Search Results for: blog harry potter mania

Harry Potter and Michael Jackson Themed Trips

If your kids are wild about Harry, then hit the road for a literary journey featuring the fictional boy wizard’s favorite haunts. Last week’s release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, has sparked a slew of travel deals inspired by J.K. Rowling’s books about wannabe wizards, including: Skyscanner.net is offering tours of 13 key locations in the Potter Universe, from Platform 9¾ at London’s Kings Cross Station to Romania, home to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. Fandango.com is featuring a Summer Movie Road Trips section that offers travelers the chance to visit Harry Potter’s Rolling Green British Isles. Meanwhile, for … Continue reading →

“Harry Potter” Bollywood Brouhaha

The studio in charge of distributing those mega-popular Harry Potter films is no slouch when it comes to making money. Recently, Warner Bros. announced that the highly anticipated sixth installment in the blockbuster film franchise about the boy wizard, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” would no longer be in theaters in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. Rather, in an attempt to capitalize on an open date during the busy (See: mega-profitable) summer season, the studio decided to sit on the film until July 17, 2009, when it would be released nationwide. Most movie critics call the move strategic given … Continue reading →

Hatter Potter Prequel for Sale

If you are interested in adding the unseen work to your Harry Potter collection you should plan to dig deep (really deep) to get in on the bidding action. According to organizers running the “What’s Your Story?” auction, the 800-word Harry Potter prequel written by the boy wizard’s creator J.K. Rowling appears on pieces of paper that are each only slightly larger than a postcard. Auction insiders say the famous author used both sides of the cards to hand-write what some are calling a prequel to her seven-book Harry Potter saga. Rowling’s work is one of 13 shrunken works to … Continue reading →

Harry Potter Fans About to See Double and Robert Redford’s Dream Project

Seven books, eight movies? Hmm… doesn’t seem to add up unless you are talking about the phenomenally successful Harry Potter series and you are trying to cash in BIG TIME. According to movie producers, the boy wizard will star in not one, but two films adapted from J.K. Rowling’s last “Potter” installment, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” The story will reportedly be split into two parts on the big screen. The first film is slated for release in November 2010, with part two following in May 2011. Producers say it was impossible to include all the elements of the … Continue reading →

Potter’s Glasses Honor Holocaust Victims

Just file it under: the most unique way to reuse eyeglasses. Daniel Radcliffe, the young actor who played the bespectacled schoolboy wizard in the “Harry Potter” films, may never look at his first eyeglasses in the same way again. The 18-year-old just donated the glasses he wore as a child to a one-of-a-kind exhibition marking the horrors of the Holocaust. Radcliffe donated the tiny oval, gray metal-framed pair of glasses he wore as a 6-year-old to the exhibit where it joins specs belonging to Yoko Ono, talk show host Jerry Springer, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other celebrities. … Continue reading →

Usher Gets Ready to Kick It and Harry Potter Hopefuls Prepare to Kick Someone

R&B singer Usher is preparing for not one, but two huge new roles in the coming weeks. The entertainer is less than a month away from becoming a first time father (his wife Tameka Foster is reportedly due to give birth to a son in early December) and he is getting ready to fill some big dancing shoes—Gene Kelly’s. Usher told reporters he is currently preparing to shoot the Movie Rocks show in which he will perform a remake of Gene Kelly’s “Singing in the Rain.” The singer says he was even more thrilled when producers told him the shoot … Continue reading →

Pop Culture Updates: Harry Goes to China and Colbert’s New Bid

Potter mania is hitting China. Chinese-language publishers have printed nearly 2 million copies of the final book about the boy wizard and are considering issuing more, according to news reports. Similar to other parts of the world, unauthorized translations of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” surfaced on Chinese websites ahead of its official release last month. The Chinese translation of “The Deathly Hallows” hit stores October 20th in Hong Kong and Taiwan and October 28th in China as opposed to the English version of the book, which was released in July. The seven books about Harry, his pals and … Continue reading →

Pop Culture Milestones: Reese, Jake, and Harry

It’s officially official… kind of… maybe… Now that her divorce to Ryan Phillippe has been finalized it appears Reese Witherspoon is finally letting her guard down and confirming rumors that she and Jake Gyllenhaal are an item. The actress has denied romance rumors for months, but new pictures captured in Italy clearly show Witherspoon and Gyllenhaal sharing intimate moments. Paparazzi caught up with the couple as they toured Rome following the European premiere of their new flick “Rendition.” (The two reportedly met during filming of the drama, though they don’t share a single scene together in the entire movie.) The … Continue reading →

Harry’s Author Reveals Big Secret

Was it really a secret? Hard core Harry Potter, you should know. I mean, really, how many of you were that surprised when J.K. Rowling revealed last night that one of her main characters, Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, is gay. According to news reports, it shocked the heck out of thousands of fans who gathered to engage in a Q& A session with Rowling at Carnegie Hall Friday night. After reading portions from her final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the mega-selling author fielded questions from devoted Potter fans. One young fan asked Rowling whether Dumbledore finds “true … Continue reading →

Pop Culture Updates: Harry, Sampson and “The Simpsons”

JUST WILD ABOUT HARRY We all know by now that Harry Potter, the fictional boy wizard, is a pop culture icon. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” smashed all sales records this weekend (8.3 million copies of the book were sold in the first 24 hours). But, there’s another record the book has earned that you may not have heard about. According to the National Braille Press, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” was made available to the blind at the same time sighted readers could purchase their print versions. The Boston-based publisher says that is an extremely rare occurrence … Continue reading →