Tag: Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The End is Near

Posted June 16, 2012

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint open up about their decade in the spotlight Of course they knew it was coming. Yet it wasn’t until the final day of filming that the three Harry Potter stars fully understood that the most significant chapter of their lives so far was ending. “Somehow, I wasn’t prepared for how emotional it was,” says Rupert Grint, who has played Ron Weasley for almost half his life. “It hit home how much it all meant to us.” After the trio finished their last scenes for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this past summer, […]

Event Horizon| Friday the 13th

Event Horizon| Friday the 13th

Posted January 13, 2012

The People and the Critics both took the time to let us know their “choice” in various categories this week. Both of them chose Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 though

the highs and lows of fantasy

the highs and lows of fantasy

Posted December 15, 2011

I had this whole plan to write a post this month about December fantasy films because for years I’ve loved a good fantasy film in the winter. With the completion of the Harry Potter franchise

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Posted July 16, 2011

It’s a luxury to make a movie like this because all of the emotional resonance and significance has been created in the prior seven films. The characters are already strong because they’ve

Harry Potter| Casting the Spell

Posted July 1, 2011

The cast and filmmakers share a decade’s worth of memories from the set. “Rubbish.” That was producer David Heyman’s first reaction to the long-winded title of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone that landed on his desk in 1997. Heyman was quickly bewitched by the story and brought the project to Warner Bros., where — under the Americanized title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) — it became the first chapter of the most lucrative movie series ever. It all started with a fateful meal… PART I – The Beginning DAVID HEYMAN: I first met Jo [Rowling] the day […]

The Story of Daniel Radcliffe

Posted July 1, 2011

How an 11-year-old kid became The Boy Who Lived The first scene Daniel Radcliffe ever shot as Harry Potter was the very last scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It was Oct. 2, 2000, in Goathland, England, a tiny village whose quaint railway stop doubled as Hogsmeade Station. For his first day wearing the boy wizard’s glasses and lightning-bolt scar, the 11-year-old Londoner had to board the Hogwarts Express alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. Radcliffe was no stranger to movie sets. And yet his previous experience could not prepare him for the moment when he saw a […]

The Story of Emma Watson

Posted July 1, 2011

From a sophisticated young girl to a sophisticated lady, what’s next for Watson in a post-Hermione world When Emma Watson auditioned to play Hermione Granger, it was clear the 9-year-old was just as capable and precocious as the future Mrs. Ron Weasley. “There was no question,” says director Chris Columbus, who cast her. “She was Hermione.” Today, the sophisticated little girl (who used to decorate her dressing room with stuffed animals) is a sophisticated young woman who quotes William Blake, stumps for fair trade, and is puzzling through her identity post-Hermione. “I have spent more of my life being someone […]

The Story of Rupert Grint

Posted July 1, 2011

How the ginger who scored the role of Ron Weasley — and stole the world’s hearts — is spending his time post-Potter Red hair. Big family. By his own admission, not the biggest fan of school. These things describe not only Ron Weasley but also Rupert Grint, a young man seemingly born to play Harry Potter’s best mate. In fact, a year before he was cast in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Grint entered a Ron Weasley look-alike contest sponsored by a London newspaper. “I won, too,” he says proudly. “I had always felt a connection to Ron.” Perhaps […]

Harry Potter: The Movies

Posted July 1, 2011

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Nov. 16, 2001Fun Fact: “The kids liked to get the makeup people to give them gashes,” Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid, told EW in 2001. “Daniel got one to give him a black eye, and he came in in the morning and the other ones said, ‘Oh my! What happened?”‘ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Nov. 15, 2002Fun Facts: Hugh Grant was in the running to play Lockhart, a part that ultimately went to Branagh. “Ken seems to disappear into any role,” Columbus told EW in 2002. “I didn’t want people to […]

Thank You, Harry Potter

Posted July 1, 2011

After eight films, over $2 billion in box office, and countless moments of cinematic wonder, we reluctantly bid farewell to our favorite boy wizard Once upon a time, it was easy to be cynical about the Harry Potter movie franchise. When Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was in production back in 2000, there were those in Hollywood who viewed Warner Bros.’ adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s novels as “easy money” — as if making blockbuster cinema out of a global kid-lit phenomenon were a simple magic trick. And there were those who believed that telling a single epic story in […]