … Fenrir Greyback
Fiona Shaw … Petunia Dursley
Robert Knox … Marcus Belby
Gemma Jones … Madam Pomfrey
Freddie Stroma … Cormac McLaggen
Frank Dillane … Teenage Tom Riddle
Alfie Enoch … Dean Thomas
Georgina Leonidas … Katie Bell
Devon Murray … Seamus Finnigan
River George … Laurasia
Shefali Chowdhury … Parvati Patil
Scarlett Byrne … Pansy Parkinson
Jamie Waylett … Vincent Crabbe
Afshan Azad … Padma Patil
Anna Shaffer … Romilda Vane
Josh Herdman … Gregory Goyle
Tom Moorcroft … Regulus Black
Tony Coburn … Young Lucius Malfoy
Ralph Ineson … Amycus Carrow
William Melling … Nigel
Louis Cordice … Blaise Zabini
Suzanne Toase … Alecto Carrow
Isabella Laughland … Leanne
Charlie Bennison … Sanguini
Johnpaul Castrianni … Yaxley
Amelda Brown … Mrs. Cole
Teresa Mahoney … Sofie
Nina Voelker … Wendy Slinkhard
Dean Garnham … Slytherin Student
Rod Hunt … Thorfinn Rowle
Martin Ballantyne … Scary Face (uncredited)
Philippa Burt … Slughorn’s Portrait (uncredited)
Elliot Francis … SlugClub Member / 6th year student (uncredited)
Sam Gaukroger … Hogwarts Student (uncredited)
Olivia Jewson … Slug-Club Member (uncredited)
Guy Mannerings … Slugclub Member (uncredited)
Dean Mitchell … Slug-Club Wizard (uncredited)
Stephen Modell … Feather Wizard (uncredited)
Paul Warren … Diagon Alley Wizard (uncredited)
Chris Wilson … Yak Man - Daily Prophet (uncredited)

The Actors

Find out about the actors in the Harry Potter films by clicking on the links on this page.

Alan Rickman
Bonnie Wright
Brendan Gleeson
Chris Rankin
Christian Coulson
Clémence Poésy
Dan Radcliffe
David Bradley
David Thewlis
Devon Murray
Emma Thompson
Emma Watson
Evanna Lynch
Fiona Shaw
Frances de la Tour
Gary Oldman
Harry Melling
Helena Bonham Carter
Helen McCrory
Hugh Mitchell
Ian Hart
Imelda Staunton
Jamie Waylett
Jason Isaacs
Jim Broadbent
John Cleese
John Hurt
Joshua Herdman
Julie Walters
Katie Leung
Kenneth Branagh
Maggie Smith
Mark Williams
Matt Lewis
Michael Gambon
Miranda Richardson
Natalia Tena
Other Gryffindors
Others
Pam Ferris
The Phelps Twins
Ralph Fiennes
Richard Griffiths
Richard Harris
Robbie Coltrane
Robert Hardy
Robert Pattinson
Rupert Grint
Stanislav Ianevski
Timothy Spall
Tom Felton
Warwick Davis Jessie Cave
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London Half-Blood Prince Preview Screenings July 7

The CTBF are holding preview screenings of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on July 7, the same night as the premiere.

The screenings are being held for charity at the following areas:

• Vue cinema, Leicester Square
• Apollo Cinema, Picadilly
• Odeon cinema, Covent garden

They begin at 8pm. Tickets are available on a first come first served basis (maximum 8 tickets per booker).via

Felton on Being a Git and Beating Up Harry Potter

Tom Felton, who portrays Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, recently spoke to Reader’s Digest about filming Half-Blood Prince. In the interview, he talks about how he gets to break Harry’s nose, act like a git, his fellow-co-stars, and the fans.

Here are some excerpts:

“This was the first film where I was involved in the filming from start to finish and got to work closely with actors like Michael Gambon,” he says. “You have a certain sympathy for Draco because he’s just a child whose father Lucius has been in prison and has a huge mental battle with the task he’s been given. But this time he doesn’t just express his fragility by calling Harry an idiot. He breaks his nose.” Tom warms to his theme. “Filming that was cool. We had Dan [Daniel Radcliffe] lying on the floor with my foot just above his head, not quite hit­ting him. There were a couple of times I was tempted to lay the…nah, bless him, I didn’t touch him. He clearly loves playing the bad guy. “I get to act like a complete git. Who wouldn’t want that? It’s great fun scar­ing kids. I did an interview with a class­room of about 12 of them the other day and there was ten minutes of silence when they were keeping their eyes on me, not daring to speak. When young­sters are invited on set, they run up and hug Dan, but I don’t get any of that.

