Universal Orlando Resort have announced the line up for the 2016 Celebration of Harry Potter! This year, which is the event’s third, will see some past guests as well as new ones that are sure to excite fans! Matthew Lewis and Evanna Lynch will all be returning to the event! Bonnie Wright, Rupert Grint and Katie Leung will also be joining in on the fun from January 29th – 31st.
Access to “A Celebration of Harry Potter” is included with regular theme park admission or with an annual pass, with admission to certain activities being granted on a first-come, first-served basis. While most of the activities for “A Celebration of Harry Potter” will be open to all Universal Orlando park guests and will take place at both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida theme parks, guests who purchase the exclusive event vacation package will enjoy certain special benefits and reserved sections for the panels and demonstrations.
Full details from the press release are as follows:
HARRY POTTER EXPO (Universal Studios Florida theme park) The Harry Potter Expo will be held inside a Universal Orlando soundstage and will be open to guests throughout the weekend. The expo will include the following booths and exhibits that will give guests deeper insight into the global phenomenon that is Harry Potter:
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London offers visitors the chance to relive the magic through the eyes of the filmmakers who brought the Harry Potter film series to life. Visitors can step on to authentic sets and admire the real props and costumes used during filming at the series’ production home in England, UK.
The Studio Tour is bringing an interactive taste of the experience to ‘A Celebration of Harry Potter’ 2016, giving you the chance to see the incredible behind-the-scenes talent that went into creating the iconic film series.
Harry Potter: The Exhibition
Sorting Hat Experience
Are you a Gryffindor or a Slytherin? A Hufflepuff or perhaps a Ravenclaw? At the beginning of each school year the Sorting Hat places new Hogwarts students into a house, and now you too have the opportunity to get sorted in a Great Hall setting inspired by the blockbuster films.
Step inside the Expo and the red carpet is rolled out welcoming you to an area celebrating the global impact Harry Potter: The Exhibition has had during its 7-year, 13-city tour, including an exclusive Quidditch inspired photo opportunity.
MinaLima
Graphic designers Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima worked for ten years on the Harry Potter films, creating countless unforgettable graphic props, some of which will be on display including iconic pieces such as The Marauder’s Map, Daily Prophet and Hogwarts school books. Since working on the films, they created the MinaLima Store selling authentic reproductions of the film artwork with limited edition art prints and stationery. They are currently in production on the new feature film from Warner Bros. Pictures, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Pottermore from J.K. Rowling
Pottermore is the digital heart of J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World and if discovering more about her magical universe excites you, Pottermore has a surprise in store for fans attending this year’s Celebration of Harry Potter. And keep your eyes peeled for their new Pottermore Correspondent (Rita Skeeter she certainly isn’t), who’ll be there hunting out exclusive scoops and bringing you updates on pottermore.com from the weekend’s activities.
Scholastic
Celebrate Harry Potter at Scholastic’s booth by sharing a message about what Harry Potter means to you. Color in a magical page from our brand-new Harry Potter coloring book. Be sure to enter daily raffles for a chance to win a copy of the new illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, a box set of all seven Harry Potter books, or a Harry Potter coloring book. Collectible giveaways are available for Harry Potter fans of all ages.
To join the conversation, use #HPCelebration. For more information about the event, tickets and available exclusive event vacation packages, visit www.universalorlando.com/celebration.
“A CELEBRATION OF HARRY POTTER” PANELS AND DEMONSTRATIONS (Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida theme parks)
Demonstrations and Q&A sessions will be available featuring Harry Potter film talent and crew, with special panels and demonstrations for kids. Admission into panels and demonstrations will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis. Specific times will be released at a later date.
Behind the Scenes: Harry Potter Film Talent Discussion
Enjoy a fascinating and interactive Q&A session featuring some of your favorite actors from the Harry Potter films. Discover what it was like to work on the most successful film franchise in history.
Behind-the-scenes of the Harry Potter props with Pierre Bohanna
Ever wondered how long it takes to make a wand? Or where the inspiration for the hundreds of wand designs in the Harry Potter film series came from? Warner Bros. Studio Tour London presents head prop maker for the films, Pierre Bohanna, who will answer these questions and more. Once you’ve discovered how they were made, raise your own wand as Death Eaters invade the stage to demonstrate how battle scenes were brought to life.
