| QUOTE |
| Dursleys Dumped It's hard enough turning a 700-page novel into a two hour movie without Harry Potter fans in their millions watching your every move. So hats off to Mike Newell, director of Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, who has cheerfully announced that he's dumping a couple of major characters from the series to make way for more of that gargantuan plot. The Dursleys, Harry's horrible foster parents, played by Richard Vernon and Fiona Shaw in the previous installments, won't be appearing in the new film at all. "I'm sorry about the Dursleys, actually" Newell told Sci Fi Wire, "Because I think there's a kind of a convention in the movies that it's enjoyable to see the Dursleys each time. But, in fact, if you read the books, the Dursley incident is absolutely tiny and not central at all". |
| QUOTE |
| Fiennes Is Real In Goblet Mike Newell, who directed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, told SCI FI Wire that he cast Ralph Fiennes as the dark lord Voldemort because of his ability to play the character as a realistic and frightening villain, rather than a simple caricature. "You have to have the actor to do it," Newell said in an interview. "And Ralph was the actor to do it, because Ralph doesn't chew the scenery, and he isn't a sort of 19th-century melodrama figure. He's absolutely real and cold and chilling and absolutely dedicated to doing bad. And as soon as you have that, you can do it." Goblet of Fire is the fourth in the Potter series of movies and is based on J.K. Rowling's book of the same name. It marks the first appearance of the present-day incarnation of You-Know-Who. Newell said that he and Fiennes talked a lot about the character's motivations for becoming the ultimate force of evil. "What does he want?" Newell asked. "Why does he want to come back? What sort of a person is he that he wants to come back? What sort of a person is it who wants to impose a reign of evil? Does somebody who wants to impose a reign of evil actually see that it's evil? Or is it in fact for them a kind of good? So there was a lot of that stuff, which is the sort of thing that you discuss with an actor when he's getting to really concentrate on the part. And that was all very, very profitable." Although much of the character's history is revealed in the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which was just released in July, Newell said that he hasn't had time to read it, because he's been w**king on the film. "It's another huge, wacky novel, and, simply, I've been busy," he said. "I obviously read the fifth one, because that has relevance. But, no, I didn't do that. Nor did I change my view of things for any of the stories that might be coming up. I've been very strongly encouraged by the producers and by Warner Brothers to think of this as a specific one-off film. Perhaps it's a link in a chain. There are going to be seven of these. Each is a school year, and therefore you can't be irresponsible, but that was simply never even discussed. It was simply assumed that this was a one-off film, for which I was very grateful." Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire opens Nov. 18. |
| QUOTE |
| She'll bring out the kid in ya'!!! (via aintitcool) Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with some interesting talk about who's been cast as one of the most despicable characters in any of the Harry Potter novels, Ms. Dolores Umbridge. It's been a rumor that VERA DRAKE's Imelda Staunton was up for the role for a couple weeks (although I hadn't heard that rumor until today, myself), but today she appeared on ITV's Good Morning program and confirmed that she had the role. She also said she hasn't read the script yet, but will begin filming in January. I really like this casting. Staunton can be stern and creepy. She needs to stretch out her face a little more, to look like a frog... Umbridge is such a bitch! Just thinking about her pisses me off. Imelda Staunton will make me hate her guts in ORDER OF THE PHOENIX and I can't wait. What do you other Potter freaks think about this development? |
| QUOTE |
| Older rating for new Potter movie The new Harry Potter movie has been given a restrictive 12A certificate, making it the first film in the series to receive the higher rating. Children under 12 will only be able to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire if accompanied by an adult. "Younger viewers could be frightened by some of the more intense scenes," the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) told the CBBC Newsround website. The previous three movies all received the less restrictive PG rating. The BBFC passed the film with no cuts, saying it contained "moderate fantasy violence, threat and horror". 'Moderate violence' "At 12A we allow moderate level violence, but without focus on injuries or blood," the BBFC's spokeswoman continued. At 157 minutes Goblet of Fire is the second longest Potter film, three minutes shorter than Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The film, released in the UK on 18 November, has been given a PG-13 rating in the US. The US rating signifies the film may be inappropriate for pre-teens but it does not restrict children under 13 from admittance. Story from BBC NEWS: |