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The election returns are trickling in and I can't even...
Sigh. No matter what happens, tomorrow some people will be relieved and others - possibly - horrified at the turn of events. If, in the morning, you wonder what just happened, Lerner Books have posted about some of their titles that deal with the elections, government, the media and propaganda behind politics and other good stuff.
Ang Lee, the two-time Academy Award-winning director, has noted that we should never underestimate the power of storytelling. Indeed, as a storyteller, Lee has shown through his films the potential of stories to connect people, to heal wounds, to drive change, and to reveal more about ourselves and the world. In particular, Lee has harnessed new technology for storytelling in movies such as Life of Pi (2012) and his upcoming feature film Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (to be released on 11 November, 2016).
The latest film adaptation of the story of fictional Jewish noble Judah Ben-Hur is premiering in theaters today. You’ve probably seen the 1959 film version starring Charlton Heston, but do you know about the story’s rich history and impact over the last 136 years?
With the heavily anticipated and exciting launch of ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ due to hit screens this November, Leaky was not only present at the San Diago Comic-Con event, but also lucky enough to get some behind the scenes action from our two representatives watching the live cast interviews unfold, from the Great Hall at Leavesden Studios in London!
Prior to the Live interviews commencing at Comic-Con, across the pond in London, we eagerly awaited the main event of the evening and took time to appreciate the Harry Potter Studios in all it’s glory! From famous sets to beautifully executed props with a magical aesthetic, the evening consisted of everything J.K. as we able to indulge in ultimate wizarding fan entertainment!
After a fantastic tour, fans were guided to a private screening, showing us the newly released trailer of ‘Fantastic Beasts’. Watch the trailer here! (If you havent’t seen it already–it’s amazing!)
Finally the Great Hall doors were opened, and along with some limited edition, ‘Newt Scamander’ wands gifted by Warner Bros, the audience was seated ready to go live with everyone at the SDCC exclusive event! The interaction with the cast was brilliant, with Ezra Miller and Dan Fogler receiving a particularly cheerful response from our London audience as they made the interview even more fun amongst their talented co-stars.
As a perfect round off to the already magical evening at the Warner Bros Studios, we were given a glimpse at the extraordinary 1920’s costumes used in the movie. The wizarding world felt very much present as fans took a good look at the very individual looks presented, but they definitely emitted something fresh and original to keep everyone on their toes for the latest Rowling installment!
Over in San Diego, Carianne and Tabitha met up with Warner Bros to take seats across from the Fantastic Beasts cast, as everyone prepared for a live Q&A with the cast of one of the most anticipated films of the year. Carianne, a proud Hufflepuff (just like Newt!) from San Diego, and Tabitha a proud Gryffindor, with a lot of Hufflepuff qualities mixed in, wrote about their experience at the events unfolding at SDCC 2016.
Carianne described what it was like behind the scenes, saying:
Being in the room in San Diego during the livestream was an incredible experience. The Fantastic Beasts group was so close to me that I couldn’t even fit them all in one picture! When they entered the room, the cast was buzzing with excitement over how well their Hall H presentation had gone (that room holds 6,500 people, so it’s a pretty big deal). Their energy was electrifying and contagious and an absolute joy to watch!
Then the host announced “2 minutes till live!” and the room suddenly became still and silent with anticipation. To lighten things up again, Ezra Miller started cracking jokes, such as giving us signals to follow during the live stream: He said if he tugged his ear we were supposed to laugh, and if he scratched his nose we were supposed to cheer! He was kidding, of course, but he got everyone laughing and really livened the room up again. He was such a riot! (Ezra also made a few hilarious quips after the Leavesden host said she wanted to “Take an Ezra Miller home,” but those might be the kind of things he would rather I did not share with the internet.)
After the livestream, they stood on the stage talking to each other for a few moments, looking just like a group of friends rather than co-movie-stars. It was clear that this cast really gets along well with each other. Their was a friendly and supportive demeanor among all of them. It honestly just made me even MORE excited for the film to come out! November can’t come soon enough
As the even ended, a few of the cast members gave a little bit of attention afterward to the fans that were in the room. They didn’t have a lot of time (as they were running late to make it to their next event), but just a “thank you for your question!”, a high-five, or a quick photo went a long way. They were in no way obligated to do any of those things — they just did it because they are nice. My only regret is that I couldn’t spend more time talking with them! Maybe someday…
Tabitha wrote about her experience and the atmosphere in the hall:
There was a great spirit of camaraderie between all of the writers/interviews there. I talked a bit with a couple of writers there, one representing Snitchseeker and the other MuggleNet. We got to know each other a little before the interview, and we all expressed how excited we were for this opportunity.
To me, as someone who has never been behind-the-scenes for something like this, it was fascinating how something as seemingly simple as an interview takes so much preparation by a host of different people. All of the camera operators had to prepare their equipment and test it extensively; other members of the crew had to test the live-feed between San Diego and Leavesden to make sure it worked properly; and of course, there were quite a few people dedicated solely to making sure the actors were ready.
On a light note, the room the interview took place in was *tiny*! It was maybe a fifth of the size of the Great Hall shown in Leavesden. The stage took up about half of the room, and there was hardly any free space for people to move around in.
Unfortunately, the cast couldn’t stick around for long after the interview. They were rushed out pretty much immediately afterwards to go sign autographs at Comic Con.
Thank you to Georgia, Gemma, Tabitha and Carianne for attending the Fantastic Beasts Live Q&A events both in London and SDCC 2016. The video of the event can be seen here.
