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Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley is what sold many fans on the Harry Potter movies. He was the embodiment of the beloved character of Ron Weasley. He brought many fans’ favorite character to life. Rupert Grint had the honor to play Ron in all 8 films. He loves the world of Harry Potter, and to his amazement the Harry Potter universe is expanding.
Watch above as Rupert Grint talks about his favorite scenes in the Harry Potter films, and answers one of the questions we have all been asking: what house is Rupert Grint officially sorted into?
In his heart he feels he is a Gryffindor, saying,
“Definitely Gryffindor, I think.”
However, Rupert was quick to add,
“I feel like I belong there. But I’ve never been sorted officially.”
Will he be right, or is he a Slytherin through and through?
His sorting comes as a surprise, and a little bit of sadness washes across an entire house of Hogwarts as Gryffindor loses one of the trio to Hufflepuff! Rupert Grint quipped, “oh yeah, no I feel pretty good.”
Rupert Grint brings up one great point, and that is
“It’s very in depth”
when speaking about the new sorting quiz. Check out the entire interview over at Pottermore.
This week, Pottermore gave us a look inside what David Yates actually does as Director of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Apparently it’s not all yelling ‘Cut!’ and ‘Action!’ – at least not for David Yates.
A team of Assistant Directors ensures filming runs as smoothly as possible, and according to Pottermore, most of their jobs involve adjusting leads, moving extras and actors around, preparing props and muttering instructions into mics. This team is led by first Assistant Director (AD) Josh Robertson, who usually does all the yelling, cutting and hushing:
“Josh and the other ‘ADs’ do a lot of yelling and a lot of shushing. Volume control is one of their principle duties. And when you consider that a mistimed cough could ruin a scene and cost thousands to reshoot, it’s very important.”
…
“There are four ADs on set (or, in movie speak, ‘on the floor’) and they all have earpiece microphones that make everything they say sound urgent. On Fantastic Beasts, Josh is joined by Tom Brewster, Danni Lizaitis and Katherine Hingst as second, third and fourth AD. Their names will appear right near the top of the end credits of the film when it’s out – you’ll spot them.”
“To support [David’s] process, the ADs fan out, assume positions at various spots on set and keep that area clean, clear, quiet and calm during and between scenes. They are the purveyors of smooth operation, the enablers of great direction.”
David Yates adjusts cameras to get the perfect shot, gives quiet directions to actors and monitors each shot and how the action plays out on screen. His gentle manner is something Katherine Waterston (who will portray Tina Goldstein in Fantastic Beasts) previously shared insight into David’s inspired style of directing:
‘He has a shorthand and a comfort with the world. He’s not precious with it, he understands what it needs and what it doesn’t need and there’s something really comforting in that.’
‘When we’re incorporating things that aren’t actually there, to look at David and know he can see the world is… everything,’
The Pottermore Correspondent adds:
“He is both obsessively detailed-oriented and able to see the whole project as if from above. After directing the final four Harry Potter films, this is his fifth venture into J.K. Rowling’s imagination and he knows the territory well. He just needs a dependable crew to clear his path for him”
Read the full piece here, and Pottermore’s interview with David Yates here!
The Warner Bros. presentation on April 12th at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas gave a ‘big picture’ on what to expect in Summer 2016, and of course the biggest thing attendees wanted to hear about was Fantastic Beasts. Therefore, it was only fitting that Eddie Redmayne, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol and Colin Farrell hit the stage to rile up the crowd and promote the film:
More images from the event can be found over at Getty Images here.
Access Hollywood caught up with Eddie Redmayne at the event, for a short interview about the Potter franchise. He ‘opens up’ about whether or not he was a fan of the original series (obviously he was!). Catch the video below:
Associated Press released a similar interview of Eddie and Collin Farrell talking about the magic of the series, and Colin raves about having a personalised wand.
Eddie’s so engrossed in the series already – we can’t wait to see how he does as Newt (judging by Pottermore’s interview, we’d say he’s definitely doing great).
Collider also met with Dan Fogler, to talk about his role as muggle (no-maj) ‘Jacob’ in Fanatic Beasts. They graced us with a video of their interview (below), and even gave us a handy time index:
- 0:17 – What it means to him to be part of the Harry Potter universe.
- 1:15 – His “surreal” and lengthy audition process.
- 3:36 – The experience of making the movie.
- 4:22 – How the story will surprise people.
Comic Vine also released a video with Dan (below), on finding out about the role and more on his character’s 1920’s New York / Brooklyn accent:
You can read a transcript of the interview over at Snitch Seeker here.
Just incase you haven’t seen the trailer already (or want to see it again) catch our frame-by-frame analysis here, and the trailer itself below:
In celebration of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’s 15th Anniversary, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London will be opening the doors to Privet Drive, from Friday 27 May to Monday 6 June!
Walk around the living room, and delight in Vernon and Petunia’s choice of decoration, fondly remembering the times that the wizarding world intruded on that very space.
Pottermore reports:
“Although this room was the setting for many horrible memories for Harry, it is also where he was bombarded with letters, inviting him to go to Hogwarts, and far away from his supposed ‘family’.
That iconic letter, created by graphic design team MinaLima, will of course be on set too, with hundreds of them suspended in the air, just like they were when they flew out of the fireplace during Philosopher’s Stone (2001). Fans will also be able to check out the mechanism that was built in order to shoot out such letters during filming, with approximately 10,000 being used for the iconic moment.
The Dursleys’ costumes, in all their grotesque finery, will also be on display, so enemies of bad jumpers, beware.”
Find out more, and book tickets here!
Following the exciting release of another amazing Fantastic Beasts trailer at the MTV Movie Awards yesterday evening (which you can read about here and watch below), Pottermore caught an exclusive interview with Eddie Redmayne himself – and it’s just about the loveliest interview you’ll ever read!
As we know, Fantastic Beasts will be dealing with a very different setting to that of the Harry Potter series. Tom Riddle is just being born (in 1926), Albus Dumbledore is still teaching Transfiguration at Hogwarts (and apparently advocating against Newt’s expulsion), and we’re being wooshed away to New York, to see how the American wizarding (and No-Maj) world of the 1920’s differs from the British version of the 1990’s-2000’s.
Talking about the pressure of adding to the legacy of Potter, and helping to create this entirely new story, Eddie remains humble as ever, showing how much he cares about the series and his character:
“‘Each time you put a little thing like that out into the world, it feels nerve-wracking,’ he says, in his reverent British half-whisper. ‘The weird thing about film-making is that you make films as a team and together, you care about every bit that goes out. You care what people think. I care.’
Eddie blinks a couple of times, earnestly, and it’s clear that he does. He’s the kind of actor who keeps a piece of his characters in his heart. He adores Newt Scamander especially, you can tell.
‘When I first heard the notion of this film and that it was set in a totally different time period [to Harry Potter] the question for me was, would those worlds ever collide? When I read the script, the delicacy with which J.K. Rowling weaves the names and the characters of a different generation to the one we know and love excited me. It still does.’
As for Newt’s expulsion and the reason he’s arrived in New York City?
‘I can say nothing further about that,’ Eddie says, holding tight onto the secret. “
You can tell Eddie really knows his stuff – we love an actor who gets into the story as much as us (we’re looking at you, Evanna Lynch)!
On Newt’s love for magi-zoology:
‘Newt is much better at communicating with beasts and spending time with his creatures than perhaps he is with human interaction. On the journey of this film, he begins to find connections with people but he’s not exactly a people-pleaser. What I love about Newt Scamander is that he’s his own person. He’s a passionate man and he’ll do anything for those beasts.’
Our frame-by-frame analysis of the trailer gives a closer look at one of the more adorable beasts in Newt’s intriguing briefcase, and allows us to see that the briefcase holds beastie characters we’ll get to know more throughout the film. The mysterious Pottermore Correspondent chooses to focus on this strange (but cute!) little beast:
‘The Niffler!’ says Eddie, with a slight shake of his fist on Newt’s behalf. ‘As you know, I have a love-hate relationship with that little guy. He gets a little moment in the trailer, the Niffler. He’s ravaging a purse. I thought he did pretty immaculately in his debut but there’s a lot more Niffler to come. He looked so sweet and adorable just then but don’t be fooled.’
Eddie beams with genuine affection for the little beast and sighs with relief that he can finally talk about a few more things that appear in the film. Now that the trailer’s out, he’s got approximately eight fewer secrets to keep until November.
‘I’m so bad at keeping secrets, so anything being out there that I don’t have to hide anymore is good,’ he says.
We know that Eddie’s a busy man, and we also know that he’s expecting a baby with his wife – apparently he’s taking a well-deserved break (but probably not for long – the sequel’s still to come, and another after that!):
‘Do you know, I am actually taking a wee break,’ he says. ‘My wife is having a baby and we thought we’d travel a little. What was wonderful about Fantastic Beasts is that it was fully immersive but the shoot was long, it was six months and it was rigorous. I put everything I had into it so, yeah, it’s time for a wee break.’
But one of the best parts of the interview doesn’t even involve any interviewing – the Pottermore Correspondent beautifully sums up Eddie’s shining personality with a quick observation, making us even more confident that he’s the Newt we never knew we were looking for:
“And with that, Eddie stands, hugs me goodnight, climbs the narrow black stairs down from his trailer, stops to film 11 seconds of fireworks on his phone and jumps into the black car waiting for him outside.”
Read the full interview over at Pottermore here!
We can’t wait to see/hear more about the film (which hits cinemas November 18th!) – catch the trailer below, and read our frame by frame analysis here!
This morning, Pottermore released the list of special guests that will be attending the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios Hollywood.
Among those in attendance are Harry Potter stars, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton, Evanna Lynch, James Phelps and Oliver Phelps for the red carpet Grand Opening on April 5.
For this Wizarding World, they are bringing in the most magic they can. The actors will be joined by very special guest, the brilliant John Williams. The Oscar Award-winning composure of Hedwig’s Theme and other movie scores we know and love so much, will be joining the others on the red carpet. We certainly hope a full orchestra will be following in toe, and Mr. Williams will take up the baton to provide the music for the night!
Pottermore reports:
“A new magical world is lying in wait. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens on 7 April at Universal Studios Hollywood.
“And to celebrate, Harry Potter actors…will be on the red carpet at the Grand Opening on 5 April.
“They’ll also be joined by a very special guest: Oscar-winning composer John Williams, who scored the first three Harry Potter films, including the iconic Hedwig’s Theme.
“Following in the footsteps of Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Japan, the Hollywood attraction will bring back some of the fans’ favourite rides, as well as a few new surprises.
“For example, the ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey – which is featured at both the Orlando and Japan theme parks – will bring new state of the art 3D-HD technology for the first time in the US, promising visitors a trip with a, well, whole new dimension. The Flight of the Hippogriff will be Universal Studio Hollywood’s first outdoor rollercoaster.
“Until the opening day, you can obsessively check for updates on Universal Studio Hollywood’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages while you wait.”
If you're following the response of Native people to JK Rowling for her "History of Magic in North America" stories that are short backgrounds for the next movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I think you'll be interested in this bit of info.
The info?
Evidence (maybe) that someone (Rowling, maybe?!)
is, in fact, doing some tinkering with the
problematic content on the
Pottermore website.
Last Thursday (March 10, 2016) I began compiling
a list of blog posts and threaded tweets by Native people who were responding to JK Rowling's "History of Magic in North America" series. I included a screen cap from the Pottermore site that had a flying eagle as the image for the story. Seeing that eagle struck me as odd, because the day of my first tweet (March 8, 2016) I had seen a different image on the Pottermore site--the one of an Indian standing on a cliff.
This morning (Tuesday, March 2016) I read an
article at Hypable that describes a person's search to figure out who the founding group of Ilvermorny would be (in the movie,
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) that is due out later this year. (There's a lot to say about the Hypable article but that's for another post.) The article is by Andrew Sims. I looked him up on Twitter, found him, and found an interesting tweet from him, dated March 10 at 8:34 AM. Here's a screen cap:
Using the Internet WayBack Machine, I figured out that the image changed sometime between March 9 at 8:10:58 PM and March 10 at 5:17:17 AM.
Here's the image time stamped March 9 at 8:10:58 PM:
And here's the image time stamped March 10 at 5:17:17 AM:
As far as I know, JK Rowling has not responded to any of the criticisms Native people began putting forth on March 8th. Someone did make a change to the site. I suspect it was Rowling.
Will we hear more from her? Because she has tweeted in support of various marginalized groups before, her lack of response to us is troubling. As they say on TV "stay tuned" to AICL for updates.
This morning, Pottermore published the final of J.K. Rowling’s four pieces about the history of magic in North America. If you haven’t read it yet, you can do so here.
While the previous three posts focused on more specific time periods and events leading up to the 1920s, the final post highlights several significant cultural aspects of the wizarding community in 1920s America. This final post also ends on a more lighthearted note and contains some interesting tidbits, whereas the previous three posts dealt with some heavier material. Today, we learned about the four American wandmakers, who use body and core materials that are unique and different from their British counterparts:
Legislation introduced at the end of the nineteenth century meant that every member of the magical community in America was required to carry a ‘wand permit’, a measure that was intended to keep tabs on all magical activity and identify the perpetrators by their wands. Unlike Britain, where Ollivanders was considered unbeatable, the continent of North America was served by four great wandmakers.
Shikoba Wolfe, who was of Chocktaw descent, was primarily famous for intricately carved wands containing Thunderbird tail feathers (the Thunderbird is a magical American bird closely related to the phoenix). Wolfe wands were generally held to be extremely powerful, though difficult to master. They were particularly prized by Transfigurers.