He feels that his co-stars have done a wonderful job in keeping their heads on straight and hopes that the fans attraction to Draco is aesthetic rather than an attraction to the character’s attitude.

The Half-Blood Prince, with its dra­matic deaths and romantic liaisons for several of the characters, is a grown-up film, reflecting how Radcliffe, Rupert Grint , Emma Watson and the rest of the cast have now become young adults. Tom is pleasantly surprised by how well everyone has turned out. “It seemed a certain bet that one of them would end up being a wild card, photographed brothel in Amsterdam. But they’ve all got their heads screwed on. I half-expected Dan to be a bit up in the air with it all, but he’s untainted. He never spends any money. You go round his house to watch The Apprentice and you could be with any other guy.”
It does seem, however, that girls like a bad boy. “Oh, there’s plenty of interest, not from actual women, but from the youngsters of the world. I like to think that it’s a purely aesthetic attraction, rather than Draco’s personality.” But although mischief flashes across his face as he describes his dubious alter ego, one is struck by how well­adjusted and charming he is for a young man who’s spent his adolescence as a world-famous film character. ”As an actor, you get pleasure from doing something that’s completely different to who you are. I occasionally find myself acting like Draco, though it’s usually nothing magical, but some­thing to do with roads. My girlfriend Jade lives in north London and I live near Dorking so I spend a lot of time on the M25. Junction 9 at Leatherhead­that can be a killer.”

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HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE: Make Magic! Create a Potion!

Brew up your own potion—and maybe the judges will be in as great an awe of it as these two totally innocent bystanders, encountered on the street.

In what might be viewed as a sort of Hogwarts Correspondence Course lesson/lecture, an interactive video submission contest has been launched in support of the July 15th opening of HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE. The contest is being featured on YouTube, and invites visitors to create their own unique potion-making video. Fans can make a 3-D cauldron instantly appear on their computer screens and, with a little practice and a few keystrokes, throw in some ingredients to brew up a perfect concoction. As an alternative, the Standard Experience allows visitors to create a potion without the 3-D tool.

The contest is live and accepting submissions through June 24 (which doesn’t give you much time to whip up your magical entry). A group of semi-finalists will be announced on July 2, after which voting will be open to the public through July 5. The finalists will be featured on the YouTube homepage July 14 and the winner announced on July 15—the day that HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE debuts.
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Harry Potter Screenshots Show Off Expression

The new official video game for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince will apparently be a little more emotional then the previous games. This all thanks to a new engine the development team is working to make characters more facially expressive.

In "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldermort's defences' and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information.

Check out the other screenshots below, there is a Wii screenshot in there as well.

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Waiting for "Harry Potter"?

Harry Potter fans have been patiently waiting for the next movie in the series based on the J.K. Rowling books. And finally, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" opens in theaters at just after midnight on July 15. In the film, Lord Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. If you're a huge fan of the series who is anxiously awaiting the film's release, The Sun and Star-Banner would like to talk to you for an upcoming story. Have you ordered your tickets already? Are you planning a midnight viewing party? We want to know. Contact features editor Sarah Sain at sains@gvillesun.com, and include a name and contact phone number.

Harry Potter fans have been patiently waiting for the next movie in the series based on the J.K. Rowling books. And finally, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" opens in theaters at just after midnight on July 15. In the film, Lord Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. If you're a huge fan of the series who is anxiously awaiting the film's release, The Sun and Star-Banner would like to talk to you for an upcoming story. Have you ordered your tickets already? Are you planning a midnight viewing party? We want to know. Contact features editor Sarah Sain at sains@gvillesun.com, and include a name and contact phone number.

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Harry Potter director reveals Deathly Hallows cliffhanger plan

DIRECTOR David Yates has promised fans a nail-biting cliffhanger between the two parts of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - and he revealed he knows just where the story will be divided.

Yates said he believes splitting the final Harry Potter book into two movies was the right creative decision.

He said it had been too difficult to cram Deathly Hallows into one movie, although skeptics have speculated that it was simply a Warner Bros marketing decision to boost the box ofice earnings from the climactic storyline of J.K. Rowling's blockbuster series.

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MSN Asks "Has Harry Potter Lost the Magic?"

