The second trailer for Hercules, starring Dwayne Johnson has been released. The film also stars John Hurt, who Potter fans remember as Ollivander, as Cotys. The film will be released on July 25.
“Having endured his legendary twelve labors, Hercules, the Greek demigod, has his life as a sword-for-hire tested when the King of Thrace and his daughter seek his aid in defeating a tyrannical warlord.”
In a new video interview with The Wall Street Journal, Daniel Radcliffe discusses Broadway and the differences between American and British humor, entrance applause and his future films.
Universal Orlando has launched a new contest called The Search for Diagon Alley Supplies. Each day fans are told to visit a website and find the Harry Potter item on the page. After finding an item fans are automatically entered to win the Grand Prize and can also be one of the two instant winners of the day! More details are below:
Join The Search For Diagon Alley™ Supplies!
Find each of the wizarding supplies on a participating website and check it off your list for a chance to win great prizes!
For each wizarding supply you find, you’ll be entered for a chance to win:
The Grand Prize
A VIP trip for 4 to Universal Orlando® Resort in Florida
Daily Instant Wins
Harry Potter™ Collectible Hero Wands – two winners daily!
The Universal Orlando blog has shared the food choices visitors can enjoy in the Diagon Alley expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! For full details visit the post, meanwhile we’ve shared the most exciting pieces below.
Leaky Cauldron
Bangers and Mash (traditional roasted sausages with creamy mashed potatoes)
Toad in the Hole (traditional sausage baked into a Yorkshire pudding and served with onion gravy)
Cottage Pie (a savory combination of meat and vegetables in a potato crust)
Fisherman’s Pie (salmon, shrimp and cod baked together under a potato crust)
Beef, Lamb & Guinness Stew (served in a bread bowl)
Ploughman’s (a feast of English cheeses, crusty bread, cornichon pickles, apple beet salad, Branston pickle and a Scotch egg)
Split Pea Soup
Banger Pub Style Sandwich
Fish and Chips
Desserts like Chocolate Potted Cream, Cranachan and Sticky Toffee Pudding
Breakfasts: an Apple Oatmeal Flan with Yogurt and Fruit and an Egg, Leek and Mushroom Pasty
Fishy Green Ale (it’s Fishy Green Ale, use your imagination!)
Otter’s Fizzy Orange Juice
Tongue Tying Lemon Squash
Peachtree Fizzing Tea
Wizard’s Brew (draught beer)
Dragon Scale (draught beer)
Gillywater
Pumpkin Juice
Butterbeer (of course!)
They also shared an interview with Ric Florell, the Senior Vice President of Revenue Operations and Executive Chef Steve Jayson.
Deni: How did you approach developing food or beverage that has only existed in the Harry Potter books and films and people’s imaginations?
Ric: The first thing we did was research. We took a look at the Harry Potter books and the films and determined which foods and beverages we wanted to concoct for our guests. Of course, we had to have the Leaky Cauldron. The tricky part was creating a menu when there was no mention of any of the food items in the books and only one mention in the films to Split Pea Soup. So, we devised a menu with delicious dishes you would find in a British pub.
We also took into consideration what our guests wanted. For example, we received a lot of interest in having a larger beer selection in the Hog’s Head pub in Hogsmeade. We took that feedback and decided to offer more options in the Leaky Cauldron.
Our goal is to give our guests a culinary experience that immerses them in the fun, excitement and wonder of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Deni: How have you continued the culinary progression from Hogsmeade into Diagon Alley?
Chef Jayson: We wanted to expand the dining from Hogsmeade into Diagon Alley by re-creating another beloved restaurant found in the Harry Potter books and films that delivers a completely different experience than the Three Broomsticks – yet, has the same magical feel. In the Leaky Cauldron, you actually feel as if you’re walking into a pub with dishes that are true to the British culture. We even imported certain ingredients like English cheeses to add to our dishes.
With Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour, you can order flavors of ice-cream that were inspired by flavors associated with England, like Clotted Cream and Earl Grey and Lavender. You will also encounter fun flavors you would expect to only find in the wizarding world like Butterbeer.
Plus, there are a few surprises we’re leaving for our guests to discover. We challenged ourselves to bring the food and drink of Harry Potter’s world to life, and I feel our guests will leave here saying we were successful.
Earlier today, Matthew Lewis was at the Hay Festival to participate in Chris Evans’ “500 WORDS” awards ceremony as one of the “superstar” readers. He and the other participants read winning children’s stories live on the Chris Evans’ Radio 2 Breakfast Show. A little background on the competition:
500 WORDS is the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show’s short story writing competition for children aged 13 and under. Launched by Chris Evans back in 2011, the competition attracted 118,632 entries in its fourth year and picked up the Silver Award in the Best Competition Category at the 2014 Radio Academy Awards.
Earlier this year, children were invited to compose an original work of fiction, using no more than 500 words. The entries were marked by 3,500 volunteer teachers and librarians, from around the UK, before the Scottish Book Trust drew up a shortlist of 50 stories.
Matt read the the Silver-winning 9 and Under story, ‘No Ideas George’ by Robert Jordan. You can listen below and view some photos of Matthew over at our partner site, Matthew-Lewis.com.
In a new interview with Playbill, Kenneth Branagh (Lockhart in the Potter films) discusses his New York City stage debut in Macbeth as well as the location of the play, which is an old armory.
“I used to stay with friends on the Upper East Side,” recalled Sir Kenneth Branagh in a recent phone interview, “and I walked by the Park Avenue Armory regularly, always thinking, ‘Gosh, it looks like a castle from the outside, like a stronghold.’ So, when it was suggested to me, I knew it would be perfect for the idea we always wanted to do — to give people an environmental experience from the word go.”
That feeling, said Sir Ken, “in New York starts as soon as you approach the outside of the Armory, frankly. You’re already seeing something that takes up a whole city block that is martial and very massive, and it will be containing a play that will be at least those things, as well as being a thriller and a supernatural ghost story and something that deals with primal human motivations in a big, sort of loaded space.
“You are aware, especially in the way they have refurbished the Armory, of its history with New York regiments. People have gone to wars from that building and from those rooms, and they have returned from wars. It carries that sense of a martial history that is very human and very thick and well over a century old. Thus, the atmosphere that the play is unleashed in is particular potent at the Armory.”
The play, a little over two hours in length, will be running for three weeks beginning tomorrow, June 5th (previews begin tomorrow). Tickets and more information may be found here.
“We play it at absolute breakneck speed,” said the 53-year-old knight, “because the events of the play are partly explained by the whirlwind that Macbeth and the other characters are subjected to. We wanted that reflected in the pace of our production.
“Here, we go for a very primitive and primal approach to the play. First screen direction: thunder, lightning, and rain — that’s what we start with. We try to keep the play visually in Scotland in a cruel world where he who fights hardest and longest wins, where there is a sort of appetite for power expressed in very clannish kinds of ways. The politics is basic and crude, with so much of it to do with physical martial prowess. In a way, the play is partly about a move in Scotland from a primitive world into new Middle Ages where there’s more hierarchy, titles, and structure.
“But the world our Macbeth lives in is a little more dog-eat-dog savage, elemental, where you feel the sense of the travel these characters have to take to go around Scotland. You feel the heat. You feel the weather. You feel the desperation. You feel the savagery of it and where the motivations are very basic. When Macbeth has this brief opportunity to potentially seize power, you feel the nakedness of his ambition.”
Additionally, a video interview with the actor may be watched below:
