New Wizard of the Month on JK's Site

A new wizard has been posted as Wizard Of The Month on JK's official site. February's is:

Yardley Platt

1446 - 1557.
Serial goblin-killer.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/31/06
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GoF Gets Only One Oscar Nomination

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has received just one Oscar nomination, in the category of "Achievement in Art Direction," for the work of Stuart Craig, art director, and Stephenie McMillan, set decorator, on the latest Potter blockbuster. The 78th annual Academy Award winners will be announced on March 5th.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/31/06
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Rowling's Recommended Children's Books

An interesting article was recantly published in The Royal Society of Literature magazine, which containing the top ten books JK Rowling believes are must-reads for children. They are:

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Animal Farm, George Orwell
The Tale of Two Bad Mice, Beatrix Potter
The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
Hamlet, William Shakespeare

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/31/06
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Kingsley Shacklebolt & James Potter Now Cast

CBBC Newsround reported today that Warner Brothers has just filled the roles of Kingsley Shacklebolt and young James Potter for the Order of the Phoenix movie. George Harris, who also played in The Interpreter as well as Raiders of the Lost Ark will play the Ministry Auror and teenager Robbie Jarvis will play the young James Potter, featured in "Snape's Worst Memory."

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/30/06
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GoF Passes CoS in Box Office

The fourth Harry Potter movie has recently passed Chamber Of Secrets on the list of Highest Grossing Films of All Time, earning $286m domestically and $593m overseas with a total of $879m worldwide. This weekend's total brought the film to eighth place on the list of top-grossing movies ever - just one place ahead of Chamber of Secrets. Sorcerer's Stone still remains at third, while Azkaban takes the back seat at #16.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/30/06
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Site Updates

Harry Potter Planet has just obtained a new feature - layout changers. However, the layouts only work for the main page, and as soon as I get the script for the whole site I'll put it up. For now, the layout links include the general trio as well as Ron and Hermione. They can be found right above the 'search' icon on the right navigation bar. Enjoy!

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/28/06
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Katie Leung returning for OOTP

A Katie Leung Fan recently received a new letter from the actress who plays Cho Chang in Goblet of Fire. In the message, Katie says she is preparing for the next movie, Order of the Phoenix. You can see a scan of the letter at this link.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/28/06
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Aol Moviefone Awards For GoF

Voting at AOL's Moviefone Moviegoer Awards begins today, and Goblet of Fire received a nomination in each category it was long-listed for: Movie of the Year, Actor of the Year (Daniel Radcliffe), Actress of the Year (Emma Watson), Best Scene-Stealer (Brendan Gleeson), and Vilest Villain (Ralph Fiennes). See this link to vote!

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/25/06
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JKRowling.com Updates

JK Rowling has updated the diary and news section of her site, the content of which includes that she is on a "flood of inspiration" while writing book seven.

Of course, this heavenly state of affairs will not last, it never does. I'm bound to get all snarled up in a plot tangle, or else find myself temporarily stranded on the edge of a large hole in the story. Until then, however, I shall enjoy floating along on this flood of inspiration.

JKR also participated in "Romania for Europe's children," ans had this to say about the event in her news section:

In 2003 I read an article in the British Sunday Times about the use of 'cage beds' in psychiatric institutions in the Czech Republic. The article alleged that children as young as two were being kept in these beds, without physical contact or comfort, for the majority of the day and night. The photograph that accompanied the article � of a very young boy staring through wire mesh at the camera - is still branded on my memory; in fact, it was so disturbing that when my eyes first fell on it my immediate instinct was to turn the page quickly so as not to have to look at it.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/24/06
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Movin' On Up

Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire has recently moved up into the spot of number 9, passing Fellowship, the first in the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy. Goblet has now accumulated aout $286 million domestically, and $589 million overseas, bringing it to a total of $874.9. It still sits one place behind Chamber Of Secrets, which collected $876.7 million.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/24/06
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JK Rowling Interview on TVR

HarryPotter.as.ro reports that while in Romania next week, a public TV station will interview the Harry Potter author. The program will air Wednesday, January 25th at 9:50 PM. The following day, Jo will be a part of a televised event that will also include one lucky person winning a signed copy of a Potter book.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/21/06
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Spanish HBP Cover

The Spanish version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been released - see it at this link. The book is shceduled to come out on February 23rd.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/21/06
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Goblet Of Fire Cast Pictures

A slew of new Goblet Of Fire cast photos are being featured in a Thailand poster book. The batch includes Tom Felton, Rupert Grint, Dan Radcliffe, Clemence Poesy, Katie Leung (Cho Chang), Emma Watson, Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory), and Stanislov Ianevsk (Viktor Krum). You can see these pictures at Mugglenet.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/21/06
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Half-Blood Prince Theif Jailed

Aaron Lambert, responsible for a role in the theft of two copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last June has been sentenced to prison for four and a half years. The twenty-year-old bodybuilder eventually attempted to sell the books to a Sun newspaper reporter, threatening him with an imitation firearm. Following his crime, Lambert admitted to two counts of phoning and blackmailing Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury. Apparently, Lambert's excessive use of bodybuilding drugs had affected his behaviour and personality at the time of the theft.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/21/06
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GoF Recieves Three BAFTA Nominations

The 2006 BAFTA nominations have been announced, and Goblet Of Fire has been nominated in the categories of "Production design," "Achievement in special visual effects" and "Make Up and Hair." In addition, actor Ralph Fiennes who portrayed Voldemort in Goblet was nominated under "Best actor in a leading role" for his role in The Constant Gardener. The awards will be hosted by Stephen Fry and held on February 19th in the Odeon Leicester Square, London.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/21/06
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Paperback Release Date For HBP Announced

Scholastic recently announced that the paperback edition of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be released on July 25th for a retail price of $9.99. The initial print run will make two million copies.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/21/06
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Exams of HP Actors Will Cost Warner Brothers

Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson will be taking their AS Levels and GCSE exams this summer, causing a month-long stall in the production of the Order of the Phoenix movie. Warner Bros. will have to pay a staggering �2m to pay for studio hire and offices while the actors are on their absence from work.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/21/06
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Luna Hopefuls Narrowed To 400

Warner Brothers recently announced that they have narrowed down the 15,000 Luna Lovegood hopefuls who showed up at the open casting call on Saturday to just 400. OOTP casting director Fiona Weir had this to say:

"We were really amazed at the response and would like to say a big thank you to everyone who gave up their Saturday. Even though we had many thousands more than anticipated, we were determined to see everyone who came along."

Those girls who made it through to round two had a wide range of accents, backgrounds and ethnicity, coming from all over Britain and Ireland, said WB. The film company's casting department will shortly contact those auditionees they wish to see again.

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/21/06
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GOF Tenth Highest-Grossing Film Of All Time

This past weekend's box office haul of $3m landed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at #10 on the list of the highest-grossing films of all time. Chamber of Secrets is in seventh position having earned $876.7m, Prisoner of Azkaban remains at 16th, while Sorcerer's Stone still remains in the third spot, keeping its place as the statistically best Potter movie yet.

To date, GOF has grossed $283m domestically and $583m overseas (total of $866m).

Posted by Anthony | Webmaster | 1/16/06
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Disclaimer: Harry Potter Planet is an unnoficial fan site. It is not here to break any laws, but to be a helpful resource for Harry Potter fans. We did not create Harry Potter or any of the characters in the series, nor are we affiliated in any way with Warner Brothers or JK Rowling. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this site, please do not hesitate to email me at [email protected].