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Entertainment Weekly Summer Movie Preview: News on Aragog, Interview with Steve Kloves, More

The new issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine contains their Summer Movie Previews, with a mention of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Of note seems to be confirmation from actor Jim Broadbent that his character of Slughorn will be dealing with the giant Spider Aragog. Also new are rare comments from HBP screenwriter Steve Kloves. Teaser Quotage from EW as follows:

The wait is over. Warner Bros.’ adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince finally hits theaters July 15.  “You know the headline on this one, of course,” says Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) of the franchise’s sixth installment.  SPOILER ALERT!  “It’s the one where Dumbledore [Michael Gambon] pops his claws.” (If you’re not hip to Coltrane’s lingo, well …mystery preserved).  It’s also the one where we learn Voldemort’s origin story—although there’s much less of it in the movie than in the book. Screenwriter Steve Kloves says he chose “a few key memories instead of attempting to include all of them.” Half-Blood Prince also emphasizes Harry’s relationship with Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent), the Potions teacher who holds a secret to Voldemort’s past, plus teen-romance intrigue involving Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and Ginny (Bonnie Wright), as well as Ron (Rupert Grint), Hermione (Emma Watson), and newcomer Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave). “The last film was quite intense with all that battle stuff,” says Grint. “This one is a lot lighter and much funnier.” Not that the film lacks thrills. “I worked with a giant spider,” says Broadbent. “Bloody marvelous.”

The magazine is also reviving their set visit article, (lost in the shuffle last year with the announcement of the delay of HBP) which includes interviews with cast members including Dan Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson as well as director David Yates. Among the many new details are stories of filming scenes with Hermione's heartache over Ron and Lavender (Even after ''Cut!'' Watson continues to tear up, and Radcliffe offers comfort with a lingering side hug and whispered praise. ''Bloody f---ing brilliant, Emma. Just top-notch.''), info on the number of memories included in the movie (''We see Voldemort as a little boy, and then on two occasions we see him as a student. By doing that, we honor the spirit of what Jo [Rowling] had done but avoid getting stuck in narrative cul-de-sacs.'' Yates), and thoughts on the art of romance from Dan Radcliffe (''I never had any idea how to talk to girls until a year or so ago,'' says the 19-year-old actor during a break from shooting last April. ''I still come out with trivial crap when I'm flirting, but I like to think I'm doing it in a faintly endearing way.'')From the article itself, Mr. Kloves is cited as saying the following:

Will moviegoers still be wild about Harry? ''I'm not going to lie to you,'' says Oscar-nominated screenwriter Steve Kloves, returning to his role as official franchise scribe after taking the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, off. ''I do have some concern that because the books are over, the anticipation for the movies won't be the same.'' Yes, the films have surged in popularity since Alfonso Cuarón's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban set them on an edgier course. And yes, there are those who follow the saga only through the movies — which is why we'll refrain from discussing Prince's monumental 90-hanky death. Yet even within the top ranks of a moviemaking operation as bloody well run as Harry Potter, there is, well, mild freaking out. Kloves allows himself an improbable thought, then laughs. ''It would be a complete car crash if no one showed up.''

He also speaks to the issue which we first reported several years ago involving the announcement from J.K. Rowling here in New York that she always thought of Professor Dumbledore as a gay character. Quotage from Mr. Kloves:

In Kloves' first draft of the screenplay, he had written a line (not in the book) in which Dumbledore fondly recalls a Muggle girl from his youth. He was quickly, quietly corrected. ''I was walking through Leavesden with Jo on our way to the first reading,'' Kloves remembers. ''As we entered the Great Hall, she leaned toward me and whispered, 'I saw the line you gave Dumbledore, but the thing is this: Dumbledore is gay.''' After Rowling revealed the wizard's sexuality to the rest of the filmmaking team — and before she made international headlines last fall by sharing this news publicly — Yates decided to strike the line. ''I just felt the scene worked without it,'' he says. ''I think the fact that Dumbledore is gay is wonderful. It feels very authentic to the character.''