Johannes Jonker, a Muggle-born wizard whose No-Maj father was an accomplished cabinet maker, turned himself into an accomplished wandmaker. His wands were highly sought after and instantly recognisable, as they were usually inlaid with mother-of-pearl. After experimenting with many cores, Jonker’s preferred magical material was hair of the Wampus cat.
Thiago Quintana caused ripples through the magical world when his sleek and usually lengthy wands began entering the market, each encasing a single translucent spine from the back of the White River Monsters of Arkansas and producing spells of force and elegance. Fears about over-fishing of the monsters were assuaged when it was proven that Quintana alone knew the secret of luring them, a secret he guarded jealously until his death, at which point wands containing White River Monster spines ceased production.
Violetta Beauvais, the famous wandmaker of New Orleans, refused for many years to divulge the secret core of her wands, which were always made of swamp mayhaw wood. Eventually it was discovered that they contained hair of the rougarou, the dangerous dog-headed monster that prowled Louisiana swamps. It was often said of Beauvais wands that they took to Dark magic like vampires to blood, yet many an American wizarding hero of the 1920s went into battle armed only with a Beauvais wand, and President Picquery herself was known to possess one.
As this is the culture Newt will find himself in, we get our first inside look into the world of the first Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film. We learn more about President Seraphima Picquery. We learn about her wand, and a little of her presidency. It certainly paints more of a picture of the environment Newt will be entering, and with the chaos he causes he causes admits strict security, it may be a hostile one Click here to read the full piece.
We all thought that the Salem Witch trials were bad (because they really were tragic), and the trials were what drove Wizards away from America, and more underground. However, as we discover in today’s background story from J.K. Rowling, the story gets a lot more complicated than than.
This morning, Pottermore released the third out of the four background writings about the Wizarding World in North America. Today’s writing focuses on the 18th century, in a piece titled “Rappaport’s Law.” Emily Rappaport was a president of MACUSA in the 1790’s. (Yes, another woman president!) She thought it best to totally segregate the magical and non-magical communities. Segregation happens quite a bit throughout American history.
It all began with a ignorance and a forbidden love all gone wrong. J.K. Rowling writes:
“The matter was that much more serious because the breach came from within MACUSA itself.
“In brief, the catastrophe involved the daughter of President Rappaport’s trusted Keeper of Treasure and Dragots (the Dragot is the American wizarding currency and the Keeper of Dragots, as the title implies, is roughly equivalent to the Secretary of the Treasury). Aristotle Twelvetrees was a competent man, but his daughter, Dorcus, was as dim as she was pretty
“One day, at a local picnic, Dorcus Twelvetrees became greatly enamoured of a handsome No-Maj called Bartholomew Barebone. Unbeknownst to Dorcus, Bartholomew was a Scourer descendant. Nobody in his family was magic, but his belief in magic was profound and unshakeable, as was his conviction that all witches and wizards were evil.
“Totally oblivious to the danger, Dorcus took Bartholomew’s polite interest in her ‘little tricks’ at face value. Led on by her beau’s artless questions, she confided the secret addresses of both MACUSA and Ilvermorny, along with information about the International Confederation of Wizards and all the ways in which these bodies sought to protect and conceal the wizarding community.”
Read more at Pottermore, here.
Yesterday, Pottermore released the first in a four-part super mini series of background writings from Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling. The first History of Magic in North America writing covered the fourteenth century through the seventeenth century. Today, the new writings cover the 17th Century, or the fist “British Invasion” (before the Beatles in the 1960s).
In this new writing J.K. Rowling talks about No-Maj/Muggle immigration to the “New World.” Many European witches and wizards came for similar reasons as their No-Maj counter parts. We learn more about what European witches and wizards brought to the North American magical world, and about Ilvermorny. J.K. Rowling writes:
“Firstly, like their No-Maj counterparts, they had come to a country with few amenities, except those they made themselves. Back home, they had only to visit the local Apothecary to find the necessities for potions: here, they had to forage among unfamiliar magical plants. There were no established wandmakers, and Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which would one day rank among the greatest magical establishments in the world, was at that time no more than a rough shack containing two teachers and two students.”
Even more, the Salem witch trials, a piece of history that will weigh heavily on MACUSA in Fantastic Beasts, are not what they think they are. J.K. Rowling writes that witches and wizards persecuted their own, saying:
“The last, and probably the most dangerous problem encountered by wizards newly arrived in North America were the Scourers. As the wizarding community in America was small, scattered and secretive, it had as yet no law enforcement mechanism of its own. This left a vacuum that was filled by an unscrupulous band of wizarding mercenaries of many foreign nationalities, who formed a much-feared and brutal taskforce committed to hunting down not only known criminals, but anyone who might be worth some gold. As time went on, the Scourers became increasingly corrupt. Far away from the jurisdiction of their native magical governments, many indulged a love of authority and cruelty unjustified by their mission…
“The famous Salem Witch Trials of 1692-93 were a tragedy for the wizarding community. Wizarding historians agree that among the so-called Puritan judges were at least two known Scourers, who were paying off feuds that had developed while in America. A number of the dead were indeed witches, though utterly innocent of the crimes for which they had been arrested. Others were merely No-Majs who had the misfortune to be caught up in the general hysteria and bloodlust.”
To read more about this complicated time in American wizarding history, head over to Pottermore.
As we reported yesterday, J.K. Rowling will be releasing a series of stories throughout the week, starting today at 9:00 AM EST, 2:00 PM GMT.
Part one of a History of Magic in North America covers the “fourteenth century-seventeenth century.” Of course, wizards new about the “New World” of North America long before European explores discovered the continents. This is of course, due to Native American wizards being in contact with their indigenous brothers and sisters around the world.
For those of you longing for a first look at Native American tradition and how it fits into J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, you’ve got it! The legend of “skin-walkers” originates about Native American witches and wizards. J.K. Rowling writes:
“In the Native American community, some witches and wizards were accepted and even lauded within their tribes, gaining reputations for healing as medicine men, or outstanding hunters. However, others were stigmatised for their beliefs, often on the basis that they were possessed by malevolent spirits.
“The legend of the Native American ‘skin walker’ – an evil witch or wizard that can transform into an animal at will – has its basis in fact. A legend grew up around the Native American Animagi, that they had sacrificed close family members to gain their powers of transformation. In fact, the majority of Animagi assumed animal forms to escape persecution or to hunt for the tribe. Such derogatory rumours often originated with No-Maj medicine men, who were sometimes faking magical powers themselves, and fearful of exposure.”
Of course, Native American’s are particularly gifted in plant and animal magic. They are also similar to African witches and wizards, in that they do not use wands. Wands are a very European method of making magic more precise. To read more about this first bit of American magical history, visit Pottermore, here.