Tomorrow, The Leaky Cauldron will join the Fantastic Beasts team at San Diego Comic-Con and Warner Bros’ special event at Leavesden Studios in London. Leaky will be involved with an exclusive Q&A with the cast and crew of the film, so listen out for us!
The Fantastic BeastsFacebook page also shared some new movie art celebrating their appearance at Comic-Con, and gave the username of the new Harry Potter Snapshat account (wizarding_world), which will be shared by Pottermore, Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts teams. A special message will be delivered via the app tomorrow, so be sure to add them and check it!
The Wizarding_World has arrived on Snapchat… Add us for something special coming tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/0yBVbeQ7sh
Be sure to add wizarding_world on snapchat and watch the Q&A at 10:10pm BST/ 2:10pm PT/5:10pm ET tomorrow via the Fantastic Beasts Facebook page (here) and Twitter (here), and listen out for Leaky’s question!
With the first Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie due to roll into theaters this November, first looks at film merchandise are beginning to surface.
LEGO website, Bricks Fans recently released images of the packaging of Fantastic Beasts LEGO sets. The new LEGO sets were advertised in the Argos catalogue in the U.K. The images show Newt Scamander, a LEGO Niffler, and MACUSA. The pictures can be seen below. Bricks Fans reports:
“The [LEGO Dimensions Story Pack based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them] will be available in November and will feature a Magical Congress of the United States of America-themed Gateway to add to the LEGO Toy Pad along with a Newt Scamander Minifigure and Niffler gadget. The book also reveals that [the] Story Packs will retail for £39.99 and will feature a 6 level story campaign to enjoyed based on their relevant movies.”
Warner Bros. recently released the first official Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them t-shirt. This is the first official piece of film merchandise added to the Harry Potter franchise. It is a simple black t-shirt sporting the official Fantastic Beasts logo fans have seen in the Fantastic Beasts trailers. Warner Bros. described the tshirt, saying:
“This is our very first printing of our very first official shirt for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the upcoming film based on J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World! Orders placed by Friday, July 22nd will ship on Friday, July 29th. After this, the next batch will ship in mid-August.”
Throughout the years, Warwick Davis has appeared in three different Star Wars installments as five different characters. He has become a familiar face to those who follow the movies and is due to return this December in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as a new character, rumored to be called Bistan.
The news of Warwick’s addition to the Rogue One lineup comes just weeks after it was confirmed that Darth Vader himself would be making an appearance in the film, which is set immediately prior to the events in the franchise’s first outing, A New Hope.
With his first Star Wars appearance as Wicket the Ewok in 1983’s Return of the Jedi, and his latest appearance as Wollivan in last year’s The Force Awakens, fans are excited to see what he will bring to the screen this time around. See more about his new role here.
Harry Potter direct David Yates, and Harry Potter producer David Baron, sat down for a an interview about their most recent collaboration, The Legend of Tarzan. The new live-action take on the classic tale (made famous among younger generations by Disney’s animated feature film) hits theaters this week (already in theaters in the USA)–introducing audiences to Tarzan’s life after he and Jane have married and moved away from the jungle. When trouble arises and new enemies emerge, Tarzan must return to the jungle.
The two Davids sat down with Den of Geek to discuss the film, why they chose the legend of Tarzan, their take on the well-known tale, and more. Den of Geek reports:
Let’s start with something obvious: why Tarzan?
David Yates: Well, I was reading dozens and dozens of scripts, and trying to find something after [Harry] Potter that felt really fun, immersive, and had lots and lots of colours. Potter was a big arena experience, and in terms of storytelling it always had a funny bit, it always had a dramatic bit, always had something that was very emotional, always had something that was very beautifully thematic. It always took you to four or five different places, and as an experience that was always very enjoyable. And I read all these Hollywood scripts that they kept sending me, and none of them did that. They were all very one-note, it was one colour all the way through, whether they were blowing up cities or whatever, and then this script turned up and it said Tarzan on the front, and I said ‘I don’t think I’m going to read that, because I know what that is.’
Then someone who’d read it in my office said ‘I really think you ought to read this, because it’s not what you think.’ Reluctantly, I opened the page, and then I couldn’t stop turning the pages, and there was something about this human being who didn’t really know where home was. He didn’t know if it was in the jungle, or in his country estate in England, and he was stuck between the two, which I found really compelling. And there was something about the themes in the movie, that were beautiful, about reconnecting with the environment, reconnecting with animals, understanding animals, understanding that the environment was being threatened. This old-fashioned, iconic character was somehow connecting with present-day values that were very relevant and very important, and very ‘now.’ But more than anything, it was fun, it was moving, it was romantic, it was exciting, it had all the colours that the Potter movies, for me, would have. I thought ‘fuck, this is the first time I’ve read a script that I really want to go see this movie.’
David Baron: It’s also a very different Tarzan to all the other movies that we’ve seen in the past. For a start, it’s not the story of the foundling in the forest who gets taken back to England by the end, it’s quite the reverse. The character starts in England and goes back to Africa, which is a very refreshing point of view for Tarzan.
That’s something that I’m very curious about. Everything now is an origin story, even things that aren’t really origin stories. Was there pressure to push in? In the clip we saw, there was the beginning of that – was there pressure to make more of that?
