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Debunking the Myths Surrounding the Harry Potter Date Change
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Warner Brothers », Celebrities and Controversy », Fandom », Distribution », Harry Potter »
When Warner Bros. announced last Thursday that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had been pushed back from Nov. 21 to next July, hardcore fans immediately entered the five stages of nerd grief. So far we've worked our way through denial, anger, semi-literate Internet ranting, and conspiracy-theorizing. All that's left is acceptance, where we go ahead and watch the movie when it comes out next summer and forget any of this ever happened.
In the meantime, several myths about the date change have popped up, and we'd like to help separate fact from fiction.
MYTH #1: Half-Blood Prince was moved because WB was scared of Twilight.
According to some people who are fans of the Twilight novel and pre-fans of the Twilight movie, WB got nervous about Harry Potter coming out just three weeks before the teen-vampire chick flick, fearing it would siphon off too much of Harry's audience.
Most observers believe Twilight will indeed be a hit, but come on. The Harry Potter franchise the most lucrative in film history, with a total worldwide box-office gross so far of $4.5 billion. There's no reason for WB to fear any competition, no matter how formidable. Also, most of Harry Potter's income is from overseas, where Twilight, still largely a U.S. phenomenon, cannot hope to compete.
Plus, if Half-Blood Prince came out Nov. 21 and followed the usual pattern, it would have already made most of its projected income by the time Twilight showed up on Dec. 12 anyway. Three weeks is a huge gap in our modern, front-loaded, it's-all-about-opening-weekend movie culture. If there had only been one week between them, then maybe you'd have something.
Naomi Watts Signs to Play Narcissa Malfoy in 'Harry Potter 6'
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Casting », Family Films », Harry Potter », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »
Watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix this weekend (liked it, but for whatever reason it didn't involve me nearly as much as the others), it occurred to me that the Harry Potter franchise has been cast better than just about any film series I can think of. Employing nearly every great British actor, what I see on the screen almost always matches what I had in my imagination reading the books. Well Potter fans, the perfect casting continues. Naomi Watts has just signed on to play Narcissa Malfoy in next year's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Narcissa Malfoy is the wife of Lucius Malfoy, mother of Draco Malfoy, sister of Bellatrix LeStrange and Andromeda Tonks, and the cousin of Sirius Black. Should it make me sad that I didn't have to look that up?
Narcissa is described as a tall, slim, pale, blue-eyed blonde. She's also quite snobby -- when Harry meets her, he considers her to have "a look that suggested there was a nasty smell under her nose." Watts just couldn't be a better fit for this part, although I wonder if Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and Gwyneth Paltrow were considered too. I'll take Watts over all of them for one reason: Mulholland Drive. She's one of my favorite actresses, and always interesting to watch. The Narcissa character made her first appearance in the fourth Harry Potter book, Goblet of Fire, but she didn't make it into the film adaptation. I'd imagine they locked Watts down for Deathly Hallows too -- haven't read it yet, but I hear she plays an important role in that one. Joseph Fiennes (brother to Voldemort himself, Ralph) and Stuart Townsend have also signed on for the sixth Potter film, although it is not yet known what roles they will play. Feel free to voice your guesses below.
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