By:
Catherine,
on 2/11/2016
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That’s right, ladies and gentleman, after a long and earned-filled wait, your Pottercast withdrawals are over! Pottercast is BACK! The gang is back and discussing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
The release of the “eighth story,” and now “the eighth book,” has stirred up a lot of conversation and debate. In the latest episode of Pottercast, Melissa, John and Frak give their thoughts and opinions on Cursed Child, its form as a play versus a book, the publishing of the script (or “book”), and the relevance of Cursed Child not being solely written by J.K. Rowling.
Of course, one could not get away without talking about the many Pottermore revelations that have occurred as of late, so there’s a little extra thrown in there about additional Wizarding World content in addition to Cursed Child.
Pottercast episode #256 is available to download through iTunes, here. In order to download the new episode, please subscribe to Pottercast! It’s great to be back!
Today, Pottermore released a new interview with Fantastic Beasts leading man, Eddie Redmayne. The interview talked a little of how Eddie came to be Newt Scamander in J.K. Rowling’s new movie series, and some of the characteristics he shares with Newt. For starters, Eddie actually carries his own brief case and it contains important aspects of his life within it.
Pottermore reports:
‘This is actually slightly embarrassing…’
Eddie Redmayne is sheepishly telling me the story of meeting Fantastic Beastsdirector David Yates for the first time. There’s a broad, bright smile on his freckled face as he does.
Eddie has a case. A tan leather case just like the one his character Newt Scamander keeps his beasts in…
‘I’ve had it for about eight years. My dad works in the city and has always had a briefcase. I always did this acting thing for a living, which didn’t feel like a proper job and I wanted something that made me feel like I was doing a proper job and so I got this case. I use it whenever I go on set. I keep my script and whatever mementos I find useful in it.’
When Eddie met David Yates, and the Harry Potter director was telling him about Newt’s story and his magical brief case, Eddie became a little self-conscious of his brief case, telling Pottermore,
‘I said [to David Yates], “I promise I didn’t know about Newt’s case. I didn’t bring this as some sort of weird method audition – like, don’t worry David, I come with my own case!” And I’m afraid it’s still here, it’s still got my life in it. Not quite as much as Newt has in his case, though…’
Telling Pottermore of getting the part of Newt after that first meeting with David Yates, Eddie said it wasn’t a matter of him wanting the role, it was a matter of him getting the role. Pottermore reported,
‘David has such a lovely manner and this incredible kindness to him. There was no question I wanted to do this movie. For me, it was a question of whether I’d get the gig. When I read J.K. Rowling’s script, I just had my mind blown. I was so excited by it. The amazing thing was that I found it funny, I found it a thriller, I found it romantic. At the end, I was deeply moved by it.’
The entire interview may be read here, keep an eye on Pottermore for more Fantastic Harry Potter news coming soon (hopefully).
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Following speculations, Pottermore and Little Brown UK have just announced that the script book for Cursed Child will be released July 31st (Harry Potter / J.K. Rowling’s birthday)!
Pottermore reports:
A host of new print and digital publishing has been announced from J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, including a Special Rehearsal Edition of the script book of new stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II.
Print and digital editions will publish simultaneously after the play’s world premiere this summer, and will comprise of the version of the play script at the time of the play’s preview performances.
Theatre previews allow the creative team the chance to rehearse and explore scenes further before a production’s official opening night. Harry Potter and the Cursed Childopens for previews several weeks before its official first performance on Saturday 30 July and the Special Rehearsal Edition of the script book will later be replaced by a Definitive Collector’s Edition.
The news confirms that fans around the world will be able to join this next venture into the Wizarding World, so don’t fret if you didn’t get tickets to the play!
Pottermore also announced the release of Special Editions, and Jim Kay’s next illustrated edition of Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets!:
Next year will see the publication of four special editions of the first book in the UK, one for each of the four Hogwarts houses. There will also be a brand new edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in 2017, with new content by J.K. Rowling, as well as new formats and editions of the Hogwarts Library books – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
Pottermore doesn’t play favourites, but we’re especially looking forward to nabbing a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets illustrated by Jim Kay. That’s coming a little sooner, in October 2016, and we’ll be prodding Jim for a look at his latest work soon because we’re nosy like that.
2016 is looking like a huge year – Cursed Child, Fantastic Beasts, more Jim Kay illustrations – what more could we want?!
This last weekend, Pottermore released a new clip from behind the scenes of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them at the 3rd annual Harry Potter Celebration. They also included an analysis of the video, that basically reiterated what the video showed.
However, we Potter fans know that these things reveal much much more, if one only looks close enough. The following is an analysis of the behind the scenes clip from “Fantastic Beasts” and a cumulation of everything we know so far. We actually may know a lot more than we think…
First, Let’s Talk Characters
The full cast list on the Fantastic Beasts IMDB has gotten long. It includes gala dinner guests, MACUSA receptionists, witches and wizards (uh, duh), upper class wealthy people, lower class hard working citizens, criminals, a candy store girl (?), exterminators (exciting! Are they big beasty exterminators?), executioners (scary!), factory workers, bank workers, aurors (of course), jazzy people (it is the Roaring 20’s, full of wizard Gatsby parties), gangsters (New York Wizard Mob?), customs officials (immigration to the US has always been a big thing, but there was a big wave in the early 1900’s), Senator Henry Shaw and a Henry Shaw Jr., and journalists (hopefully not the Rita Skeeter kind)! There are even people cast as “beasts”–we have a big foot (Sasquatch) and Edd Osmond has been cast as a Demiguise:
Wow. All those characters make quite a story! But what do we know about the characters with names?
[Picture: Dan Fogler as Jacob stands in front of a drugstore/soda fountain/candy shop]
Remember Modesty? According to the WB Casting call out, we know that Modesty as,
“a haunted young girl with inner strength and stillness. She also possessed an ability to see deep into people and understand them. Modesty met Newton Scamander during his travels in New York, at which time she was between the age of eight and twelve.”
Ron Perlman plays a character named Gnarlack–sounds wizard worldly.
Samantha Morton as “Mary Lou” is the leader of the “Second Salemers.” EW described her character as, “The narrow-minded leader of the fanatical Second Salemers, a group looking to expose and destroy wizards and witches.”
Ezra Miller plays Credence, or as EW revealed, “Perhaps the cast’s most mysterious character. He’s Mary Lou’s troubled adopted son.” One can make a lot of speculations about what that means…
Let’s take a look at Graves, “a powerful auror and the right-hand man of the American wizarding world’s president,” whom we now know as President Seraphina. We saw, in the first trailer, Katherine Waterston’s Tina Goldstein approach, nervously and somberly, the MACUSA leader and a congress of people to make a case for Newt. This serious looking President is probably not a friend of our Newt; he is stirring up a lot of trouble in an already dangerous and tumultuous society with No-Maj relations. Graves, by default is probably not a friend of Newt’s either.