DY: There is a bit of origin story in the movie, and there was no pressure from the studio, but when we showed it to the audience, the origins bit that was in there, they loved. When we put a bit more in, they loved it even more, and when we put a bit more in they loved it even more. But the origin story isn’t straightforward origin story, it refracts. There’s a foreground story, and that story of how Jane and Tarzan met, that refracts against the present time. It’s an element. Is it an origin story? Not really.
DB: There’s enough to explain, to people who don’t know the story, it gives them something to hang on to.
DY: It gives you context, and it’s kinda fun.
When he was fighting the monkey, what was he doing really?
DB: You mean physically?
Was it a puppet, or was there a stand-in? How did you do that?
DY: We had a stunt stand-in who would be the gorilla.
DB: In a big suit, for the physical interaction, so Alex’s arms weren’t here, they were sort of here.
DY: Then Alex would fight with him, and then when he couldn’t fight with him because he had to throw a punch, he’d literally be fighting with thin air.
DB: Or a ball on the end of a stick. We didn’t do any motion capture, the apes are completely CG.
DY: You just get the best animators, which we did. And it’s partly about the characters within our story, and you deliver story. Our animals, we made them as photorealistically as we could.
DB: Even though they don’t exist, because they’re giant apes.
They were pretty bloody scary.
DB: They don’t actually exist, they’re drawn from something that was a mixture of a chimpanzee and a gorilla, but they’re bigger. You wouldn’t find anything quite as big as Tarzan’s brother in the wild.
DY: You don’t really look at what other people are doing, you kind of just concentrate on your own story and your own world.
DB: In Planet Of The Apes, they’re pretty much just chimpanzees that ride horses and stand on their back legs.
DY: You look critically at some other work, and you go ‘they did that bit really well, but that bit wasn’t as good.’ You’re aware of it, and you try and learn from other people’s mistakes. And you’ll do something that you think is really good, a stand-out piece of animation, and you do something else and think ‘I’m not sure we nailed that.’
There’s a scene in the trailer where Margot has to scream and she says ‘oh, like a damsel.’ I gather that Jane is quite modern.
DY: She’s feisty. She’s quite modern and feisty, she’s quite punchy.
Where did she punch [Alex], in the face?
DB: No, the arm.
This strategy of finding your own voice, how does it relate to the previous Tarzan movies and what kind of man he is? We know him as being young, and you have to define what kind of man he is becoming.
DY: He’s a man stuck between two worlds. He’s afraid of going back to where he grew up, he’s afraid primarily because he wants to protect Jane, there’s a score that he has to figure out how to settle with an extraordinary character called Chief Mbonga. He actually killed Chief Mbonga’s son at one point in his past, so he’s reticent to go back to Africa. He’s a deeply troubled human being, who is trying to figure everything out, and he has the expectation from his father and his family of staying in England, of keeping the family home, being a proper English lord. He’s quite conflicted. But he finds real peace, and completeness, when he goes back to Africa. He has two families in Africa; he has the Manjani, the gorillas, who found him as a baby, and he has the Kuba tribe, who are this very peaceful group of agrarian tribespeople who saved him and brought him into their community.
DB: Which is where he met Jane.
DY: The Kuba are great, and they bring them into his bigger family. Ultimately, it’s a celebration of family. The thing about Christoph Waltz’s character is, he doesn’t know anything about community, or love, or what it is to feel interconnected, he just wants to take and build for the ambitions of his king. Whereas Tarzan and Jane have this huge family in Africa.
DB: Also Tarzan has, although he didn’t grow up with it, this history of his aristocratic lineage, and Christoph Waltz comes from very humble origins, and thinks that by serving his king well he will be promoted in the annals of history and celebrated as a character who saved his country.
Where does Samuel L. Jackson come into it?
DY: He’s a real character. Sam’s character is based on this extraordinary man, George Washington Williams, a preacher-lawyer-soldier, and one of the first people to draw people’s attention to what was happening in the Congo. There’s a level of politics in the movie, with a very small P, we didn’t want to dwell on it too much but it does give context for what’s happening in our story. So George Washington Williams, played by Sam, wants to try and get to the bottom of what King Leopold is up to in the Congo, which is basically enslaving a good portion of the population. So Sam persuades John, Tarzan, to take him back to the Congo, where they can work together to uncover what Leopold’s up to.
DB: Which was genocide on a massive scale.
DY: It was the first great genocide. Actually, that’s a really heavy part of it, and if one percent of the audience gets intrigued by that, they can learn about the first great genocide.
Will we be hearing the famous Tarzan yell?
DB: Of course you will!
DY: We were mixing it this morning.
To read more of this extensive interview with David Yates and David Baren, learn more about the animation of the film, casting choices, and how Jane saves Tarzan, read here.
In a series of “round ups” we have been summarising the many movies, plays and other projects associated with Harry Potter alumni. The YA cast from Potter includes the trio and J.K. Rowling’s ‘Big Six’, so it’s unsurprising that they’re on all sorts of exciting endeavours!
A new trailer and poster for Dan’s upcoming spy-thriller Imperium have recently been released, which you can view below – he will be portraying nervous undercover FBI agent / white supremacist, Nate Foster. The film is set to be released in August. Entertainment Weekly reports:
“The director says — worryingly — that the more he learned about the topic, the more timely and relevant it seemed. “We’re witnessing a surge in far-right groups all across Europe; in some cases they’re nearly winning national elections,” says Ragussis. “We have a stereotype of what it means to be a white supremacist, but when I began collaborating with Michael and doing my own research, I was stunned by the depth and the extent of this movement.”
