Producer David Heyman recently discussed the Harry Potter series with Variety. He talks about the films award chances, his views on the success of the films and his production company, Heyday Films.
CG: Do you attribute that success to being faithful to the books and keeping fans happy? (Author J.K. Rowling’s) books provide a loyal fanbase, but I also think we made films that stood on their own terms. You never see “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” with film covers. Jo was very keen to keep the books and the films separate. They’re very different. Clearly, the success of the books has made the films possible and fueled their success, but it’s amazing what percentage of filmgoers did not come to the films from the books.
CG: You famously optioned the first book in the galley stage in 1999, not knowing its franchise potential … I never viewed it as a franchise. It’s a series of films, one film at a time. That’s always been the way we have approached it. This label ‘franchise’ … that’s not where it began.
Rupert Grint and Oliver Phelps surprised a school with a visit after a student won the visit after Warner Bros held a contest. The contest was for Rupert to visit their school for a Q&A session and Oliver was a surprise guest! You can see photos of the two in Rupert-Grint.us’s Photo Gallery!
UPDATE: Today we have been sent a press release that reveals that almost 2000 schools entered to win the contest, that is 42% of all the schools in the UK!
West Midlands school girl wins nationwide competition to win a visit to her school from Rupert Grint!
Pupils from 42% of UK secondary schools in the UK enter for a chance to win.
In celebration of the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ™ – Part 2” on 3D Blu-ray™, Blu-ray Triple Play and DVD on the 2nd December, Warner Home Video and Sainsbury’s offered one lucky person the chance to win a visit to their secondary school from Rupert Grint. Almost 2000 schools were entered into the competition which is a massive 42% of all eligible schools in the UK.
The winning school Bishop Walsh Roman Catholic School in Sutton Coldfield kept the visit a secret from pupils and revealed the surprise in a special assembly in the lead up to the Christmas break.
One of the stars of the worlds most success film franchise, Rupert Grint visited the school along with co star Oliver Phelps on the morning of the 13th December for an exclusive Q&A and personal delivery of copies of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ™ – Part 2” on Blu-ray.
Sarah Bird, Director of Marketing for Warner Home Video UK commented “We are delighted to have partnered with Sainsbury’s to give the pupils and teachers of the winning school Bishop Walsh Roman Catholic School the opportunity for Rupert Grint and Oliver Phelps to visit them. They all had a day to remember and magical memories to share with their children in years to come!”
Rebecca Singleton, Sainsbury’s head of non-food marketing said: “We had thousands of entries for our exclusive competition with Warner Bros and on top of a visit from Rupert, we were able to arrange 10,000 active kids vouchers for the winner’s school.”
WB has released a new version of the Harry Potter cast saying goodbye to the series. WB released a similar video last month, and this video has some additional cast members included.
Happy Holidays from Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter. In honor of the Holiday Season Warner Bros. have created an app to let you create and share e-cards with your friends! You can make and send your cards using this link.
The Harry Potter series will be honored at this years American Film Institute (AFI) Awards. These awards honor the best in American made films and television. The Potter series will be reciving an AFI Special Award, which is given to outstanding achievements in the moving image that do not fit into AFI’s criteria for the other honorees. See the video below for all honorees at the event (Harry Potter is at 1 minute 54 seconds)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced its list of 15 movies in the running for the Achievement in Visual Effects for the 84th Academy Awards! In early January, the members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee will narrow the list to 10. Teh full list is as follows:
“Captain America: The First Avenger”
“Cowboys & Aliens”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
“Hugo”
“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”
“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”
“Real Steel”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”
“Sucker Punch”
“Super 8”
“Thor”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“The Tree of Life”
“X-Men: First Class”
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PTr. The Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.