Similar to the trio in Harry Potter, we know that there are four main characters. We’ve known this since the EW report last year, but they stressed this in the second clip. Pottermore highlighted this with a quote from David Heyman, saying, “This isn’t just Newt’s story; Jacob, Tina and Queenie are all at the centre of it. ‘All four central characters are outsiders. Part of the journey of this, for each of them, is coming into themselves,’ says David Heyman.” With the EW report last year and this clip, we actually know quite a bit more about this quartet.
Jacob Kowalski (played by Dan Fogler) is just a little blue collar No-Maj, returning home from war and wanting to start a bakery….and accidentally finds himself on a magical adventure.
EW had described him as: “An optimistic No-Maj (aka Muggle) factory worker/aspiring baker who gets introduced to the wizarding world when he meets Newt. Fun fact: He’s the Harry Potter franchise’s first Muggle main character.”
In the new clip, Dan opened up about his character Jacob, saying: ‘Jacob is back from the war and now he’s trying to get his life together and open up a bakery. He just happens into this very magical situation,’ he says. Dan also believes that Potter fans will ‘feel the nostalgia and the love they have for the movies in a whole new light.’
We assume that the simple bedroom that we see Eddie sitting in is Jacob’s, some how the two are very good friends. Or at least Jacob is holding Eddie’s case a lot…
Actually, Newt hardly ever seems to have a hand on his case. No wonder some of the beasties get out!
Newt needs to be more responsible with that case. He looses it a lot. He looses the contents of it…it’s a good thing he’s a Hufflepuff, and must be well adept at finding things.
Half of the new quartet is made up of Tina and Queenie Goldstein. Tina will eventually become Newt’s wife, but until then this is what we know.
EW: Queenie is “Tina’s younger sister and roommate, a big-hearted free-spirit “legilimens” who can read minds.” Porpentina, or Tina, is described, “an ambitious worker at the Magical Congress of the United States of America (aka MACUSA, the U.S. version of the Ministry of Magic) who meets Newt. Tina is relegated to an office well below her abilities after she stood up for the wrong person. She longs to fight for what’s right.”
Pottermore wrote:
Alison [Queenie] also has some interesting comments about the relationship between the Goldstein sisters: ‘You have two sisters, who have raised each other and have a very deep bond.’ We can’t be sure but this shot makes it look like Alison knows what Katherine is thinking. Which is entirely possible – after all, she’s playing a Legilimens.
Katherine says her character Tina is ‘very soulful; she has a lot of heart and strengths and courage.’
Tina’s career at MACUSA has stalled but she’s certainly at the heart of this story. We saw some very intense moments with Tina, wand in hand and looking very serious indeed. ‘The job we have to do is to make it seem natural and you kind of have to ignore your own sense of wonder watching it,’ says Waterston.
Awe how sweet…now what about Tina’s future trouble maker husband, Newt Scamander? The two have a couple of wonderful moments together it seems, though with the trouble Newt causes, I doubt it was love at first sight.
Newt is the leading man, and EW described him as, “An eccentric globe-hopping English “magizoologist” wizard who’s far more comfortable around beasts and creatures than he is around other people. Comes to New York on a quest with his case full of magical habitats containing rare and endangered species.”
We already know Newt doesn’t keep a good eye on that magical case of his, and little beasties escape and reek havoc. As Eddie says in the new feature, “‘And this one catalyst sets in motion this sort of insane amount of events that just cause chaos. And at the core of it, is this quartet.’”
Let’s Talk Set
1926 New York, MACUSA…we’ve actually seen quite a lot of it! From the photos EW first revealed on set of Fantastic Beasts, to the behind the scenes snippet that just came out, we see lots of the streets of New York.
Looks like they wander into a barn at one point…perhaps to capture a beast? And then goof around and pretend to be beasts…
But what about MACUSA? We got our first description of MACUSA from EW upon the release of the official Fantastic Beasts movie poster:
“1. ARCHITECTURAL WIZARDRY: The Magical Congress of the United States of America is hidden from Muggle view inside the very real Woolworth Building (New York’s tallest structure in 1926). Wizards enter through an ultra-fast-spinning revolving door into a grand lobby. While this Fantastic Beasts stage is a rather massive 250 feet long and 50 feet high, the ceiling will be extended with special effects to reach nearly 700 feet to represent “an empty cathedral of light, a hugely impressive, brilliantly lit space,” says production designer Stuart Craig.”
“2. THE PHOENIXES OF THE ORDER: J.K. Rowling’s screenplay included these four golden phoenix statues (two unseen) that bracket the MACUSA entrance, paying homage to those who died during the Salem witch trials – a major traumatic event in the history of American wizard and No-Maj (a.k.a. Muggle) relations. Notes Craig: “Throughout, the magical world is grounded in the context of the Muggle world, born out of things familiar and real.”
“3. GOLD, NOT JUST FOR SNITCHES ANY LONGER: Loosely based on the interior of the Gothic art-deco American Radiator Building in midtown Manhattan, the MACUSA design includes a heavy use of gold to “bring a richness to the decoration. Given that this is the seat of power of the government in the magic world, it’s appropriate that it is gilded.”
“4. MAGICAL HERALDRY: The official MACUSA emblem, based on the U.S. presidential seal, includes the etching of an American flag combined with an abstract phoenix
The behind the scenes trailer gave us a clearer picture of MACUSA and its phoenixes, and weird Puritan statues in the middle:
We also get a first (fuzzy) glimpse at the MACUSA seal:
During the Harry Potter Celebration, Pottermore and J.K. Rowling released a lot of information about wizarding schools around the world. We know from previous J.K. Rowling tweets that the North American (USA?) Wizarding school, Ilvermorny, will be featured in the first Fantastic Beasts films. The description and detail of the other schools–Castelobruxo (Brazil), Mahoutokoro (Japan), Uagadou (Africa)–is amazing. One can only hope that future Fantastic Beasts films will travel around the world to these schools too. J.K. Rowling says to keep watching Pottermore for more details….
Let’s Talk Wands…
Newt’s wand was originally thought to be “vegan.” It was “simply wood,” according to EW. Why vegan? Because Newt was a zoologist who cares lot about animals, loves them and connects with them more than people, so his wand would be “vegan.” However, the recent reveal that Newt’s wand was made from lime wood, shell, and bone, seems to contradict that original theory. Bone definitely doesn’t make it vegan.
What wands are made of is important. But wands look like is even more appealing to fans (because, of course, by this time next year we will be buying replicas of them). In the new video, we actually see many of the characters’ wands up close.
Newt shows off his quite a lot throughout the two small videos we have.
Tina becomes more brave about using her wand, and even does magic in front of a No-Maj! Don’t worry, it’s just Jacob…a wounded Jacob.
