In an interview with Dark Horizons actor Jim Broadbent confirms that he has been cast as Horace Slughorn in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Broadbent: Yeah I had basically three months in Lincolnshire in the summer and suddenly now I’m back on the rollercoaster again and I’ve got to finish off Indiana Jones next month and I’ve got a bit on Young Victoria and it’s all been sort of stacking up and then I’m doing Harry Potter.
Question: Who are you?
Broadbent: Who am I? He’s called Horace Slughorn. He’s a retired teacher of magic who’s drawn back out of retirement because he’s got some secrets they need in the battle against the Deatheaters and he’s quite star struck as a teacher and he’s drawn back into the fold because he likes to notch up celebrity students, and he’s drawn back by Harry.
Question: Is he a comic character?
Broadbent: He is quite a comic character, yes. I haven’t started yet. I’ve had endless costume fittings and makeup and …
Question: What kind of costumes?
Broadbent: Tweedy sort of things with a bit of padding. He’s an older man, I’m aging up again.
Question: Have you read the book?
Broadbent: Yep, yep, yep. I haven’t read them all but I’ve read mine.
Yahoo UK is reporting that Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix director David Yates says he’s hoping to bring Bill Nighy to the next movie. Yates worked with Nighy on Girl In The Café and believes the Bafta nabbing star would make a great addition to the sixth Potter film, The Half Blood Prince which begins production later this year.
Yates told Wizard: “Oh man, I’m already there. The only problem is, we’re looking at the next adaptation and Rufus Scrimgeour, who takes over the Ministry of Magic from Fudge, we’re not sure if he’s going to be in the finished screenplay yet. We’re struggling with it at the moment, and he’s in one moment and he’s out the next. But if he stays in, I’m going to be on the phone quick as a shot to Bill and say, ‘Bill, come on, you’ve got to do this, man.”
MTV is now reporting that the casting rumors of Naomi Watts, Stuart Townsend and Joseph Fiennes for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince are not true. Representatives from all three of the actors denied the reports. MTV still insisted that Watts would make a good Narcissa Malfoy, Townsend a good Bill Weasley and Fiennes a good Tom Riddle to his brothers Voldemort. So are the representatives being coy or putting out a standard denial while contracts are being signed? I think all there actors would make great additions to the franchise in the roles they were supposedly attached too, and I hope this all turns that they will indeed star in the next sequel.
Naomi Watts has just signed on for a supporting role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. She is reported to play Draco Malfoy’s mother and Bellatrix Lestrange’s sister Narcissa Malfoy. Narcissa also plays a significant role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Also joining the Half-Blood cast is Joseph Fiennes – real life brother of Voldemort Ralph Fiennes – and one-time boyfriend of Charlize Theron, Stuart Townsend.
At the London press conference for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” late last week, producer David Heyman revealed that one character was cut then added back into the film’s screenplay under JK Rowling’s advisement. “Jo reads each draft, she reads each screenplay, and she said, ‘You know, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Or you can, but if you get to make a seventh film, you’ll be tied in knots.’” said Heyman.
Many have wondered which character that might be, well David Yates confirmed to MTV that it’s the Black family house elf Kreacher, introduced in ‘Phoenix’, that had to stay in. “We took Kreacher out, and Jo said, ‘Listen guys, you don’t have to put Kreacher back, but I’m just telling you, if you want to kind of keep a thread going for six and seven, you might want Kreacher to come back.’ She basically told us Kreacher plays a role in Seven, in a sense. She hinted. We thought about it for five seconds, and he came back” said Yates.
The TV Remote is reporting that ABC Family will be airing a an exclusive sneak peek of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, opening in theatres nationwide on July 11. The triple feature weekend – from Friday, July 6, through Sunday, July 8 – includes airings of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. During each broadcast, viewers will also be treated to never-before-seen footage from the newest Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc. and Universal Orlando Resort are partnering to create the world’s first fully immersive Harry Potter themed environment based on the bestselling books by J.K. Rowling and blockbuster feature films from Warner Bros. Envisioned as a “theme park within a theme park” and titled “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter”, the new environment will become part of the experience within Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park at the Universal Orlando Resort. Inspired by J.K. Rowling’s compelling stories and characters – and faithful to the visual landscapes of the films – “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” will provide a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience the magical world of Harry and his friends. The fully immersive, themed land will enable guests to visit some of the most iconic locations found in the books and the films including the village of Hogsmeade, the mysterious Forbidden Forest, and even Hogwarts castle itself. Expected to open in late 2009, the new environment will feature immersive rides and interactive attractions, as well as experiential shops and restaurants that will enable guests to sample fare from the wizarding world’s best known establishments. Also debuting will be a state-of-the-art attraction that will bring the magic, characters and stories of Harry Potter to life in an exciting way that guests have never before experienced.
ComingSoon.net is reporting that Warner Brothers Pictures has moved up Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix two days, from Friday, July 13 to Wednesday, July 11. This will give the movie a potential big five-day opening, from Wednesday through Sunday. The move also cuts into Transformers’ reign at the box office, with the film opening on July 4, just seven days before.
The BBFC reports that the soon to be released fifth film, Harry Potter and The Order of Phoenix, will have a running time of 138 minutes – the shortest of the films so far despite being based on the longest of the books.
To give you an idea of how Order of the Phoenix compares – both Sorcerer’s Stone and the Prisoner of Azkaban were 142 minutes, Goblet of Fire was 157 minutes and the Chamber of Secrets was 161 minutes.
So it would seem that Warner Brothers is still scared and doesn’t listen to the fanbase. How can Warner, David Yates or JK Rowling allow the longest book in the series to be the shortest film of the series? The studio’s paranoia is going to the sink this series. And this still makes me wonder . . . has Harry Potter outgrown Warner Brothers with the Order of the Phoenix?
According to LaineyGossip, U.K. buzz says that Naomi Watts might grab the role of Narcissa Malfoy nee Black – husband to Lucius, mother to Draco. Narcissa plays a pivotal role in The Half-Blood Prince engaging Severus Snape in an Unbreakable Vow leading to one of the biggests turns in the series thus far. The site muses that Watts claims she feels more British than Australian (she was born in England) recently to warm Rowling up to the thought of her taking the role.