The MSN Mom & Pop Culture Blog for Family Entertainment has an opinion piece today based on the question " 'Has Harry Potter Lost His Magic?.' " The article starts by mentioning the huge interest and media attention paid to the Twilight series, then discusses the delay of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, wondering if this would cause waning in the love of the series and films. The author notes that while some had been planning a boycott when the movie opens next month, the magic remains strong and firm for many of us, and mentions our own recent LeakyCon convention held last month in Boston. Quotage:

But on the other hand, there is reality. Harry Potter still has passionate fans. The Web site, TheLeakyCauldron.org reports more than 75,000 members in its online discussion community. These fans not only have no plans to boycott Warner Bros. for delaying the movie, some of them also traveled to Boston a couple of months ago for "LeakyCon," a convention that raised money for charities and featured the musical stylings of an astonishing number of Harry Potter tribute bands.
...
The event, put on by TheLeakyCauldron.org, wasn't just about bands, though. Two major names in young adult literature, Cheryl Klein and John Green, gave a keynote speech on the writing process. Klein was on the U.S. editing team for Harry Potter, and Green is author of "Looking for Alaska" and "An Abundance of Katherines" and "Paper Towns."

The author then goes on to note a feeling that is shared by so many of us:

As impressive as this is, conventions aren't proof that the boy wizard retains his magic. That lies in the stories themselves, where the magic remains in abundance...I picked up "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" again to get myself ready for the movie, and loved it more this time than I did the first. Once you know how the series ends, you can see the incredibly way Rowling structured the story, weaving little bits into the tapestry that would have great meaning later. All the while, she stayed true to her central theme: that a mother's love is the most powerful magic of all. And she keeps things refreshingly complex. Many secondary characters are a mix of good and evil -- sort of like how people are in the real world.

These books are good enough that they should be considered classics. The movies, for the most part, have been good, too. This is why I'll be at the theater the day "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" opens. For me, at least, the magic is as strong as ever.

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Parenting teens: The true wizardry of ‘Harry Potter’ is in its humanity

So much time has gone by since I read “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,” I feel like I’ll need a refresher course before the movie, based on the sixth book, comes out in a few weeks.

Yes, the “Harry Potter” cauldron is brewing, stirring up what I’m sure some thought was a nice, peaceful slumber from the furor that swept up people of all ages.

Yet as many fans as JK Rowling had for her series, which ends with the seventh book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” there have been detractors who have even burned the books, which are framed in a magical world populated by witches and wizards.

It’s a free country, but it seems to me if people pulled the themes out of the “Harry Potter” books, one would see the themes Rowling continually returns to are based more in humanity than the occult.

Take the quest for immortality. It becomes Voldemort’s Achilles’ heel — an evil lust, if one believes eternal life is achieved through death and the belief in Christ.

Less a being than force
In the sixth book, readers find Voldemort has, through a series of brutal murders, split his soul into seven parts, hiding six of them in horcruxes. When the horcruxes are destroyed, so is a piece of Voldemort, who is more a force than a being.

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Making Of Media

Many of the film’s actors provided their voices for the game, and the development team at EA had access to photos and body scans of all the characters, so every raised eyebrow and fluttering cloak is accurately portrayed in the game. Plus, for the first time in a Harry Potter video game, it’s possible to read the emotion in characters’ faces as they talk, thanks to the advanced facial animation system used during development.

The Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince video game is also your chance to explore Hogwarts like never before. For the first time ever, you’re free to explore every inch of the castle and its grounds, and look at it from every angle. The EA development team worked with directly with the movie designers, sharing blueprints and ideas, to recreate a magical environment, full of moving staircases, disappearing rooms, and secret entrances. And Harry’s ghostly friend, Nearly Headless Nick, is always only a button press away, ready to guide you to your next destination.
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The Consumer Memo, 6/22: Harry Potter, Paul Simon and Paris

Harry PotterHarry Potter, the teen wizard whose films have generated billions of dollars and become one of Hollywood’s biggest franchises, is known for battling the evil Lord Voldemort. Now he’s about to confront an even darker foe: a soft DVD market.

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” the sixth installment in the Warner Bros. film series, will be released July 15, and expectations are that it will be one of the year’s blockbusters. The previous five Potter movies have generated $7.2 billion in worldwide box office and DVD sales, reaping huge profits for the studio and Potter’s creator, author J.K. Rowling.