Queenie’s and Graves’ wands have a little flare to them. They each have shiny handles, though we are sure specifics about those will come later:
Let’s Talk Beasts…
The troublemakers. We actually haven’t seen any of the “fantastic” beasts yet. There have been a couple beast castings (see above) and EW did release a small list of beasts we can expect to see. Those beasts include a Niffler, Ashwinder, Lethifold, Augurey, Bowtruckle, Crup and Merepeople. Descriptions of all of these creatures can be found in book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It would be really bad if an Ashwinder got into that barn the quartet is in…Other than that, we have a beastie Fantastic Beasts logo, and that is about it.
I think that pretty much sums up all that we are allowed to know of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them so far. The two videos we have so far can be seen below. Enjoy! We will update you with more news when we can!
Unfortunately, this last weekend, Leaky wasn’t able to attend the Harry Potter Celebration in Orlando. However, we do have marvelous Harry Potter fans who follow our site, and we invited them to share their experiences of the celebration.
Chelsea Kleven, a Senior Production Editor for a Central Florida newspaper, was the first to share her experience with us. The following review of the Harry Potter celebration is written by Chelsea Kleven. (Click to enlarge photos)
I had no expectations for the Harry Potter Celebration weekend. My friend Amy and I had heard about the Harry Potter Celebrations before, but had never been to one. We live an hour from Universal Studios and both have annual passes to the park, and this year, we decided to see what it was all about. We figured it would be over-crowded and impossible to do anything all day, but since we have been to the park and experienced this many times before, we didn’t mind.
Amy and I both work for a daily Central Florida newspaper. I’m a designer, and she has a design background but now works on special projects and social media. We are both HUGE newspaper nerds, which inspires our love for the Daily Prophet (even though it seems Daily Prophet is written by many crooked journalists in the books.)
We headed straight for Hogsmeade Village when we got to the park, though we normally go to Diagon Alley first (that way you can ride the train from King’s Cross to Hogwarts like you would at the start of a school year. We’ve given this a lot of thought.)
When we looked up the schedule for the Celebration events, we discovered there was a graphic design panel happening in about 45 minutes in Hogsmeade. Perfect! We had just enough time for a ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, and run over to the panel.
For as big of a Harry Potter fan and design nerd as I am, I had absolutely no prior knowledge of Minalima, the graphic design duo behind the Harry Potter films. Their talk was short and sweet, but still awesome. I had no idea what being a graphic designer for a film was like.
They began with a short video showing clips of their work as seen in the films. They discussed how many people don’t realize how every paper, poster, package … everything!…has to be created by a graphic designer.
Minalima spent a large amount of time creating a realistic world for these characters to interact in, but often, their work is rarely seen in the final film. For example, they said they spent 7 months working on all of the elements for Fred and George’s shop, when it was only seen in the film for about a minute and 30 seconds.
They weren’t bitter about this at all though. They seemed thrilled to have been a part of the films, and lucky to help bring authenticity to the magical world. Another example of their hard work was how they designed all of Hermione’s books for Deathly Hallows. However, the books, too, were never even seen in the film. All they got was a sound of the books falling over in Hermione’s beaded bag.
They discussed how the parks were such a dream for them, because they were now able to show their work in a place where people were able to really stop and look at it. Park-goers could pick up boxes, look at advertisements on the walls of Diagon Alley, and really absorb the detail that went into everything.
The duo also discussed their favorite pieces to create, which were the Daily Prophet and The Marauders Map. The Daily Prophet is my absolute obsession, so I was busy snapping hundreds of pictures of all of the close-up images of the Daily Prophet and didn’t absorb much of what was said about it.
As far as the Marauders Map, they really reiterated how they wanted to pump the personality of the characters who created the map into their design. It wasn’t about their personal design aesthetic, it was about bringing authenticity to the object. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs were crafty and intelligent, and they wanted the map to be a reflection of those qualities.
The map was drawn BY HAND based off of architectural maps that had been created for the set. The hand drawings were scanned in and developed into what you see on film. When the map was first created, there was a small mistake on it. They had included the Room of Requirement. Someone on the team realized that the room was not supposed to appear on the map, and went back through the whole process to take the room out.
After the graphic design panel, Amy and I headed over to the other park where the Harry Potter Expo was located. After chatting with some people at the design panel, we learned there was a wall covered in Daily Prophets at the expo and we had to check it out. We went first to Diagon Alley and had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, complete with a Dragon Scale beer, and (it is our tradition on every visit) we sat on the stoop of the Daily Prophet office and took a photo.
We didn’t have to wait very long to get into the expo, though it was pretty crowded. We caught a glimpse of people being sorted into houses by the sorting hat on the way in.
The expo wasn’t quite as large as we were expecting. There was a large stuffed Fluffy you could take photos with, and a large Fawkes perched from the ceiling. A giant Lego replica of Hogwarts and some other movie props were on display. A wall blank wall was available for fans to write “What Harry Potter means to you.”
There was a booth handing out posters of the cover of the illustrated Sorcerer’s Stone, and a place to take a Quidditch themed photo. At the Pottermore booth, there was a large map of the new wizarding schools around the world. [Click to enlarge photo]
Minalima had a booth set up as well, which was where the Daily Prophet wall was. Amy and I took about 394 photos in front of it. Mira Mina and Eduardo Lima were there signing prints they had for sale. They also had a spread of some of the movie props they had designed, such as a copy of Advanced Potion Making, a stack of Qibblers, and pamphlets on “When Muggles Attack.”
There was a cool display of school letters hanging from the ceiling and trailing on the floor, that was previously featured in their gallery exhibit last month. The graphic designer in me was overjoyed.
There was a studio tour at the expo as well, but the line was incredibly long so Amy and I decided to skip it. And it was lucky we did, because when we left we realized the cast Q&A panel had just begun nearby. We stood towards the back of the crowd, but we still could not believe we were actually seeing the cast answer questions. We had no expectations going into the day of even catching a glimpse of them, so it was an awesome surprise.
Overall the day was amazing. There had been a lot more to do and see over the whole weekend, but we were completely happy with the little bit we got to experience. Maybe next time we’ll try and see more of the events – I highly recommend making a visit!
Chelsea took video of the Q&A that took place in the early afternoon. This cast Q&A was not live streamed, exclusive for those at the celebration. A similar cast Q&A that night was made available on live stream. In this clip the actors talk about their fears and if they have conquered them. The topic of spiders led to asking Rupert to rap, but Matt came to Rupert’s rescue with his own spider story. Apparently Matt is more afraid of spiders than Rupert, and no he definitely has not overcome that fear.
