Local teen goes on magical trip

From the State Journal-Register [Springfield, Illinois] come this article on a 13-year-old Dylan Noble's trip to a taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show. "Last November, Dylan was the subject of a story in The State Journal-Register's Voice section a few days before the first movie was released. ... InContinued...

Coltrane sticks with Harry

ITV.com reports that Robbie Coltrane had to turn down an offer to appear in the television show "The West Wing" as he was filming special effects for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. "I'm not complaining, as jobs go there's worse than playing Hagrid," he is quoted as saying.

Heyman: There will only be one Richard Harris

Thank you Victoria, for this from Reuters:

LONDON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The producer of the Harry Potter movies on Saturday hailed hell-raising Hollywood legend Richard Harris as "irreplaceable".
"He will be greatly missed," David Heyman said of the flamboyant star who died of cancerContinued...

Chris Columbus speaks about Harris

BBC Newsround has updated its page on Richard Harris with words from director Chris Columbus about the legendary actor.

Potter director Chris Columbus had this to say:
"We're all still in an incredible amount of shock. We knew Richard was sick but he was such a fighter that somehow deep down we all expectedContinued...

WB on Harris: We will treasure our memories of him

The WB released this statement yesterday.

Barry Meyer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer of Warner Bros., in a joint statement, "Warner Bros. extends our deep and heartfelt condolences to the family of Richard Harris, who has made soContinued...

BBC: Potter Cast Pay Tribute to Harris

BBC Newsround reports that the cast of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets paid tribute to Richard Harris today.

The cast and crew of Chamber of Secrets made this statement: "Richard Harris was a remarkable actor and a generous and free spirit. He will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.Continued...

More on Harris' Death

According to all reports thus far, award-winning actor Richard Harris died peacefully at 7pm GMT, at University College Hospital in London, where he was receiving treatment for Hodgkin's disease.

Click here for Harris' bio.

Click here to find out more about Hodgkin's disease and its effects.

The BBC has posted theContinued...

Richard Harris Dead at 72

We've gotten a few emails, and after seeing a few reports and making a few phone calls, and flat-out refusing to believe it - we are prepared to accept that Richard Harris did indeed die, today, at a London Hospital, at 72 years old.

I think we should all take a moment to take this in before we post more about it.Continued...

New Movie Images

Caitlin sends us this link to a Norwegian Web site that has a few new pics from CoS. (Thanks to Dr. C for the language correction.)

From 'This is London': Change of Heart for Columbus?

In an article from This is London, Chris Columbus is quoted as saying, "In the books, the kids get progressively older at Hogwarts, so they [Daniel, Rupert, and Emma] could presumably play their roles for the next seven films . It’s really up to them — how much stamina, excitement,Continued...

Scenes from London Press Conference to be Shown on British TV

Jill tells us that there are going to be scenes from today's press conference on British TV. We'd appreciate any new quotes!

More Potter Press Pics

Parker sends us this link from Rex Features of pictures from the London press conference.

BBC News says Potter director hails "unstarry" actors

The BBC News states that director Chris Columbus has described working on the Harry Potter films as the best experience of his career, because of there was "no starry nonsense" from the British actors.

Will a scarier "Potter" still draw little kids?

From Michigan Live comes this article on Warner Bros'. hopes that a "scary Harry" can pull off a difficult trick: retaining the core audience for the studio's "Harry Potter" movies as the franchise gets older.

Movie hoot for Potter owl trainer

Yahoo News reports that for animal trainer Gary Gero, making the Harry Potter films has been the pinnacle of his 40 years in the movie business. That is quite some accolade from a veteran specialist who worked as a teenager on the Alfred Hitchcock classic "The Birds," tamed and trained the creaturesContinued...