Home Media Magazine has released a new interview with Warner Home Video EVP and GM, Jeff Baker, who discusses the very limited release of the Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection. He calls the set a “homage to the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise” and revealed that there will only be 63,000 copies of the collection released worldwide, with 30-35,000 of those being released in the US. The collection hits stores September 7th in the US and September 10th in the United Kingdom. Of the number of copies he says:
“It was very difficult [to arrive at that number] because we didn’t have a comp to this,” Baker said. “We’ve never, as a company — and I don’t think any other studio has — released something quite like this. So there really was no precedent for what the demand might be. In order to make an event out of it and to make it special for people to want to step up and buy it and commit to the type of investment that was required, we felt that it didn’t make sense just to make some ungodly number and sell it forever,” he added. “We wanted to make it a special one-time purchase opportunity.”
Baker also revealed that Warner Bros. plans to release a “less robust, more cost-effective version” once the larger collection sells out. He also discussed putting the content together for the set
“Over the years, we have specifically aggregated and accumulated some footage that we’ve never released that’s part of the individual film releases, knowing that our plan and intention was to ultimately release it one day in a huge comprehensive box,” Baker said. Designed with hidden compartments, drawers and souvenirs — such as artwork, a Hogwarts map, catalogs of props and posters, a locket and more — the set makes for a “really special, unique keepsake,” he added.
Finally, he noted that, while the price-tag for the set is hefty (at $499.99,) it will be a prized collection and investment piece for major fans.
“There is a high-end market for a franchise like this,” he said. “I can’t say that every film would elicit that kind of response, where people are paying hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars. That’s still a lot of money to spend in a marketplace where you can buy a DVD at Walmart for $5. Clearly it’s for somebody who likes the whole notion of the complete repository of everything that ever existed on ‘Harry Potter’ — that, frankly, is ever going to be released on ‘Harry Potter,’ as far as I’m concerned,” Baker continued. “This is the definitive collection with everything in it. This is about as good as it’s going to get.”
As we promised this morning, here are two more new clips from the Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection set, out in one month! First up is “The Locket” where we learn more about Slytherin’s locket from one of the graphic designers of the iflm.
Next we have “Growing Up: Kids Fun,” in which the older actors talk about working with the children. (This video has been released previously by other sources, but it’s fun to watch again!)
This morning Warner Bros. have sent over three new clips from the Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection set, out September 10th! In case you have forgotten:
The Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection is a limited edition set containing over 37 hours of special features, including all previously released special features for all eight Harry Potter films. Also included are nearly four hours of exciting, never-before-seen bonus features that offer fans an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the Harry Potter franchise. Wizards and witches everywhere will enjoy the all-new documentaries like “Creating the World of Harry Potter, Part 7: Story,” in which J.K. Rowling sits down with the series’ screenwriter Steve Kloves and discusses the process of translating the books to the big screen. “Creating the World of Harry Potter, Part 8: Growing Up” incorporates new and vintage interviews with the cast to understand what it was like growing up on the set of the world-famous films, and ends with Daniel Radcliffe’s emotionally charged farewell speech to the cast and crew.
The first clip is called Columbus Leaves and shows the cast talking about when Christopher Columbus finished directing the first two Potter films and Alfonso Cuaron stepped in to fill the void.
The second is the clip SFX and Entertainment Weekly exclusively released earlier in the week, Expanding Beyond the Page. The clip goes behind the scenes of the Visual Effects.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Emma Watson discusses her upcoming film, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The newest issue of EW, out August 10th, contains the full interview with Emma. The film, also starring Logan Lerman, Nina Dobrev and Ezra Miller, will be released on September 20th.
She remembers meeting with Stephen Chbosky who persuaded her to take on the part of Sam, a rebellious and popular high school girl. “At our initial meeting, he said, ‘Okay, not only is this going to be one of the most important parts you play, you’re also going to have the summer of your life and meet some of your best friends.’ I thought, ‘That’s quite a claim. Who is this guy?” Watson says with a laugh. “Everything he said came true.”
The cast all bonded while living in the same hotel in Pittsburgh, which Watson now calls one of her favorite places. It was there that Watson can point to one particular scene — when Sam stands up in the back of a pickup truck driving through a tunnel — as the moment she was able to truly graduate from Hogwarts. “I started as Emma with some Hermione still left in my system,” she says. “I went through the tunnel and I came out ready to start something new.”
Entertainment Weekly is holding a new contest where one fan will win a trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London and two fans can win their very own Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection! To enter you must visit this page, the sweepstakes is open until 11:59pm ET on Aug. 31. EW ad SFX have also released a new behind the scenes clip from the collection which shows a look at how the visual effects in the films.
Update: Thanks for WB for the new clip. (Now it doesn’t autoplay! Yay!)
18 million people urgently need food and water in West Africa’s drought-struck Sahel region. Join Oxfam, Africans Act 4 Africa and Avaaz and demand world leaders act now to provide food and water for the hard months ahead and invest in long-term solutions to ensure this never happens again. If you would like to donate to the cause, please visit Oxfam’s special website; Sahel2012.
She told Sky News (full article): “When I arrived in Senegal it was hard to see that this was a country where thousands of people are suffering from extreme hunger. Where you may expect the landscape to be dry and dusty, in fact everywhere was green and lush. I quickly learnt however that this green was hiding the reality, a deep-seated hunger that was so present in the lives of the families I spoke to. […] What’s even louder sometimes than money is people’s voices and by pushing your own government to put this into their agenda it’s almost more powerful, it’s much more global with the effect it can have.”
Via The Independent (full article): “This was the first trip I had ever done of this kind” she said. “We arrived at the health centre first – five doctors to look after 200,000 patients. It was quite overwhelming, as I saw people really far down the stages of malnutrition. […] One mother, Dieynasa Ba, 35, had six children. She told me plain facts: her family had cut their meals down from three to one a day. Only one of her children was left at school and he has to cycle three hours there and back on just one meal a day. He comes back exhausted, but has to do the same all over again the next day.
“The mothers all knew what would help their children break out of poverty: education. They see it as the only way to empower their children and help them find work that is more stable than farming in the village. All the people I spoke to were so incredibly dignified, upbeat and hopeful. One woman, Fatima Diallo, 20, with five children, was receiving Oxfam’s cash transfers of about $80 to last a few months. She had no other form of income and said she split it three ways: one part for food, one for health and for education. It has provided stability for her family.
“It put so much into perspective. The people I met never complained and showed so much solidarity. If, as a nation, we spoke louder to help these people, the Government would understand the responsibility they have. They would realise this is what Britain wants. It is about highlighting the situation, and talking about it across different platforms – especially in my generation. It’s about saying we don’t just care for ourselves, but also about people thousands of miles away. If you can’t give your money, you can give your voice.”
Oxfam also released a video showing Bonnie Wright in Senegal with many of the people suffering because of the crisis.