The final live stream from Universal Orlando’s A Celebration of Harry Potter was broadcast today. The live Q&A featured a panel of members from Universal Orlando’s creative team, who were there to talk about bringing the magic and wonder of the films to life in the theme park. The live stream itself was quite short, and can be watched below.
https://www.periscope.tv/w/1YqGozLMBWlKv
Today’s Q&A related to yesterday’s prop discussion in that many of the props used in the films were recreated for the theme park. A few fascinating tidbits were revealed, including that there are 106,000 props in the theme park version of Diagon Alley, and 29-30,000 in Hogsmeade. Universal Orlando’s official Twitter account also posted a few interesting pieces of information during and after the live stream:
This panel discussion marked the final official event of A Celebration of Harry Potter, but if you’d like to relive some of the glorious details from this magical weekend, take a peek at Pottermore’s highlights.
Pottermore recently reported from the set of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, this time on Colin Farrell’s character, Percival Graves.
Three-time Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha, Alice in Wonderland) has been in charge of his costume, and from the previews of his character in the trailer and below, Eddie Redmayne’s already infamous coat may have some competition. The Pottermore correspondent suggests a good compromise: ‘Newt’s coat on weekdays, Graves’s when you’re in the mood for danger.’
Back in October, even Farrell had no idea of his role in the wizarding world, but we’re gradually learning more about the nature of his character – an improvement upon ‘a wizard that Newt Scamander meets in New York’, at the very least – as more details about the film emerge.
As the wizard who is sent to track down Newt Scamander and his ‘fantastic beasts’, Graves is a powerful auror and the right-hand man of President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA), the American equivalent of the Ministry of Magic.
Certainly a character with a formidable edge, Colleen Atwood tells Pottermore how this inspires his costumes, as well as intriguing suggestions about his abilities, calling him ‘the ultimate wizard':
‘When I heard it was going to be Colin, I was excited because he looks good in everything’
‘Graves is the ultimate wizard so I wanted to take it to a level of 20s elegance with a touch of glamour, of fantasy. So I took a coat and I made it a little bit longer, I exaggerated the shoulders and I shaped it a little bit more. Then I made it out of a spectacular piece of cashmere that just kind of moved and had a lot of light’
‘It also has a little bit of lurex* in it, so it catches the light at night and almost looks wet, which I really think makes it stand out from other things. That’s where I was going with his character. And then I kind of edged his things so they were very graphic black and white too, in a way that made him special.’
And incase you were wondering just what ‘lurex’ was, Pottermore added a complimentary ‘fabric fact’:
‘Lurex is a fabric with glittering metallic thread weaved into it to give it a shimmering look. To me, it looks almost like the fur of a wet, majestic seal… But in a fancy, magical way. It’s iridescent and slick, which makes it perfect for Graves.’
Read the full article here.
Universal Studios Orlando’s 3rd annual Celebration of Harry Potter is just around the corner. Much of the events and fun activities to expect have been revealed. However, Pottermore seems to be promising even more surprises.
In the title of their new post, “Surprises in Store at a Celebration of Harry Potter in Orlando,” Pottermore encourages fans to stop by their booth, saying:
There will be panel discussions, wand demos, film trivia challenges and loads more besides. If you’re coming along to the Celebration in person, be sure to pop down to the Pottermore booth with the free augmented reality app Blippar* downloaded to your smartphone or tablet. You never know what you might find…
Pottermore has released a new interview with a Fantastic Beasts crew member. Acclaimed stunt coordinator, Eunice Huthart spoke with the Pottermore Correspondent about the fantastic stunts in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Unfortunately, the correspondent “can’t, in good conscience, tell you about them.”
What the interview does tell us is that Huthart and her team of twelve action scene experts have done a lot to bring the film’s characters to life– and that Eddie Redmayne has an affinity for dangerous stunt work.
‘Eddie’s great. We just tell Eddie what to do and he does it,’ she says, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to me. ‘I have never had to talk him into doing anything. Eddie’s just like, “Come on guys, what are we doing now? Bigger, faster, harder!” It’s more a case of me telling him, “Eddie, we can’t do that!” We need to make sure he can work tomorrow, you know.’
Huthart is also excited to work with director David Yates:
My whole job is delivering what David thinks up, so I have to pick my moments and just bombard him with 200 questions whenever I can. It helps me set the action for this film especially, because it’s so character-based. We’re not just doing action for action’s sake here, we are doing it in character. Some of the stunts on this film are great. I’m just here the whole time thinking, I get to work with David Yates, how lucky am I? It’s mental.
Too bad the Pottermore Correspondent won’t share the details!
To read the full interview, visit Pottermore, here.
Pottermore is counting down the days until Christmas (it’s tomorrow!) and this has left fans wondering…does Pottermore just have a lot of Christmas spirit or are they planning on doing something special for fans?
When specifically asked, on Twitter, if there will be a surprise for fans, Pottermore said that there maybe and we’ll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out. That basically means yes. They wouldn’t tease us just to leave us hanging–a website run by J.K. Rowling isn’t that cruel, the woman has a heart of gold.
So let us speculate: what will Pottermore be giving us for Christmas?
Is it a new piece of writing from J.K. Rowling about cannon within the Harry Potter series? We haven’t seen new writings from our favorite author in a while–not that we blame her, she’s working on stage plays and movie scripts filled with extra Harry Potter cannon.
Will it be breaking news of either Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them or Harry Potter and the Cursed Child? The secrecy around both of these Potter projects have us sitting on the edges of our seats. We have been waiting (perhaps not so patiently), pining for more.
What about bringing back aspects of old Pottermore? Perhaps, this Christmas, Pottermore will give us back the Sorting Hat quiz, or even a new Patronous Quiz, from J.K. Rowling. Or perhaps another engaging interactive activity for fans that makes the new Pottermore more than just a Harry Potter Buzzfeed. We have been promised these additions to the site would eventually appear, and it has been months since the new Pottermore was put online.
Whatever Pottermore’s plans are for fans on Christmas, it is sure to be great–or at least we hope it is something more exciting than a list of the 25 reasons the Christmas Holiday is so important in the Harry Potter books.
Happy Christmas Eve everyone!
Late last night, SnitchSeeker confirmed a Facebook blurb they found a month ago, advertising an open casting call for teenagers for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The call out was for teen girls to audition for the roles of Lily Potter and Rose Weasley.
The Facebook blurb, and the site hosting the application process, have since been removed from the internet. However, one of SnitchSeeker’s readers was able to submit her application–CV and headshot–for the role, and was able to relate back to the Harry Potter news site that the auditions are indeed for the roles of Rose and Lily.
Interestingly enough, we now know that Cursed Child does not immediately pick up where Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows left off. The last time we saw the Trio, Harry was waving good bye to an 11-year-old Albus Severus, justing leaving for his first year at Hogwarts along with his 11-year-old cousin, Rose Weasley. Lily was even younger.
This begs the question, how many years after Deathly Hallows is Cursed Child? What year in the future is the story set (as it has yet to be 19 years later in real life)? If Lily is a teenager, there is a good chance Hugo is too. Is James Sirius Potter old enough to have graduate Hogwarts? (James was in his third year at Hogwarts when his younger brother started his first.)