But the world that “Half-Blood Prince” will enter is markedly different from the one that Harry Potter left in 2007 when “Order of the Phoenix” was released. Over the last two years, DVD sales -- which have long propped up the movie business -- have sharply declined.

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Half-Blood Prince Director Talks About The Last Two Harry Potter Movies

An LA Times interview with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince director David Yeats has given fans of the franchise something nice to contemplate as they prepare for the upcoming release of Half-Blood Prince — specifically what Yeats has in store for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

That would be parts I and II of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Presently there are only seven “Harry Potter” books from J.K. Rowling, and most fans of the books and films know the final novel will be broken into a two-part film.

Fair enough. Ah, but where in the final novel will Yeats and the producers decide to close out part 1 and set the stage for the final chapter?

During the interview Geoff Boucher asked Yeats if he had figured out where to end the seventh film and pick up with part 2 — in effect creating a much-needed cliffhanger.

“Yes, I think we have,” he said. “Things can change when you edit, of course, but the idea now is that it will be not long after the sequence that we are filming here today. That’s what we’re experimenting with. We’ve had three or four different ideas about where to cut off the seventh film. Traditionally, the movies have ended with a death or a bereavement, some sort of passage or arrival.

This time we think we will end with more a cliffhanger. Again, though, that’s the thought as of this moment.”

One could make the case that splitting the final installment into two films is just a studio ploy to extract as much profit as humanly possible, but Yeats defends the two-part decision:

“I will get the benefit of two budgets, the running time of two films and all the resources that brings with it to tell this huge adventure; more time, more money, more special effects. There are always things that are lost when you adapt a book to a film. With two films, much less will be lost.”

So we can chalk that up in the ‘good news’ category. We definitely do not want major plot points left on the cutting-room floor.

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Closing in on a decision of where to divide the final 'Harry Potter' films

Back in March 2008, when Warner Bros. announced that it was going to break the final "Harry Potter" novel into two films, the second reaction among hard-core fans -- after anger -- was puzzlement. Where in the story, they wanted to know, would the intermission come?

There was no obvious spot, they knew, because J.K. Rowling hadn't written one in her seventh and final installment of the publishing phenomenon, the 759-page "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

Warner Bros. executives didn't know then, because they were still in the midst of filming the sixth installment, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," which comes out next month. But now that production is well underway on the last two movies, which are being shot concurrently, an answer is starting to emerge.

As reported on our sister blog Hero Complex, director David Yates says, "We've had three or four different ideas about where to cut off the seventh film. Traditionally, the movies have ended with a death or a bereavement, some sort of passage or arrival. This time we think we will end with more a cliffhanger."

A final decision hasn't been reached, but Yates says he is leaning toward splitting the two movies around the point "where Harry, Hermione and Ron are captured by the Snatchers after being chased through the woods."

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Trio to Appear on Rove in Australia

As part of the media run-up of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dan Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint will be interviewed on Rove in Australia on Sunday, July 5th.

If you’re able to get a video of the interview, please let us know!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be in theatres on July 15, 2009. Get your tickets here!

Source: SS

Watson High on Fashion, Down on Acting

Given that she took on the role of Hermione for the 'Harry Potter' films at the age of 10, it's no wonder she looks put together. She's been a household name for almost half her life, and since her eighteenth birthday party in London last year, she's been a British paparazzi favorite. "I literally couldn't get out the door at the end of the night," she said. "The worst thing was that they laid down on the pavement and took pictures up my skirt. Now I'm going to wear cycling shorts whenever I get out of cars."

What we have seen from Watson in photographs shows her to be a stylish celeb and budding fashion icon -- she was even the choice model for the fall Burberry line.

"It's very hard to describe your own style," she said. "And I'm young, so I'm still experimenting. But I think it's quite British and very much about individuality."

She said she prefers to pick out her own clothes, but when she's tight on time and needs to work with a stylist, she makes sure nothing looks overdone. "There's nothing interesting about looking perfect -- you lose the point," she explains. "You want what you're wearing to say something about you, about who you are."

Watson's latest wardrobe choices include looks from designers like Balenciaga, Miu Miu, Alice Temperley, William Tempest, and one of her favorites, Chanel."It's kind of my lucky brand," she says, "A fail-safe."

But lately, Watson's schedule has been so hectic that she doesn't have much time to spare for personal style. The seventh and final book, 'Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows' is being split into two movies, so Watson is promoting 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,' shooting one movie and working on pre-production for a third.
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Emma Watson covers Teen Vogue

Emma Watson is on the cover of August's Teen Vogue. Photographed on an old manor across the pond, Watson's photoshoot features whimsical outfits and makeup. Emma looks gorgeous, of course. Check out an excerpt from the article, courtesy of Teen Vogue, below.

