Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Your request is being processed... Emma Watson's Wardrobe Malfunction: "At Least I Was Wearing Underwear" (VIDEO)

Hermione herself, Emma Watson, charmed David Letterman and everyone watching when she sat down to push the new Harry Potter movie Wednesday night.

The Potter movie premiered Tuesday in London in the pouring rain, and her vintage dress at one point needed a little readjusting and she accidentally showed a flash of underwear.

'Tell us what's going on here,' said Letterman as he held up a picture of the incident.

'This was a small wardrobe malfunction, it happens,' Emma laughed, adding, 'At least I'm wearing underwear.'

She added, head in hands, 'I'm still learning, I'm still learning!'

Watson also confirmed to Dave that she will be starting college in the US this fall, although the institution of higher learning went unnamed.
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“Harry Potter’s” most anticipated kiss: Not with Harry!

The “Harry Potter” series is all grown up, that is if you count an on-screen lip lock as a sign of maturity. In one of the most talked about moments in an upcoming “Harry Potter” movie, Emma Watson, who plays witchcraft ingenue Hermione Granger, kisses Rupert Grint, the actor who plays Harry Potter’s friend Ron Weasley.

It does not come in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which opens in the U.S. and many other countries on July 15, but in the next installment in the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” which is split into two movies.

Still, fans of the series can’t wait to see that bit of cinematic spark between Watson and Grint, and interestingly they appear to be less interested in Harry Potter working his own romantic mojo. In a poll conducted by online ticket seller Fandango.com, 59 percent of respondents said the on-screen kiss they most want to see is between Hermione (Watson) and Ron (Grint). Only 41 percent of respondents said they can’t wait to see the peck between Harry Potter (played by Daniel Radcliffe) and Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright).

Maybe that has something to do with the screen appeal of the 19-year-old Watson, who was listed No. 82 on men’s magazine Maxim’s list of the most beautiful 100 women in the world.

The fact that a kiss is one of the most anticipated moments in the “Harry Potter” series shows how the movies have evolved along with the audience to more adult themes of love and romance.

On that note, director David Yates said in this Reuters story: ”Our cast are just getting that little bit older now and the hormones are starting to fly and for me it marks a real transition point between our cast as children and our cast as adults.”

Watson herself seemed to describe a dizzying conflict of impulses in an explanation of her kiss with Grint. On the BBC program Friday Night with Jonathan Ross,” Watson said that she was not thrilled to do the kissing scene, because of the public interest. “I pounced on him, I was so desperate to get it over with,” Watson said on the program.

In other findings from the Fandango poll of more than 1,000 ticket buyers, 69 percent said that the critics’ (mostly positive) reviews of the new film have no effect on their decision to go. Also, the last movie in the series, 2007’s “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” ranked as respondents’ favorite movie in the series with 36 percent of the overall vote.

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‘Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince’ Premieres In NYC: Red Carpet Recap

Paul Revere would have rolled over in his grave if he knew just how excited we Americans became last night at the sight of the British invading our shores. The NYC “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” premiere last night brought out stars running in all levels of celebrity. Everyone from Diane Sawyer to Lance Bass made sure they were there to catch some of the first glimpses of the long-awaited “Half-Blood Prince,” and, of course, its gorgeous cast.

Click on the pic below to see snapshots from the red carpet and keep reading after the jump for more on the fashions at the “Half-Blood Prince” NYC premiere.

First and foremost we would like to congratulate Bonnie Wright (above, left) on her — now three times over — impeccable sense of style. She looked absolutely lovely as she walked the red carpet in a little black Prada dress and, most notably, those shoes! How someone who has grown up in the public eye has managed to escape public notice is baffling, but her poise at the recent premieres means she finally has our attention — just like she finally captures the attention of a certain wizard onscreen.

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.

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Harry Potter director reveals Deathly Hallows cliffhanger plan

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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.
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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!

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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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