The Global Impact of Harry Potter: The Exhibition
Join us in celebrating the touring attraction that’s visited 13 cities in 9 countries and hosted almost 4 million guests. Harry Potter: The Exhibition is in a unique position to reflect on the global impact of the franchise. Get an exclusive look at the exhibition’s creation and the excitement it continues to deliver to fans around the world. Panel will include exhibition creators, film producers, and film actors who have participated in the openings.
Graphic Design for the Harry Potter Films with MinaLima
Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, from the graphic design studio MinaLima, will share insights into their role as graphic prop designers, and how their paths crossed at the WB film studios while working for 10 years on the Harry Potter movies. They will discuss and show some of the iconic props they created for the Harry Potter films, including The Marauder’s Map, the Daily Prophet, and The Quibbler, amongst others. Still immersed in all things Harry Potter, they will also talk about their involvement in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley, for which they designed all the street and store graphics. During the panel they will welcome questions from the audience.
This year’s “A Celebration of Harry Potter” will also include kids’ demonstrations and interactive experiences such as a ‘Dance Like a Beauxbatons and Battle Like a Durmstrang’ experience, as well as Harry Potter film trivia.
Digital Spy reports this morning that Matthew Lewis has been cast in series 4 of Ripper Street. He will be playing a policeman of unknown name, but we will keep you updated as news develops.
“From our new studio set in Ireland, it has been a delight to watch this cast reunite and grow,” series creator Richard Warlow said. “As these new characters’ lives take shape on the page, it is a daily inspiration to know that they will be brought to life by the most magnificent troupe of actors Ripper Street has yet assembled.”
Series four will premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Instant Video – with a broadcast date still TBC. The third series is currently airing on Friday nights at 9pm on BBC One. For fans who want to catch up on the series you can watch it via the links below:
Haunted by the failure to catch London’s most evil killer, Jack the Ripper, Inspector Edmund Reid now heads up the notorious H Division – the toughest police district in the East End. Charged with keeping order in the blood-stained streets of Whitechapel, Reid and his men find themselves fighting to uphold justice and the rule of law; but always in the background lurks the fear of the Ripper – is he back for another reign of terror? Rich episodic storylines meld with the intrigue of a criminal underworld festering on the hard streets of Victorian London, following the battle of the men whose job it is to bring the law to the lawless.
There has been a lot of news for each of the Potter actors the past couple of weeks while we were away. Today we’re rounding up the latest casting news and more.
Daniel Radcliffe
It has been announced that Daniel Radcliffe will star in BBC Two’s Game Changer, a film based on Grand Theft Auto. He will still star as the creator of the famous game, Sam Houser.
Conceived for an adult audience, this special 90-minute drama tells the story of the controversy surrounding the computer game Grand Theft Auto – arguably the greatest British coding success story since Bletchley Park.Its triumph was down to a bunch of British gaming geniuses who had known each other since their school days, and at the heart of it all was GTA’s creative mastermind, Sam Houser. In autumn 2013 its latest iteration – GTA:V – earned $1bn in its first three days, becoming the fastest selling entertainment product in history.
Grand Theft Auto offers gamers the chance to step into a fantasy world where they can behave like criminals, gun down rival gangsters and cops, hijack cars and venture deeper into an imaginary American underworld.
But the violent gameplay coupled with its outstanding commercial success leads to fierce opposition: from parents worried about children immersing themselves in such a violent world; from politicians, alarmed at the values they say it encourages; and above all from moral campaigners, who fight passionately to keep it out of the hands of children. At the vanguard of this crusade is the formidable campaigning lawyer Jack Thompson, a man determined to do whatever he can to stop the relentless rise of Grand Theft Auto.
Game Changer (w/t) tells the story of an extraordinary chapter in the history of this iconic game, and reveals the major impact it has had on our cultural landscape.
He also completed filming for Now You See Me: The Second Act, which will release in theaters next summer.
Finally, Daniel hosted BBC’s Have I Got News for You, which can be watched below or over at BBC’s website.
Tom Felton
Feltbeats reports that Tom will be starring in Message From the King as Frankie, filming has begun in LA.
A mysterious outsider named Jacob King from South Africa arrives in Los Angeles to avenge his younger sister’s death.
Chadwick Boseman stars as Jacob, a South African who descends into the Los Angeles underworld in an attempt to avenge his younger sister’s death and rescue her stepson from the immoral world into which he’s been sold. Natalie Martinez will play Trish, the former neighbor of Jacob’s missing sister Bianca who he recruits to help find the woman’s murderer.
