It's official! Harry Potter, otherwise known as Daniel Radcliffe, is heading to Broadway. Back in September of last year, I posted about the Brit's plans to reprise his starring role in Equus on Broadway, dropping trou for a whole new set of fans. Now Yahoo has confirmed it.

The young actor will make his Broadway debut on September 5 of this year, in previews for a limited, 22-week run that will stretch from September 25 to February 8 of 2009. Yes, folks, that means he'll be in New York City as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hits theaters. I'm thinking that the chances for a big premiere in the Big Apple are pretty darned good -- and just think -- if you book tickets for the play around November 2, you can have a double Radcliffe whammy!

Thea Sharrock is directing the play, which is based on the true story of a troubled young man who blinds horses with a metal hoof pick. Richard Griffiths (who plays Uncle Vernon in the Potter franchise) will also reprise his role as the psychiatrist who treats Radcliffe's troubled lead. Now the question becomes: Will Daniel's nudity and smoking create an uproar here as well? He is now 18, so that should stop some of the skin qualms, but the Big Apple certainly isn't the most smoke-friendly city these days.

Now that Daniel Radcliffe has grown up a bit, he's looking to balance off those last few Harry Potter films with stuff a little more "adult." For one, he took on a role (and off his clothes) in the staged play Equus, while he also starred in a cameo during the HBO show Extras as himself (who also happened to be a sex-obsessed teenager). Now, as we begin to start the cycle all over again and anticipate a sixth Potter flick, the UK Guardian reports the dude is among those being considered to star as a war journalist in a film called Journey. They say, "The film, Journey, will see Radcliffe play Dan Eldon, a 22-year-old who was among four journalists stoned to death by a mob in Mogadishu in July 1993. Eldon left behind 17 journals, thousands of pictures and a legacy that has won admirers including Madonna and Julia Roberts." Nice, meaty role, says me.

On another front, it seems fans are getting just a tad restless now that the seventh and final Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is over and done with. The people want more! They want an eighth book! And they will torture poor J.K. Rowling with future Potter questions for what appears to be the rest of her life. According to IESB, this time it's Rowling's own children who seem to be pressuring her into penning an eighth book. But Rowling, who's made approximately five gabillion dollars off the boy wizard, isn't exactly biting ... yet. She says, "If - and it's a big if - I ever write an eighth book, I doubt that Harry would be the central character. I feel I've already told his story. But these are big ifs. Let's give it ten years."

He may be most famous for his role as Harry Potter, boy wizard, but Daniel Radcliffe isn't just The Boy Who Lived anymore. Moviefone's Patricia Chui recently had a chance to chat with Radcliffe via AIM about Harry Potter, the roles he's taken recently to break out of the Potter mold, how he felt about doing his first sex scene, what he'd name a band if he had one, and ... how he'd look wearing the Annie wig. Think you know everything there is to know about Radcliffe? What's his birth sign? What sport (besides Quidditch) is he obsessed with? And what nickname does he absolutely hate being called?

Most importantly, what's it like to be one of the most famous faces on the planet? Read Patricia's chat with Radcliffe yourself, and let him tell you all about being "Dan" in his own words ...

Around the same time that Daniel Radcliffe makes fans squee with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which is scheduled to come out in November of next year, it looks like he'll send North American girls into a flutter by reprising his Equus role in New York City. Reuters has reported that the actor is hoping to debut the play on Broadway late next year. I would assume that this would be after the film comes out, so he can get all the press tours done before he drops trou again.

His involvement in the UK production created enormous buzz, both for his nudity and his smoking, and the play relished in advanced ticket sales that rose above $4 million. If you remember, the play is about a psychiatrist who is trying to help a young man who has been blinding horses with a metal hoof pick. (It is also based on a true story.) As for a possible run on Broadway, Radcliffe says: "I would be very nervous because I think that [the audiences are] even more discerning than in London. But I know we have a good show, it was a good show when we did it in London and hopefully if we do it again it will still be that good. It has to be better."

Better or not, I bet he could totally mess up, and hordes of girls will still see it for not only a glimpse of Harry in person, but also Daniel in all his glory. I mean, how many fan girls ever get to see that much, especially when the actor is still so young? (He turned 18 in July.) At the very least it will remind audiences once again that he's more than just a princely wizard. I can only imagine what sort of roles he steps into once the franchise is complete... In the meantime, you can check him out in December Boys, which opens later this month.

Actor Daniel Radcliffe is facing a firestorm of controversy for smoking on stage in his current stage production of Equus, on the grounds that his Harry Potter character is so ubiquitous that it will indirectly encourage children to smoke. Radcliffe, 17, is being targeted specifically by ASH, an anti-smoking organization. ASH spokesperson Amanda Sandford has said "It is regrettable that he is smoking, whatever the circumstances. He is a role model for young people and if he decided to take up smoking in real life that would be of great concern." Sandford also seems to be against the whole idea of smoking in plays in general, adding "Even though it is an act, nicotine is highly addictive and he could find himself hooked."

Radcliffe also recently sat down with the British Telegraph to talk about Equus and defended his right to be naked on stage if he wants, which is also apparently a problem to some people. "I didn't look at the nudity and go, oh great. But it's the same as doing a role with an accent or a particular affectation. Lots of the actors that I've admired at one stage or another have taken their kit off. It's a rite of passage. The iconic scene is the physical and emotional climax of the play. So if I do that with pants on, it would be crap."

We've had some time now to get used to the thought of Daniel Radcliffe, otherwise known as Harry Potter, boy wonder, naked. For months now, we've been bringing you news of his Equus stint in between his wizard sequels. The play, which was penned by Peter Schafer in 1973, details a psychiatrist dealing with a boy who has been blinding horses with a metal hoof pick -- based on true crime involving a boy mutilating horses. But the big buzz behind the story was that Radcliffe would have to strip down to his birthday suit (link NSFW) for the performance.