Ragussis made every effort to authentically portray the experience of going undercover, as well as the modern-day white supremacist community. “There’s a large white supremacist rally in the middle of the film that we had spent months researching and planning,” the filmmaker explains. “There were so many details that had to be captured to try to make it real and authentic. I’d read about them, seen them, watched videos of them — but to actually see it come to life by our own hands was something I’ll never forget. Someone even called the news and erroneously reported a Klan rally in their neighborhood! So to that extent, I suppose we did our job.””
Dan will also star in Jungle – a psychological thriller based around the story of Yossi Ghinsberg’s memoir of his trip to the Amazon, which was included in The Discovery Channel’s I Shouldn’t Be Alive.
Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) has been cast as a series regular in CW’s The Flash. He will be portraying Julian Dorne – a Central City Police Department crime scene investigator. Read more here.
Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) recently wrote, produced and directed short movie Medusa’s Ankles with Potter co-star Jason Isaacs, which is set for release this year. She also raised money for Film Aidby making her own ‘Come Dream With Me’ t-shirts, which got the support of many Potter co-stars, and even J.K. Rowling herself!
Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) is currently starring in Me Before You alongside Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) and Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who).
He is also (almost) confirmed to be co-starring as ‘Lenny’ in Terminal, along with Margot Robbie , Simon Pegg, Mike Myers and more. The film is being produced by Harry Potter producer, David Barron. Read more at Matthew lewis.com here.
AlfredEnoch (Dean Thomas) will be returning to CB’s hit show How to Get Away With Murder for its third season on September 22nd.
Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) and Katie Leung (Cho Chang) recently took the Ilvermornysorting tests on Pottermore, both being sorted into the same house as J.K. Rowling: Thunderbird:
Katie Leung is set to star in The Foreigner– a film based on 1992 novel The Chairman, and co-starring Pierce Brosnan and Jackie Chan.
Lastly, Jessie Cave (Lavender Brown) has continued to make videos on her eponymous Youtube channel (here). She also appeared in Call the Midwife, and is set to star in Modern Life Is Rubbish, directed by Daniel Gill, who is known for being assistant Director on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
Hope you’re looking forward to all these upcoming features from our favourite YA Potter actors as much as we are! Be sure to take a look at the adult actor round ups, split into Part 1 (here) and Part 2 (here)!
Katherine Waterston and Alison Sudol feature in Fantastic Beasts as sisters, Tina and Queenie Goldstein. The Pottermore Correpondent caught up with them to ask about their auditions, and how they manage to portray the bond between the sisters so well.
According to Pottermore, Katherine Waterston and Alison Sudol were cast as the Goldstein sisters after Eddie Redmayne had been cast as Newt, and David Yates was looking for two actresses with a ‘very specific type of chemistry’. Alison Sudol describes the moment they showed that they were the right fit:
‘We were introduced and it was kind of like, “Okay Katherine, this is Alison. Alison, this is Katherine. Why don’t you have a seat on that couch and be sisters?” We were both like, “Right, okay!”’
‘And so I [Alison] sat down and something happened: I just looked at Katherine’s face and felt incredibly empathetic towards her. In this scene, she – Tina – was suffering and I could see that. I started playing with her hair, and plaiting her hair, and it was a really emotional moment for both of us.’
But, according to Katherine, it wasn’t the first time she’d seen Alison act:
‘The truth is that I saw Alison in a scene first. I got to watch her work a little bit before we did the improvisation, so I already knew she was a really good actor,’ Katherine says.
‘So I went into the improvisation knowing I was with someone who would be able to hold up their side of the bargain. With things like that when you’re nervous and you’re auditioning, to know you can trust your partner gives you confidence you might not otherwise have in that situation.
‘I think that made a big difference.”
J.K. Rowling’s focus on family, love and relationships in the Harry Potter series has continued to be a prominent theme in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and it seems we’ll get to see another side to this in the sisterly relationship between Tina and Queenie in Fantastic Beasts.
Katherine Waterston says that being a sister makes the role slightly easier to play naturally, given that she knows all the quirks of such a close bond:
‘I have a whole life’s history of that feeling of being a sister. That’s really what it comes down to with acting like this: it’s trust and love. We both felt that connection on the first day, Alison and I. But also, I’ve got a sister. I am a sister, so it wasn’t tricky to call on that. Sometimes my sister and I have come downstairs wearing the same outfit or we’ve called our mom at exactly the same time. There’s something witchy about being sisters anyway, don’t you think?’
If you haven’t seen it already, catch the sisters in the Fantastic Beasts trailer here, and read an interview with Katherine Waterston on working with David Yates here.
Emma Watson is currently on a year long hiatus from acting, but she’s starring in two exciting films in the line-up to be released: The Colony (released yesterday in the U.K.) and Beauty and The Beast. The Independent asked her a little more about her character in The Colony, the subject matter of the film, and what it’s like to be playing Belle.