Matthew Lewis
The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively revealed that Matt Lewis has been cast in MGM and New Line’s new film, ‘Me Before You.’ The film is based on the novel of the same name by Jojo Moyes. It has not been revealed who Matthew will be playing, but we will of course keep you updated on the film as more is announced!
The story centers on Lou (Emilia Clarke), a small-town girl caught between dead-end jobs, and Will (Sam Claflin), a successful man who finds himself wheelchair-bound after an accident. He can find no reason to live, until they meet when he hires her as his caretaker, and she becomes determined to prove to him that life is worth living.
SnitchSeeker interviewed Bonnie Wright recently about her long-awaited film, Sweat, and other roles.
SnitchSeeker: We’ve seen the trailer for Sweat and it looks like an intense love story.
Bonnie Wright: It’s definitely a love story. It’s pretty much led through the guy’s perspective, who’s played by actor Matthew McNulty. It’s basically about him in the present time reflecting over a previous relationship he had while he’s walking home and how he basically let the relationship end without maybe realizing that maybe she was the one he should’ve been with. So it’s basically about the loss of her and understanding what went wrong in the relationship.
SnitchSeeker: Was there a challenge in filming your first love story?
Bonnie Wright: I think, in that sort of way, in terms of small moments of intimacy. And a lot of the scenes were memories – flashbacks and improvised moments – so it was a challenge, but it was really enjoyable.
SnitchSeeker: What can you tell us about Sweat?
Bonnie Wright: I was really drawn to the material. It first sat within a series of short films that link together as a feature film [Geography of the Hapless Heart] as one, tying in the theme that was the element of love. The idea is that each story is meant to be told in a different city. However, Sweat worked so well and powerfully as its own short film and that’s basically why they’re releasing it now as its own short film. We shot it all in London. For a lot of it we went down there, to different locations around there. At the time, I’d just started … my first year at university and it was all in that area, too. So it was an area I was spending a lot of time with, funnily enough, while I was shooting it. And Matthew’s great. He plays the lead in the film.
The main theme of it is there are nuances of a relationship. How we read people, and how we can misread people when we’re in relationships – this idea that he obviously misread what the relationship was or what the relationship could have been for her. In terms of my performance, that was really interesting because it was all about mannerisms. So those fine details certainly were enjoyable and I know pretty well in the film. It’s a project I did quite awhile ago so it’ll be nice when an audience gets to see it.
SnitchSeeker: Are you planning to make any more films yourself?
Bonnie Wright: I’m making my first short film at the end of this year, and I’m currently writing my first feature that’s set in New York – that’s what I’m doing here [in New York] at the moment.
SnitchSeeker: Have you started filming The Highway is For Gamblers in the Mojave Desert in California yet?
Bonnie Wright:Yeah, we shot a bit of it at the end of last year, which was shot for the ending section of the film – which actually wasn’t the stuff that’s in the Mojave Desert – that was stuff that was in Ventura, California. The film ends by the sea.
SnitchSeeker: How did you get involved with that production?
Bonnie Wright: That was a great script sent to me by Alex [Alexandra McGuinness] the director. I read the script and had a few conversations with her. It came about because of the material, which I really love.
SnitchSeeker: I’ve heard you’ll be doing a Scottish remake of A Christmas Carol, is that right?
Bonnie Wright:Yeah, I already shot that a few weeks ago.
SnitchSeeker: What drew you to that?
Bonnie Wright: I like the modern retelling of it – the way they brought it into modern times. It’s a story that I grew up watching, and a theme that is so prevalent in today’s Scrooge-money driven culture.
BBC has released a bunch of previews in anticipation of Tom Felton Meets the Superfans which is airing on BBC Three tonight at 9pm. And don’t forget to tune into Bluestone 42 immediately after to see Matthew Lewis.
MTVu held the first ever Fandom Awards at this year’s San Diego Comic Con and Harry Potter won Best Fandom Forever. Matthew Lewis accepted the award, a video of his speech may be watched below, thanks to Matthew-Lewis.com.
“Congratulations to all the fans,” said Lewis. “I’m sure we’ll all agree that the greatest stories are the ones that stay with us forever, so thank you very much for believing in us. We wouldn’t still be here without you.”
During the Diagon Alley Media & VIP Preview last week we got to participate in a bunch of Q&A sessions with cast members. Last, but not least, we’re sharing the panel featuring Bonnie Wright, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch, James Phelps and Oliver Phelps.
P.S. Let’s all wish Matthew Lewis a Happy 25th Birthday today!
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