Earlier yesterday morning, Hypable began posing questions that fans should be asking themselves about the play. With this new casting discovery, light has been shed on the validity of the questions they posed. Years down the road, are Ron and Hermione still married? Is it possible that their marriage–deemed rocky, and “probably” able to succeed with marriage counseling by J.K. Rowling–has ended in divorce? Or do they fight to save it because of their love for one another? Either way, taking a look into their adult relationship will be interesting, and probably make for good (possibly humorous) drama.
Hypable also asked “What if your favorite characters are dead?” If this play takes place several years after Deathly Hallows, it maybe likely that the older characters within the Harry Potter series have passed away. We left Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in their late middle ages, but now they are the elderly grandparents of teenagers and young adults. There are certainly characters that were older than Mr. and Mrs. Weasley that may have passed away–to save tears, we won’t name names.
Who is the focus of the play? The adult trio, or this new group of teenagers? The casting of the Trio was big news–and, no, not just because of Hermione. All the actors chosen are highly qualified, award-winning actors, as reported and confirmed by Pottermore. That is a lot of attention to bring to the adult Trio…so where does that leave their children? Is not Albus Severus the “cursed child?” The play is titled after Harry’s son, yet a lot of focus has been put upon Harry, himself and his two best friends.
Needless to say, we will not know the answer to this question until the casting of the Potter and Weasley children are revealed. However, with open casting calls, it is more than probable that the actors playing these teenagers may not carry the same notoriety as the actors playing their parents.
Pottermore tweeted that in 2016 we should look out for more writings from J.K. Rowling–one of the few important elements of the old site we all miss dearly. Until then, Pottermore has been releasing articles that do give us more insight into the details of the Harry Potter books, and now Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
The J.K. Rowing-run website released an article that talked, in detail, of the emblems seen throughout the Harry Potter series, and the new MACUSA seal. The article covered coat of arms, crests, flags and more, for schools (Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons), political offices (Ministry of Magic, MACUSA), and Weasley Wizard Wheezes.
Of the new MACUSA seal, Pottermore writes:
This circular seal bears a passing resemblance to the Muggle Seal of the President of the United States, with a few crucial differences. The central bird is a phoenix, which typically represents resurrection and immortality, as opposed to the eagle, which on the Seal of the President suggests authority and judicial power.
The MACUSA design has a confidence and grandeur that reflects the American wizarding world.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is set in 1926, and eagle-eyed history experts may notice that there are 48 stars on the seal. Alaska and Hawaii had yet to become part of the United States at this point in history.
The graphic designers of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films, Mira Mina and Eduardo Lima, have created and designed all of the crests, flags, seals, and coat of arms featured in this article. Yesterday, Pottermore conducted a live Q&A, over Twitter, with the graphic designers. (Read from bottom to top:)
See our exclusive interview with MinaLima here.
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on 12/17/2015
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Pottermore have released details of an exclusive interview with David Yates on set of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Ezra Miller, Collin Farrell, explosions and (predictably) a lot of rain make an appearance on set, as Yates talks about directing the first of at least three Fantastic Beasts films after directing the last four Harry Potter movies:
‘I’m so excited about this. J.K. Rowling was just inspired to set this movie in 1926 with a completely new set of characters’ he says. ‘I spent seven years doing four of her Harry Potter films so I was desperate to read this script, but also nervous, you know.
‘It’s a beautiful script; it’s really fun. It’s fresh. She’s got such a gift for creating adorable characters. These ones are special, they’re really moving and funny. You see bits of yourself in them, or you see people you know.’
After watching the trailer on Tuesday, we’re definitely excited to get to know these new characters – with humour, mystery and a fresh new (…old?) era of wizard culture to explore, Fantastic Beasts is certainly gearing up to be a great story!
On Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne):
‘Newt is just fascinating. Probably anyone who’s ever done some sort of geeky thing will relate to him… And filmmaking is a geeky profession,’ he says. ‘Newt’s obsessed with beasts and cataloguing facts about beasts.’
Yates tells the mysterious Pottermore Correspondent that he was ‘obsessed with lenses and cameras’ when he was growing up, and said he ‘really get[s] that aspect of someone who’s truly obsessed with something.’
Lucky us Potterheads have just the right amount of experience with slightly geeky obsessions – Newt sounds right up our alley!
We also get told a little more about Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston):
‘Oh she’s so adorable because she’s sort of so career-obsessed. A lot of us who work really hard can sometimes relate to that. Jacob is everyman, or everywoman, he’s pure and I like that. Queenie’s glamourous and somehow worldly but innocent. They’re so great.’
And finally, Yates addresses how he built the cast around Redmayne’s character:
‘It was like putting a rock band together. We saw so many people. We got Eddie, he was our anchor and I knew once we’d got him, we had to build the world around him. The other characters in this world had to react to him, they had to have a chemical reaction with Eddie. So we went to New York and saw some really fine actors, a lot of them, over two or three days, one after the other in the same room, all of them with Eddie. ‘
‘Eddie has done certain scenes from this movie so many times with so many different actors. When he was with Katherine, there was just something. It was amazing and I just thought, it’s got to be Katherine. It’s got to be. Then with Dan… Eddie and Dan are like Laurel and Hardy, so it had to be him. It’s funny, how they just clicked.’
Read the full interview here, and watch the new Fantastic Beasts trailer here!
According to The Bookseller, Susan Jurevics – Pottermore chief executive – announced plans for the website’s to shift towards mobile content at the Futurebook conference today.
After the relaunch, Pottermore announced that it was now ‘mobile-first':
Jurevics said the average Pottermore user is now a young woman who has grown up with J K Rowling’s seven Harry Potter books. She is also a smartphone user who is engaged with social media.
“Mobile usage has soared with 2.6bn smartphone subscriptions globally – more than double than in 2012, which was the year of our launch. And that’s expected to nearly triple in the next five years,” Jurevics said, adding: “Our goal is to inform, entertain and delight, on-the-go audiences who are looking for easy-to-access content for smartphones and tablets.
Pottermore’s old model was based around Potter-themed house cups, interactive storyboards based on the books and games (such as potions making and duelling). The new website is more of a news resource and encyclopaedia, also featuring updates on the progress of the Fantastic Beasts film.
Following the announcement of Audible’s deal with Pottermore – allowing them to sell the Harry Potter audiobooks – The Bookseller reports:
Jurevics also said Pottermore has decided to “shift” its business model and work with other retailers for the first time to offer “greater consumer access to Harry Potter e-books and audiobooks”.
“But we’re not done,” said Jurevics. “We’re working to secure more partnerships in the near future that will grow Pottermore’s digital retail footprint, and give consumers more choice in where and how they purchase and consume our content.”
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