“I think she’s just so brave” Emma says of Lena, her character in The Colony.“It’s such an extraordinary act of courage, so I found that very compelling”
“I think Lena’s very relatable, she’s an air hostess, she’s kind of an everyday woman, so I’d just say the women that I’ve met personally in my life who I’ve seen that kind of resolve and that kind of strength and that kind of thinking which allows them to do extraordinary things … a belief in themselves and a belief in what they’re doing”
Emma also confirms that she visited Chile to speak to survivors of the sect Colonia Dignidad, which the film is based around, whichoperated during the 1973 Chilean Military Coup, and researched the cult to try to understand as much as she could about the way it functioned:
“It was actually not that long ago, and I feel like so little is known about it, which is extraordinary”
“Even just being there, there was an atmosphere which was quite strong and quite pervasive, so even if I’d spoken to no one, just going and being around the buildings and know what each of the different functions of the rooms were … was a pretty intense experience”
She also spoke about how the responsibility being UN Goodwill Ambassador for Women impacts her choice in film roles:
“It is a different dimension – being a ‘child star’ as they call it, or having worked as a minor, you do have to be aware of the kind of trajectory, and also aware that people are viewing your performances through a very different lens”
Emma comments on an article which discussed people who had seen the trailer calling her role in The Colony a ‘scandalous’ move, showing her ‘really trying to push the envelope and really trying to step away from Hermione and Harry Potter‘:
“I’m just kissing someone, you know, and it’s like, a huge deal”
“You’re aware of that, but I don’t like to try and let all of that that noise effect my choices and decisions, because ultimately if you live like that … it would close me off to a lot of opportunities and experiences”
She also spoke about violence against women (which is a recurring theme in The Colony):
“It’s probably not talked about enough – how pervasive it actually is. I think we’ve got a long way to go – I think it’s also just become socially acceptable or just ‘the norm’ that women should feel afraid walking around alone, whether that’s particularly at night or whenever. I think it’s sad that we live in a society where women don’t feel safe to walk around on their own”
On what it’s like to play Belle in Disney’s new live-action Beauty and the Beast:
“Amazing, I mean it’s just every girl’s dream, really. I loved her as a child, I love all the music, I knew all the lyrics and I loved that she was just this feisty heroine who’s whole life wasn’t about marrying the most handsome guy in the village … she wanted to read and go on adventures and she wanted to be her own woman and her own person … she’s probably one of my first tastes of feminism, so pretty cool to be playing her now”
Read more about The Colony and watch the trailer here, and watch the full interview below!
It’s hard to believe that it’s been fifteen years since the first Harry Potter film lit up our movie screens, but the minds behind the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London certainly haven’t forgotten. Since the beginning of the year, Warner Bros. has been delighting fans with a variety of exhibitions celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and the most recent addition is aptly titled “Finding the Philosopher’s Stone”.
The new exhibit will feature life-size Wizard’s Chess pieces, troll snot, unicorn blood, a moving display of the Devil’s Snare, and–naturally–several iterations of the Philosopher’s Stone. Prop makers will also be in attendance to give fans an inside look at the prop-making process.
“Finding the Philosopher’s Stone” will run from July 22 through September 5. Tickets to the exhibition cannot be purchased while on the tour, so be sure to book in advance.
Yesterday, the Fantastic Beasts Twitter page released an exclusive introduction to the protagonist of the newest film to be set in the wizarding world: Newt Scamander. There are some exclusive new clips in this video, so be sure to watch it below!
The video starts with J.K. Rowling (screenwriter and producer) introducing her concept of a hero:
“My heroes are always people who feel themselves to be set apart, stigmatised, or othered. That’s at the heart of most of what I write, and it’s certainly at the heart of this movie”
We are then shown an intriguing new image of Newt, Tina and Jacob in MACUSA, after what looks to be an arrest:
Newt then delicately and fondly touches Tina’s face:
Rowling then tells how a textbook used in Hogwarts in the Potter books and films became its own phenomenon in the muggle world of today – she became increasingly interested in Newt’s story whilst writing the Potter series, leading to the Fantastic Beasts movie!
“He’s been travelling the world studying magical creatures – he calls himself a magizoologist!
“Newt’s creatures live in his magical case – you open it up, you can go down, and it’s an amazing space”
Eddie Redmayne then introduces his character: “He feels more at home with creatures than he does with human beings,” we are told by Redmayne. It is here that the Bowtruckle is introduced.
“Come on, give me a smile.” Newt coaxes. The Bowtruckle responds by blowing a raspberry at him!
“Newt walks into a society he doesn’t really understand” Rowling continues:
“Mr Scamander, do you know anything about the wizarding community in America?”, Tina asks Newt.
“I know that you have rather backward laws about relations with non-magic people” he replies (notice he didn’t say ‘muggle’!), “You’re not meant to befriend them, you can’t marry them, which seems wildly absurd to me”
We are then told the crux of the Fantastic Beasts storyline:
“Jacob accidentally opens Newt’s case, full of magical creatures” Rowling says. “It’s something that has implications for the whole wizarding world’.
Warner Bros. were present at Licensing Expo 2016 in Vegas, with exclusive merchandise from Fantastic Beasts and a statement on further projects:
“As we head into Licensing Expo 2016 and look to the year ahead, we’re focused on forging new and innovative partnerships with premiere licensees and retailers, continuing to build strong franchises, and delivering great product and experiences to our consumers,” said Pam Lifford, president, Warner Bros. Consumer Products.
“By strategically leveraging our world-class franchises, we’ll continue to offer our new and seasoned partners more consumer engagement opportunities, best-in-class product and expanded fan experiences.”
“To celebrate the film’s debut, Warner Bros. Consumer Products will roll out an all-new programme including a robust publishing push, apparel, toys and collectables, housewares, stationery and more.”
Fantastic Beasts Are Coming: The Wizarding World franchise has been captivating fans since the release of Harry Potter and is now expanding to include new characters, creatures and locations with the debut of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, hitting theaters November 18. To celebrate the film’s debut, Warner Bros. Consumer Products will roll out an all-new program that extends the Wizarding World fan experience with best-in-class products and partnerships. These cross-category opportunities will include a robust publishing program, inspired-by apparel, toys and collectibles, housewares, stationery and more.