"She was just shy of ten years old when she took on the role of Hermione Granger, the bookish, bushy-haired sidekick to the titular hero of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. So feverishly anticipated was that first film—and so beloved were its four sequels (the fifth, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, hits theaters this month)—that Emma Watson, now nineteen, has been world-famous for more than half her life.

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Acting? I think I've had enough, says Harry Potter star, Emma Watson

The clothes were modest and showed off nothing that would shock young Harry Potter fans - as per instructions.

But the interview accompanying Emma Watson's latest magazine photoshoot was a little more revealing.

The 19-year-old said that she does not have a 'burning passion' for acting and that she may give up her film career once she finishes playing Harry's school chum Hermione.

Until something comes along that I feel as strongly about as I did Hermione - like, I felt that it was life or death - I don't want to act again,' she told America's Teen Vogue.

She added that she was struggling with the pressure of promoting one film - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which is released next month - and filming the seventh and eighth Potter films.

'I don't think I've ever been this tired in my life,' she said. 'I literally wear my pyjama bottoms to set. I roll out of bed and put on a hoodie and some Ugg boots.'

Miss Watson has also revealed that she has been consistently dating 25-year-old financier Jay Barrymore, despite regular reports of them splitting.

'The only reason it's "on/off" is because the papers make up so much rubbish,' she said.

One secret she refused to divulge is which university she will attend from this autumn. Both Cambridge University and Yale in the U.S. are believed to be in the running for her English literature and art degree.

'I just want to keep it private for as long as I can,' she said. 'I probably sound like a paranoid nut, but I'm doing this because I want to be normal. I really want anonymity.'

Earlier this month it was reported that Miss Watson was ordered to 'tone down' a photoshoot she did for U.S. magazine W because Harry Potter producers deemed it too risque.

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'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince': A new clip!

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint introduced a new clip from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on Sunday night's MTV Movie Awards. With it, we, like Harry, get to experience the first time Dumbledore met Tom Riddle (a.k.a. a young Lord Voldemort). Is Tom's smile creepy enough for you? Part of me wants more. Part of me is already curled up in a ball...

Harry Potter Actor Welcomes New Baby

22-Jun-2009
Written by: Robin Lee

Michael Gambon is 68 and a new father, again.

Actor, Michael Gambon, who plays Harry Potter’s Headmaster at Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, welcomed a new son with his mistress.

Gambon, 68, has a 44-year-old son with his wife, Lady Ann. The Sun reports that Gambon’s wife was well aware of her husband’s growing second family.

Gambon and his 43-year-old girlfriend, Philippa Hart, already have one son together, who was born in 2007. Hart is a set designer.

The Sun reports that Hart gave birth to a boy, William, without complications and both are doing fine.

The actor shares a home with his wife, but visits Hart in South West London “a few times a week.” Gambon is open with his wife about his second family and she accepts the relationship although it has caused some trouble in the past, according to the British newspaper.

Gambon will appear in the newest installment of the Harry Potter movie series, “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,” due out this summer.
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Waiting for "Harry Potter"?

Harry Potter fans have been patiently waiting for the next movie in the series based on the J.K. Rowling books. And finally, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" opens in theaters at just after midnight on July 15. In the film, Lord Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. If you're a huge fan of the series who is anxiously awaiting the film's release, The Sun and Star-Banner would like to talk to you for an upcoming story. Have you ordered your tickets already? Are you planning a midnight viewing party? We want to know. Contact features editor Sarah Sain at sains@gvillesun.com, and include a name and contact phone number.

Harry Potter fans have been patiently waiting for the next movie in the series based on the J.K. Rowling books. And finally, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" opens in theaters at just after midnight on July 15. In the film, Lord Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. If you're a huge fan of the series who is anxiously awaiting the film's release, The Sun and Star-Banner would like to talk to you for an upcoming story. Have you ordered your tickets already? Are you planning a midnight viewing party? We want to know. Contact features editor Sarah Sain at sains@gvillesun.com, and include a name and contact phone number.

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Newer Newer Older Older Mon, 22 June 2009 at 12:46 pm Harry Potter & Half-Blood Prince: Meet the Bad Guys

Tom Felton and Alan Rickman put on their serious faces in this new shot of the bad guys of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

In the movie, Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and Wizard worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hits theaters July 15.

