Scholastic Announces Second Quarter Results

Scholastic, the US publishers of the Harry Potter novels, today announced their fiscal Second Quarter results. Reuters reports that Scholastic "quarterly earnings fell 8 percent, citing lower results overseas and the impact of hurricanes." The article continues:

"Sales of the Harry PotterContinued...

Rumor: Dan Radcliffe in Early Talks to Star in Equus

Slap this one with a very heavy rumor label: The Daily Mail reports that Daniel Radcliffe is in very early talks to appear in a Kenneth Branagh-directed version of Peter Shaffer's acclaimed but graphic play (not film!), Equus in Jan. 2007 in the West End. The play would be one of threeContinued...

Visual Effects Supervisor's Active Role in GoF Production

After working on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and declining the same position for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, American Visual Effects Supervisor Jim Mitchell was enticed back to the HP fold because of Director Mike Newell's lack of experience with big-budget,Continued...

Wanna "Do the Hippogriff" at the Oscars ?

Here's a bit of some rocking cool news tonight. "Do the Hippogriff", from the soundtrack of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, is on the short list of songs eligible for an Oscar Award. This song, which was performed by Jarvis Cocker and Company as the band at the Yule Ball , is one of 42Continued...

Potter High on Online Searches

Harry Potter is sixth on Lycos' Top 50 2005 search terms, while the movie is 27th. Meanwhile, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was the most often-searched movie of 2005 on AOL, with Emma Watson and Dan Radcliffe coming in at 6th and 7th in the under-21 division.
Goblet was also the top-searched movie on Yahoo!Canada.Continued...

Goblet Bright Spot in Dark Box Office Year

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is among few bright spots in the US's moviegoing year, reports the Associated Press. Potter, King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia offset unusually low US revenues, which may fall below $9 billion for the first time since 2001.

Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Scarves, Wishlists and More: Weekly Cauldron Shop Update!

Here's your weekly update with the newest of the more than 1,250 items at The Cauldron Shop, the one-stop place for Harry Potter merchandise on the net:
-Don't forget: you can sign up for a wishlist, the same way you do at Amazon.com or your other favoriteContinued...

New Mexico Library Raffling Signed Copy of HBP

Earlier this year, we told you that one library from every state in the US would be receiving a JKR-signed copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The winning New Mexico library, in Belen, is raffling off its copy. One report says three thousand tickets have already been sold. AccordingContinued...

Ralph Fiennes in Today's New York Times

Today's New York Times has a great story about Ralph Fiennes, prompted by his "onstage conversation" at yesterday's screening of The Constant Gardner. The article gives a nice overview of Mr. Fiennes' career including, of course, this bit about his portrayal of Lord Voldemort:

"HeContinued...

MultiLingual Text Only Additions at JKRowling.com

The "Text Only" option at JKRowling.com is now available in languages such as French, German, Spanish, and Italian. Thanks Roonwit and Pablo!

PotterCast #17 Now Available

PotterCast #17 is up and available for download! In this show:

On this show:
-Introducing...Julie Tynion!
-The mailbag crew figures out the whole ending to Harry Potter. (Sorry, Jo!)
-The fan interview goes back to the day of the live podcast, with our first attendees!
-Wand and wand theory in the modcast
-A truly demandingContinued...

Branagh Nominated for Golden Globe Award

Kenneth Branagh has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his performance as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the HBO film Warm Springs. The nomination is in the category "Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television." Congratulations, Kenneth!

Castwatch: Fiennes, Isaacs News

Here are a couple of pieces of news tonight about some of the actors in the Harry Potter films.
Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort) will be featured on an upcoming episode of "Inside the Actors Studio" on Sunday, January 15th, 2006. This critically acclaimed program will feature a new in-depth interview of thisContinued...

Luna Casting Announcement Could Be Weeks Away

CBBC Newsround reports that the name of the lucky girl chosen to play Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix may be announced in early January. As we previously reported, the field has been narrowed to five actors, none of whose names has been released by Warner Brothers.

The Genetic Theory of Harry Potter

This summer, we told you about an article that appeared in "Nature" magazine about the heritability of wizardry. That article was featured in this week's New York Times Magazine as one of the "most noteworthy ideas of the past twelve months." The article includes a great chart showingContinued...