Obviously, we've wondered if he could pull it off, and whether the young man would be inextricably, forever linked to the popular wizard who made him famous. Well, it seems that he can now laugh in the face of naysayers. According to The Daily Mail, "The 17-year-old truly impressed with a bravura full-frontal display that earned him a standing ovation." While there is some work to be done -- the production over-ran by approximately 25 minutes -- the consensus is solid on Mr. Potter. But perhaps the best words that I've seen coming from the stage are courtesy of Ain't It Cool and Hughie*: "The guy spends a significant amount of time in the second act as naked as the day he was born but by this point the entire supporting cast from all four Harry Potter films could come on and perform an elaborate burlesque routine and you wouldn't care because Daniel Radcliffe has taken it beyond this." One is now making it beyond Rowling's world...what do you think will happen to the others?

*There are spoilers in his review about the Potter franchise, if you haven't kept up-to-date with the books.

Announcing that he would appear naked in the stage play Equus did not make Daniel Radcliffe automatically a grown-up. Not even the creepy poster was proof. But now, with some sexy publicity photos (these may be NSFW), the Harry Potter star finally shows that he's no longer a little boy. Nine photos feature Radcliffe shirtless (and scrawny, I might add), most with him standing with a white horse, the others with an also-topless Joanna Christie, his co-star in the play. He also looks more like Elijah Wood than usual in the pictures, which explain why the actors are confused for each other.

For the Potter movies, the pictures could be seen as a gift or a problem. Will they attract the aging fans who would have dismissed Radcliffe and his franchise as kid stuff, or will they be too racy for some who will associate the sex with the family films? With the latest in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, coming out this summer, the photos certainly have to be a concern of Warner Bros. However, we haven't seen the studio react warily so far, and Radcliffe has been doing other things to shed his kiddie image. The play opens next month.

In other Harry Potter news, a number of spots in England are preparing for a surge in Potter tourism. They say it is in anticipation of the new movie, but something tells me that fans could make a nice vacation out of taking in a performance Equus followed by visits to the Potter shooting locations.

It's old news by now that Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe will be appearing nude on stage in London during a production of Equus. However, we've recently come across this poster for the upcoming play, and it's hard not to find it just a little bit disturbing. They've even made Radcliffe's nipples into the horse's eyes, and it'll be hard to look at Harry Potter the same way again. The play is about a boy who really loves his horse, and Radcliffe decided to take the role to prove that he could play other parts besides the boy wizard.

There is no doubt that Radcliffe has been offered plenty of other acting roles that would show off his debatable acting skills, but this just really seems off the charts. I recently saw the film Driving Lessons with Rupert Grint who plays Ron Weasley, and he does a great job in the film without dropping a stitch. Plus, with Equus being only a London stage play, won't that limit the amount of people who are going to see what Radcliffe's range is? I guess his parents are supportive of this move, which seems hard to believe, but to each his own. It will be very interesting to see what the public reaction will be to this play. Our prediction: Either shock and empty theater seats, or Potter fans come to see Harry in a whole new light.

[Via Towleroad]

In a clear (and very wise) effort to prove he can play things other than a boy wizard, Daniel Radcliffe has revealed plans to follow up his on-stage, "HOLY CRAP, HARRY POTTER'S NAKED!" star turn in Equus next year with a starring role in a World War I-themed television movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Radcliffe will play Jack Kipling in My Boy Jack, an ITV film based on a play by David Haig (who will also appear in the movie, playing Rudyard Kipling). The play is based on a real event in Kipling's life: he used his connections to get his 17-year-old son into the Irish Guards, "even though his son had been turned down for health reasons by the military many times before." You can see where this is going, can't you? Yep, Jack goes missing, and his body is never found. My Lord that's depressing -- I'm guessing this one is going to be a hardcore, stiff-upper-lip tear-jerker.

Though it's unlikely the movie will ever air here in the U.S., I'm sure if it does well you American Potterites will at least be able to pick up a U.K. DVD of the thing (assuming you've already got that region-free player, of course).

We reported back in December on a vaguely specious-sounding rumor that young Daniel Radcliffe was in talks to play Alan Strang in a stage version of Equus. For those of you not up on your edgy theater, Equus is a Peter Shaffer play that features, in addition to horse-blinding, equine-related arousal and full-frontal nudity. (Whether Potter fans recoiled in horror or dropped to their knees in prayerful thanks upon hearing the rumor depended entirely on whether they'd hit puberty or not.)

It turns out, surprisingly enough, that the rumors were true, and rehearsals for Equus will begin in January (shortly after shooting on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ends) with the play expected to open in the spring. Though there's been no confirmation that Kenneth Branagh will direct, as was originally rumored, Reuters is confirming that Richard Griffiths, better known to Potterites as Harry's Uncle Vernon, will star alongside Radcliffe in the role of the psychiatrist who interviews Strang after that whole horse-blinding thing.

I'm pretty sure that anyone who has heard of Peter Shaffer's play Equus, whether they've read it or not, knows that it involves a boy who has a weird thing going on with horses. Not only does he like to blind them, but he also finds the creatures rather...arousing. As The Guardian delicately puts it, the "the plot involves the hero reaching the height of sexual ecstasy while riding a horse."

So, if reports from England are true - that Daniel Radcliffe is currently in talks to star in a Kenneth Branagh-directed production of the play - Shaffer's work might suddenly find itself playing to a very non-tradition demographic, namely shrieking teenage girls. Cover your ears, West End: the Potterites are coming!