Harry Potter’s Immersive World: A global phenomenon, Harry Potter is one of the most beloved franchises around the world. As J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World expands – from Harry Potter-inspired themed lands in Florida, Japan and Hollywood, to globally touring exhibitions and concert series – WBCP and its partners continue to deliver immersive high quality experiences to extend the journey for the legions of current fans and new generations to come.
Based on these new initiatives, a new Harry Potter Production team has been established by Warner Bros. The new team is called the Harry Potter Global Franchise Development Team (HPGFD), andwill be dealing with all future Potter-related projects, including films, Warner Bros Studio Tour in London, theme parks and digital products (i.e. Pottermore).
Polly Cochrane will operate as Chief Marketing Officer of the team, as well as group marketing director for Warner Bros UK and Ireland.
Fantastic Beasts will be in attendance at VidCon this year – one of the biggest fan conventions based around the power of online video, originally conceived by YouTube’s Vlogbrothers, Hank and John Green.
In the run up to the convention, the film’s Facebook page released a brand new poster, featuring Newt Scamander, and a message teasing at something FANTASTIC set to occur at VidCon:
“A new piece of art to celebrate a new era of the Wizarding World! And stay tuned because something FANTASTIC at ?#?vidcon2016? is being announced soon… ?#?FantasticBeasts?“
This new poster is absolutely beautiful – we can’t wait to see what they’ll be up to at VidCon! Watch the official trailer here!
Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) can currently be seen in cinemas alongside Game of Thrones and Terminator Genisys star Emilia Clarke in the new romance, Me Before You.
Though Matt worked with amazing actors such as Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith and Emma Thompson on Harry Potter, Matthew told Bustle that he still found working with Emilia Clarke nerve-wracking due to her ‘disarming’ presence both on camera and on set:
“I remember when I first went in to do rehearsals, I was really nervous, actually, because I had not seen the show, but I had read all the books, and I knew how important her character was in Game of Thrones,” Lewis tells Bustle. “I was just like, ‘Oh god, I hope that I can bring something to the table, I hope I can try and match her.'”
“As soon as I got in the room, she was just so lovely, just so approachable, so easy to talk to.”
“The whole environment of the set was set by her,” Lewis explains. “It was just a really fun environment — we got to come in and play around and try things and do things, and it just felt really comfortable.”
“I was in tears reading the book, trying most pathetically at being manly,” Lewis says with a laugh. “And every time I tried, it was just flowing even more. And then I saw the film a couple months ago… it’s gonna be one of those films that definitely elicits an emotional response, which is brilliant.”
In Me Before You, Matt Lewis portrays Patrick – the ‘well-meaning but oblivious’ boyfriend of Emilia Clarke’s character, Louisa. On his character in the film, Matthew says:
“I was never going to play him as being a jerk, because from my perspective, Patrick doesn’t think he’s a jerk,” Lewis says. “He doesn’t know that he’s being an idiot and he’s being horrible to Lou — he thinks that everything he’s doing is probably fine and normal.”
“It’s very easy to make it black and white, that Will’s [Sam Claflin] brilliant and Patrick’s a bit of a jerk,” the actor adds. “But I think we — Emilia and Jojo and I — wanted to make it a bit more of a grey area.”
Matthew also spoke to ITV’s Lorraine about re-watching the Potter series, though he doesn’t seem to be a big fan of watching himself as Neville anymore, but still says it was a great experience that he was lucky to be a part of:
‘I think I got halfway through the first one and that was enough for me, I didn’t want to see anymore … it’s just like watching home videos of you as a child, it’s difficult sometimes’
Read the full interview with Bustle here, and watch Matthew’s chat with Lorraine below:
Come August 19th, we will be able to see our beloved Sirius Black, a.k.a Gary Oldman, on the big screen once again. Gary will be playing Nathaniel Shepherd, a NASA scientist in charge of sending astronauts to live on Mars.
With Gary Oldman alongside Asa Butterfield and Britt Robertson, The Space Between Us is about a boy who was born on Mars and raised by scientists. Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield) returns to Earth to find his father, only to find that his body can’t quite function properly on Earth. The trailer for the film can be seen below:
This week, Pottermore gave us a look inside what David Yates actually does as Director of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Apparently it’s not all yelling ‘Cut!’ and ‘Action!’ – at least not for David Yates.
A team of Assistant Directors ensures filming runs as smoothly as possible, and according to Pottermore, most of their jobs involve adjusting leads, moving extras and actors around, preparing props and muttering instructions into mics. This team is led by first Assistant Director (AD) Josh Robertson, who usually does all the yelling, cutting and hushing:
“Josh and the other ‘ADs’ do a lot of yelling and a lot of shushing. Volume control is one of their principle duties. And when you consider that a mistimed cough could ruin a scene and cost thousands to reshoot, it’s very important.”
…
“There are four ADs on set (or, in movie speak, ‘on the floor’) and they all have earpiece microphones that make everything they say sound urgent. On Fantastic Beasts, Josh is joined by Tom Brewster, Danni Lizaitis and Katherine Hingst as second, third and fourth AD. Their names will appear right near the top of the end credits of the film when it’s out – you’ll spot them.”
“To support [David’s] process, the ADs fan out, assume positions at various spots on set and keep that area clean, clear, quiet and calm during and between scenes. They are the purveyors of smooth operation, the enablers of great direction.”