Potter premiere coup for Movie World

Simon O'Brien

June 18, 2009

Movie World on the Gold Coast is set to host the Australian premiere of the latest Harry Potter film, it was revealed this afternoon.

Celebrities and VIPs are expected to walk the red carpet at the July 12 event.

In the long-awaited sixth installment of the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was.

Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching.

Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort's defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information.

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are reprising their roles as young wizards Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be released in cinemas across Australia on July 15.

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Harry Potters to town

A scene from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Queensland Harry Potter fans take note – the Gold Coast will host the Australian premiere of the highly anticipated wizarding movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

While the guest list for the Movie World event will be strictly limited to a cohort of media identities, competition winners and local industry professionals, the news has caused ripples of interest in the sea of local Potter enthusiasts.

At this stage event organisers cannot confirm whether cast members Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson will be on hand at the red carpet however a full program of pre screening entertainment is set to keep guests entertained.

Released nationally July 15, the film will see Harry, Ron and Hermione return for another magical year at Hogwarts, engaging in another battle against the evil dark wizard Voldemort.

It is the sixth installment of the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise adapted from the famously successful books by JK Rowling.

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New 'Harry Potter' posters: Love! Jealousy! Betrayal!

Forget Voldemort's killing spree: The Potterverse is about to get its Melrose Place on judging by these newly-leaked posters for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (out July 15). Just check out the look on Hermione's face as she watches Ron cozy up to Lavender.

And get a load of Harry, all serious and smitten, gearing up for his My Girl moment with Ginny (I know, I know: Macaulay Culkin was about half Harry's age in that movie. There's just something about those glasses...). This one in particular looks like it was made just so Potter fans can go nuts pasting their own heads over Ginny's (feel free to share yours below!).

After the jump, we also get glimpses of Draco, wand in hand, and the kooky Luna Lovegood. But really, from the posters, it looks like the Ron-Hermione-Lavender love triangle --- which gets zero screen time in the trailer --- is going to be front and center in the movie.

What do you think of the posters, PopWatchers? Are you excited for some grown-up romantic intrigue in the movie? Or would you be happier without it?

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'Harry Potter' countdown: Scaring up the Inferi

You can't see them in the picture, but in this scene from "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," creepy, crawling Inferi surround Professor Dumbledore. Inferi, of course, are the reanimated corpses, puppets of Lord Voldemort, residing at the bottom of the lake, near which one of the dark wizard's horcruxes is hidden.

Tim Alexander, the visual effects supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic responsible for bringing the undead army to life, has worked on only the most haunting Potter creatures, from the fire-breathing Hungarian Horntail dragon in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the skeletal horses called thestrals in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and those soul-sucking dementors in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and "Phoenix."

Alexander said it took several months to complete the approximately seven-minute scene, from rendering millions of Inferi to whipping up Dumbledore's flame tornado (best for combating meddling dead folks.) He took a break from working on Gore Verbinski's upcoming animated adventure "Rango" to tell us why he thinks "Half-Blood Prince" will be the first Potter movie to give even grown-up fans nightmares:

DM: So how many Inferi lie in the lake?

TA: A couple million? Above water, you’d probably see about a hundred at a time. But when Harry gets dragged into the lake, there is a whole underwater environment…and it’s actually covered in bodies. It’s all just ... bodies crawling on top of each other, and that’s how you get into the millions.

DM: That sounds … disturbing. Certainly, more so than the previous “Potter” films.

TA: It’s certainly much bolder and scarier than we imagined that they’d ever go in a "Potter" movie. Director David Yates was really cautious of not making this into a zombie movie, so we were constantly trying to figure out how not to make these dead people coming up look like zombies. A lot of it came down to their movement – they don’t move fast, but they don’t move really slow or groan and moan. We ended up going with a very realistic style. They move like anyone coming up out of water.

DM: How so?

TA: When we go underwater with Harry, this female Inferi kind of comes up and grabs him and is pulling him down, but it’s more like a hug. Like an embrace. Like she’s trying to encourage him to join them. We were always trying to avoid turning the scene into one you’d see in a horror film.

DM: You’re going to scare a lot of little kids.

TA: Yeah, I think it will.

DM: Tell me about how the Inferi look. How did the design come about?

TA: The art department on the film gave us a lot of references, like Dante’s "Inferno," where they have all those bodies. The Inferi themselves are very skinny and emaciated people. Very humanoid, but way skinnier than humans could be. Waterlogged and gray. We used the old lady that comes out of the tub in ‘The Shining’ as a reference. Most of the Inferi are adult, but we did also build two children, too.

New Set Report Previews End of Half-Blood Prince and the Hunt for the Horcruxes

There is a new set report online tonight for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince contained in the new issue of The Observer Film Quarterly. Found in both the print editions of the Guardian and now online tonight, this report contains a new photo of Evanna Lynch (Luna) and Dan Radcliffe (Harry) preparing to shoot a scene for HBP, possibly the arrival at Hogwarts which you can see via this link.

The set report, while quite lengthy, is very well worth the read, containing many new interviews with those such as David Heyman (on JKR: "was very much the same then as she is now: funny, irreverent, compassionate, kind, generous. Very discreet and private. Damn! She's hard to punch holes in ..." ) and David Yates on finishing Potter ("my commitment to Potter is absolute. First of all it's my job to make sure we go out with a bang and, as the Americans would say, put on a show") as well as new insights into the making of the sixth Harry Potter film. Of interest is a new line from the film, possibly at the very end of the movie as Hermione and Harry discuss the need to hunt for the Horcruxes. The article begins by recounting this scene as actress Emma Watson is having trouble with her line. The piece then reads:

"I've said the wrong lines." She frowns at her script. "Can we sort this out?" She looks down from the astronomy tower at director David Yates. He gently guides her through the scene in which her character, Hermione, is talking to Harry Potter about Voldemort's soul. Harry looks very serious. "I'm not coming back, Hermione ... I have to finish what Dumbledore started." Action stops again. Watson focuses on the script. Yates and Daniel Radcliffe discuss Harry's frame of mind...Yates talks him through it. "Harry's in a cold, dark place at the moment, but I would caution against melancholy ... you've got to make sure Harry's not weighty but more fluid, freer."

Later the author speaks to Dan Radcliffe about that scene, getting the following answer: "I ask about Yates cautioning against melancholy when Harry and Hermione were up on the astronomy tower and Radcliffe laughs. "The Half-Blood Prince is funnier than the previous books, which has given me the reins to be a bit more stupid. But I actually prefer doing the slightly darker side of stuff. I'm not so comfortable with being funny. One of David Yates's jobs on this film is to make me see that it's not always about the darkness in the scene; I have in my head that darkness in a character equals credibility and of course that's not the case."
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'Harry Potter' countdown: A late-night call from David Yates reveals magical secrets

It was about 3:20 a.m. yesterday when my phone rang: It was David Yates, the soft-spoken British director whose second "Harry Potter" film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," arrives in theaters across America on July 15. He sounded apologetic: "It's quite early there isn't it? Thanks for doing this, mate."

Despite the hour, it was my pleasure to take the call -- Yates is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet and, after visiting him outside London last year on the set of "Half-Blood Prince," it was a treat to catch up, even if his schedule required the pre-dawn appointment. Right now, Yates is in the midst of filming the final boy-wizard adventure, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," which will be split into two films.

"We're here in the forest, we've just finished the scene where Harry, Hermione and Ron are captured by the Snatchers after being chased through the woods. The Snatchers are brutal and scary but they aren't the most intelligent of creatures.They're trying to figure out exactly who it is they've caught."

I told Yates about my new theory: That the single best decision made in show business over the last decade was the casting of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint in the lead roles of Harry, Hermione and Ron. I could almost hear him smile on the other side of the Atlantic.

"Absolutely, I think you're correct. It was an extraordinary bit of judgment, bringing those three in. They have been so stable and level-headed and in working with them I continue to be impressed by how keen they are to challenge themselves and to try new things to bring out the characters that they portray. They have become these engaging ambassadors for the films and the story. They have been endlessly enthusiastic. They want to see how good they can be in these roles. They haven't had their heads turned, either, by the fame and attention or any of it, which is wonderful for everyone to see."

There's never been a film franchise that has delivered this many movies on this scale and in this sort of time. The Hollywood history books will look back on this as the Hogwarts Decade. The first "Potter" film was released in November 2001, and the eighth will close out the saga in summer of 2011. Yates says there is a sense on the set that something very special is unfolding.

"I think with each film the audience is surprised by how much [the lead actors] have grown up," he said. "I think it's unique in the history of film, really, given the popularity of the series and the way these young actors have grown up in front of us. It will be interesting in the years to come to see how they themselves look back on this experience."