David Yates adjusts cameras to get the perfect shot, gives quiet directions to actors and monitors each shot and how the action plays out on screen. His gentle manner is something Katherine Waterston (who will portray Tina Goldstein in Fantastic Beasts) previously shared insight into David’s inspired style of directing:
‘He has a shorthand and a comfort with the world. He’s not precious with it, he understands what it needs and what it doesn’t need and there’s something really comforting in that.’
‘When we’re incorporating things that aren’t actually there, to look at David and know he can see the world is… everything,’
The PottermoreCorrespondent adds:
“He is both obsessively detailed-oriented and able to see the whole project as if from above. After directing the final four Harry Potter films, this is his fifth venture into J.K. Rowling’s imagination and he knows the territory well. He just needs a dependable crew to clear his path for him”
Read the full piece here, and Pottermore’s interview with David Yates here!
With the wizarding world returning to the big screen with a movie called Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, not only will the magic return but so will the many magical creatures we have come to love. But which ones will we meet again, and how many new ones will we be introduced to for the first time?
There were many different types of magical beasts that were mentioned and introduced throughout both the Harry Potter books and movies. We all have our favorites, the ones we’d want as a pet, and now, the ones we want to see return in the Fantastic Beasts movie. I’ve decided to explore a few of my personal favorites. I’ve got my copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them here to help us rediscover these fantastic beasts.
Shall we start with the obvious? Probably the most popular and most widely known throughout the wizarding world as well as the Harry Potter fandom. Terrifyingly beautiful, they are the hardest creature to conceal from muggles.
Dragons
We were first introduced to dragons in Harry’s first year, when Hagrid began raising a Norwegian Ridgeback in his cabin. They were mentioned many times from that point on, finally making a reappearance in Harry’s fourth year as the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Since the four wizards each had to face a different dragon, we had the pleasure of being introduced to four new breeds: the Hungarian Horntail, the Chinese Fireball, the Swedish Short-Snout, and the Welsh Green.
There are ten different breeds of dragons known in the wizarding world but they occasionally interbreed, producing rare hybrid dragons. They have just a few different uses among wizards, namely for their wands. One option for the core of a wand is a dragon heart string. Other aspects of dragons are also useful in brewing potions or as fertilizer for plants.
As full beings, they have been known to be used as obstacles, sort of like guard dogs. Aside from the triwizard tournament, we see them used this way in the lower levels of Gringotts Bank. The Golden Trio even lived my dreams by flying a Ukrainian Ironbelly, the largest breed of dragon, to safety.
Moving on to one of my personal favorites.
Hippogriffs
A Hippogriff is a beautiful creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a horse. They first appeared in the books in Harry’s third year, when Hagrid took over the job of Care of Magical Creatures professor. Hagrid owned a beloved Hippogriff named Buckbeak. Luckily, Hippogriffs are one of the creatures Hagrid owned throughout the books that are actually able to be domesticated.
Hippogriffs are very sensitive creatures. One must be very careful when attempting to approach them, bowing low and keeping eye contact at all times. If the Hippogriff bows back, it is safe to approach farther. Also, it’d be wise to remember “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” otherwise you may end up with an injury or two.
Phoenix
Very few people have been able to domesticate these birds, but it is not impossible. Phoenixes are grand birds, with rich scarlet feathers and a golden tail. They are very gentle creatures whose tears have powerful healing properties. The Phoenix song is quite magical as well, it is believed that it can increase the courage of the pure of heart and strike fear into the hearts of the impure.
Ablus Dumbledore was one of the few able to domesticate a Phoenix. Harry, along with the rest of us, were quite confused when Fawkes suddenly burst into the flames the first time we saw him. Phoenixes have a regenerative ability that let’s them burst into flame when their body is weakening and be reborn from their ashes once again. They can also disappear and reappear at will, taking anyone holding onto them along with them. Kingsley Shacklebolt had it right, Dumbledore’s got style.
Acromantulas
I’ve never been one for spiders but I think if I ever came within 100 feet of an Acromantula I’d probably soil my pants. It may not be the prettiest magical creature that I know of but it is definitely one of the scariest and most interesting. An Acromantula is a large, eight-eyed spider that is capable of human speech and has near-human intelligence.
Hagrid raised an Acromantula from the egg, creating a profound bond between the two. The Acromantula, Aragog, inhabited the Forbidden Forest until it’s untimely death in 1997. Within it’s life, Aragog established a colony within the forest where it’s children still live today.
Since the latest trailer for Fantastic Beasts was released, we have caught a glimpse of two new beasts: the ever-adorable little trouble maker, the Niffler, and the Swooping Evil. The Swooping Evil isn’t in the Hogwarts textbook, so Warner Bros. will be including Beasts fans would never have expected. The Niffler, the creatures listed above, as well as many others, you can learn more about in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book!
Leave a comment about which fantastic beasts you’d like to see in the movie!
Excalibur Auctions will be selling off a Sirius Black ‘wanted’ style poster from the promotion of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban film in just a few days time.
The promotional poster is one of less than ten of this kind known to be produced for the film, leading Excalibur Auctions to call this ‘one of the rarest posters ever produced to publicise the films’.
It is particularly unique due to its lenticular design, meaning that the images changes depending on which angle you view it from. Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) is in the shot if you view the poster from head on, and he disappears if you angle the poster slightly differently. Clearly this format was much more expensive to produce, leading to the remaining posters being coveted!