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: New Details!

Thanks to the British Board of Film Classification, new details have emerged about the upcoming wizard epic Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Good job, British Board of Film Classification!

In explaining its decision to rate Half-Blood Prince as 12A (meaning that no one under 12 can see the film unless accompanied by an adult), the Board released the following revelatory statement, according to MuggleNet:

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a fantasy adventure film based on the book of the same title, finds Harry and his friends returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their sixth year.

"The film contains moderate threat. The moderate threat occurs in one quite scary sequence in which Harry and Professor Dumbledore are attacked by menacing looking creatures that have emerged from an underground lake. Harry is pulled into the lake and dragged beneath the water. The scene has the potential to upset younger or more sensitive children.

"In another scene Draco Malfoy kicks Harry (below screen) and appears to break his nose; blood can be seen on Harry's face. Tables are turned later on in the film when Harry defeats Malfoy in a wand battle in the school toilets. Malfoy, who is rendered unconscious, has several bloodstains on his white shirt and his blood can be seen to mix with and cloud the water on the flooded floor.

"Malfoy, however, is soon completely healed by a nearby teacher. The film contains mild language including the words 'God', 'bloody', tosser', 'sod', 'hell' and 'git.'"

No way—git out!

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Will "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" live up to expectations?

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" will debut in theaters on July 15th, to the anticipation and excitement of fans nationwide.

The sixth film, starring Daniel Radcliffe as the iconic Harry Potter, will be taking Harry down a darker path than in previous films. As Harry works together with Dumbledore to uncover the secret to Voldemort's mysterious past, Voldemort extends his nefarious campaign into Muggle territory. It appears no one and nothing is safe in film 6, not even Hogwarts.

While the first few films in the series were clearly marketed directly at children, this next film does not seem to be the standard fare for moviegoers under the age of ten. While it is rated PG, this film does not seem be a good idea for young children.

Will the film live up to the book that inspired the film? The trailers released thus far seem to suggest yes, but we won't know for sure until July 15th!

Is Harry Potter still relevant?

The fan following of the novels is certainly not at all in question. The franchise sparked an interest of very strong intensity. But it's no stretch to say the films bearing the Harry Potter name have always taken a back seat to the novels. Each film has done quite well at the box office and overall the series has been received positively, especially given the frequently lower quality of cinematic adaptations of literature compared to their written counterparts.

The promotional train for the sixth entry in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is just starting to rev up for a July 15 release. Yet since the seventh and final installment in the novel series was published, interest in the film franchise seems to have waned in the public at large. Fantastical spectacles with 2009 release dates such as Terminator Salvation, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra have all gotten significantly more of a promotional push. Part of this may be attributed to the assumption that the Harry Potter franchise has a built-in fan base that need not be sold on the film, but it can be argued that all the previously mentioned, big name brand films do as well.

At the height of 'Potter Mania' the filmmakers seemed prepared to milk the series for all it was worth, going so far as to establish plans to split the last novel into two separate films. Now the minds behind the series can't seem to get their ducks in a row, even squandering distribution arrangements to the extent that Transformers will hold sway in the IMAX format for weeks after Harry Potter is released. It will be interesting to see how the film performs next month.

DVD slump might weaken 'Half-Blood Prince' sales

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” director David Yates, right, goes over a scene with actor Jim Broadbent. The sequel will hit theaters July 15 and is expected to be one of the year’s biggest blockbusters.

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Though the 'Harry Potter' films have been huge DVD sellers, each sequel has sold fewer units than its predecessor -- and raised the bar of profitability that much higher for Warner Bros.

By Claudia Eller
June 22, 2009

Harry Potter, the teen wizard whose films have generated billions of dollars and become one of Hollywood's biggest franchises, is known for battling the evil Lord Voldemort. Now he's about to confront an even darker foe: A soft DVD market.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth installment in the Warner Bros. film series, will be released July 15, and expectations are that it will be one of the year's biggest blockbusters. The previous five "Potter" movies have generated $7.2 billion in worldwide box-office and DVD sales, reaping huge profits for the studio and Potter's creator, author J.K. Rowling.

But the movie world that "Half-Blood Prince" will enter is markedly different from the one that its predecessor, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," faced when it was released in 2007. Over the last two years, DVD sales, which have long propped up the movie business, have sharply declined. The slump in the DVD market has undermined Hollywood's business model and cast a shadow over what used to be the industry's bright spot.