The poster is predicted to sell for £4,000-£6,000, and the auction will take place at The Village Hotel in Elstree, Watford on Saturday 28th May 2016 at 10:30am. Live bidding will occur in the room, with internet bidding available at The Sale Room and Invaluable.
The auction will also feature a Star Wars Episode II Yoda lenticular poster, a 1920s Sherlock Holmes window card and many James Bond themed items (including original Quad posters from Dr No and From Russia With Love.
More information can be found on the Excalibur Auctions website, here.
Bustle recently sat down with Christian Coulson, to discuss his portrayal of young Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Coulson revealed that he could empathise with his character relatively easily (minus the genocidal, racist tendencies, of course). Raised in Wool’s Orphanage in London, Tom Riddle was a troubled, isolated, child – Coulson says his experience of boarding school helped him empathise with Riddle’s isolation, but also to his slightly darker side:
“I had been at boarding school in a sort of Hogwarts-y school called Westminster, which has been around for about 1000 years … The stone steps leading up to where we had assembly are worn down from hundreds of years boys running up and down them. My parents were abroad when I was there, and I felt like I was an orphan. There was a detached survival mechanism that I really identified with.”
“I really loved doing that scene with Richard Harris where I’m pretending to be a model student… while really lying to him,” Coulson says. “It reminded me a lot of my experience at boarding school — of being impeccably well-behaved on the outside and secretly getting up to mischief.”
“There’s a lot that isn’t similar about us, but I felt that I understood something about him.There’s something very wrong with him, but I understand what it is,” the 37-year-old actor says. “The things he did [as a teenager] made sense to me in terms of his survival.”
Portraying Riddle at a time when Rowling was still developing his story arc, Coulson enjoyed imagining the depth to his character:
“From the information in those [four books], it seemed to me that there was a coldness and an emotional absence to his evil, and that was what I was interested in exploring.”
Riddle’s story begins in 1926 – the year Newt Scamander arrived at MACUSA with his magnificent briefcase after being expelled from Hogwarts, and supported by Albus Dumbledore himself. An interesting coincidence, making us wonder if there’s any chance we’ll be getting hints at the dark lord in Fantastic Beasts… or is it too early in Riddle’s life to pull him into the story?
Emma Watson will star as Belle in the live-action remake of the Disney classic, Beauty and the Beast in March 2017. Harry Potter‘s Emma Thompson is also set to feature in the film (as Mrs Potts).
Paige O’Hara (who voiced Belle in the original animated Disney film) recently gave her verdict on Emma Watson as the leading lady, which you can read more about here.
The first official trailer for the movie will appear on Good Morning America tomorrow morning. See the official Beauty and the Beast Twitter (below) for a teaser clip!
Dan Radcliffe may not have been at this interview with MTV, but that didn’t stop Now You See Me 2 co-stars Jesse Eisenberg & Dave Franco talking about his role in Harry Potter, after discussing the many intricacies of the film’s title!
After being asked how many Potter films there were, Jesse Eisenberg replies ‘There were several’, and clarifies that he didn’t grow up with the books or films as many did, but that he was ‘enamoured’ with Dan’s acting. Eisenberg also says that Dan will be playing a villain in this movie, and is ‘phenomenal’ as his character, predicting that audiences who are fans of his acting in Potter will be pleasantly surprised with this refreshing reminder of his great talent (along with his other great films, of course!).
Dave Franco also comments, saying that Dan is a hard worker, always striving to achieve his best performance. Franco tells us that Dan nailed a 5 page monologue in every take, admiring how ‘professional’ Dan is, and echoing Eisenberg’s comments on the change in his acting in this film
Watch the interview below:
Mark Ruffalo also tweeted a new poster for the film, saying that they’ve channelled ‘Where’s Waldo’ for this one – Dan is seen above Ruffalo (centre):
Watch the newest trailer below, and read more about the film here!
Gary Oldman (Harry Potter‘s Sirius Black) features in the new action film, Criminal, showing in theaters now.
Criminal is a spy thriller about a mission gone wrong. Oldman plays a CIA bureau chief named Quaker Wells. When one of his agents dies trying to reach a young hacker (Michael Pitt), Wells finds a neurosurgeon (Tommy Lee Jones) who is experimenting with memory transfer to input the memories from his agent into the mind of a death-row inmate named Jericho (Kevin Costner). Jericho must then find where the hacker is hidden before the bad guys do.
Criminal opened April 15, and reviews have been mixed. Of Oldman’s performance, The Daily Mail Online says that he “looks like he’s having fun as the CIA chief trying to prevent mass destruction.” But The Hollywood Reporter says that “from such a good actor, this performance seems entirely misdirected and inauthentic for a figure requiring maximum shrewdness and smarts.”
The consensus is that while the action scenes can be exciting, the stellar cast, with Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot filling out the lead roles, are not used to their potential. Reviewers agreed that the main actors (Oldman, Costner, and Jones) were obviously having a great time on the film, probably enjoying their reunion after working together on JFK (1991).
If Gary Oldman wants to make a movie just to get paid to hang out with his friends, then we won’t fault him for it.
CinemaCon attendees waited with high hopes to see some Beauty and the Beast footage featuring Emma Watson, but it seems they’ll have to wait like the rest of us – Disney are doing very well at keeping it under wraps!
However, they did say Emma Watson is ‘extraordinary’ as Belle in their current screen-tests (obviously), making us even more excited to hear more news!
Read more from CinemaCon here, and more about Beauty and the Beast here!
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