Pottermore has revealed some of the cast and crew from the Potter films that will be attending a Red Carpet Gala opening for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood on April 5th.  Warwick Davis, Tom Felton, Evanna Lynch, James Phelps and Oliver Phelps along with composer John Williams will attend the Grand Opening event.

The attraction has been five years in the making, and features a stunning recreation of Hogwarts castle as well as Hogsmeade village.

Following in the footsteps of Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Japan, the Hollywood attraction will bring back some of the fans’ favourite rides, as well as a few new surprises.

The park officially opens on April 7th but is currently doing “soft openings” where fans can visit the park with limited rides and stores open.  Here’s a quick definition of a soft opening for those of you unfamiliar:

A soft opening is usually a less strenuous opening for the ride or attraction. It might not open at park open or might close before park close. It may open and close periodically throughout the day for minor adjustments or to run routine safety checks, although usually these closures are “soft” closures – they don’t clear the queue, they just cycle and empty cycle or stop the ride after everyone’s off for a moment or two. There may be private events, training or staffing requirements, repairs, media, or inspections that require the attraction be closed an entire day or more during this time. Certain effects or features might not be working yet.

The first day of Spring has come and gone and it’s Spring Cleaning time at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter. Creature Effects Artist, Sarita Allison, was found spring cleaning props from the Harry Potter film series at the Warner Bros Studio Tour ahead of the Easter holidays. You can see photos of Sarita at work in the gallery!

This Easter, a huge surprise is in store for film fans as Warner Bros. Studio Tour London reveals the colossal efforts taken by producers, costume designers and the special effects teams to create Hogwarts’ famous groundskeeper – Rubeus Hagrid. The character who reveals the wizarding world to Harry Potter is celebrated during a special feature where lovers of the film series can understand what went into bringing this half-giant to life on screen.

From March 25th to April 17th 2016, visitors to the Studio Tour will see the costumes worn by Harry’s gargantuan guardian and find out how they turned 6’1” Robbie Coltrane into the half-giant Hagrid. During production two costumes were created for Hagrid, one which was worn by Coltrane and the other which was made 25 per cent larger and used by 6‘10’’ England rugby star Martin Bayfield who appeared as Hagrid in scenes where he needed to be bigger than the setting around him.

We have also been sent a video where Sarita talks about her role on the Harry Potter film series:

The press release from WB also gives some insight into the work that goes into keeping the props looking their best!

Sarita, who was instrumental in creating the hundreds of prosthetic Goblin masks for the Harry Potter film series, has been called in to restore and clean some of the weird and wonderful props such as the intricate Gringott’s Goblin masks and Hagrid’s larger-than-life sized animatronic head. All this is ahead of the three week celebration of Half-Giant Hagrid, a new feature opening in time for Easter and running between 25th March and 17th April 2016.

From re-curling each eyebrow hair to repainting every wrinkle, Sarita painstakingly gave each individual mask the ultimate treatment to ensure they are in top shape ready for the beginning of Easter. Hagrid’s animatronic head received particular special attention with his famous bushy beard preened to perfection.

After beginning her career as a hair and makeup artist, Sarita was personally invited by Nick Dudman, Head of Creature Effects team, to join the 140-strong group of special effects artists working on the Harry Potter film series, that were involved in creating and applying Goblin masks. This meticulous work involved individually punching eyebrow hairs into the masks and creating hairlines, inserting one hair at the time. Sarita later returned to work as part of the team that curated the Harry Potter creations at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London.

Goblin facts:

• Full Goblin head masks were only used for background characters, whereas the hero characters would wear full prosthetic pieces that move with the face, allowing the actor to express more character and personality.
• It took 140 makeup artists to apply goblin prosthetics to 60 people in order to create the Goblins for the Gringott’s Bank sequence in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – part 2.
• From start to finish, a whole Goblin head would take six – seven days to complete.
• It can take an entire day just to punch eyebrows on to the mask, as each hair is punched through the mask individually and the eyebrow hairs were even pre-curled.
• The Goblin hairlines were created through a painstaking process of inserting each hair individually.
• It would take the Creature Effects team two – four days to paint a Goblin mask and it could take up to four hours to fully apply the Goblin prosthetics.
• Eight full Goblin head masks were created for the first film compared to an incredible 45 for the last film.

The first trailer for Evanna Lynch’s new film, My Name is Emily, has been released. The film will be released in Ireland cinemas on Friday April 8th. Additionally, the film has been nominated for numerous Irish Film and Television Awards, including a Best Actress Nod for Evanna!

A synopsis of the film may be read below followed by the trailer.

After her mother dies and her father is institutionalized, Emily is placed in a foster home and in a new school where she is ostracized. When her father’s annual card fails to arrive on her 16th birthday, Emily knows something’s wrong. She decides to take matters into her own hands and, enlisting her only friend at school, Arden, sets off on a road trip to break her father out of the psych ward. As their journey progresses Emily and Arden become close, and both come to realize important truths about the nature of relationships, both to their parents and to each other.

Pottermore has made a fun announcement this morning regarding new content on North Anerican Magic from J.K. Rowing. There will be four stories in all with the dust being released tomorrow morning. Entertainment Weekly shared the following:

The History of Magic in North America, a new series of four original stories by Rowling, will debut this week on Pottermore. The author’s interactive web portal is the only place you’ll be able to read the new tales, which will finally shout “Lumos!” at a time and place in wizarding history previously unexplored in the films and novels of the Harry Potter series.

To tide excited fans over until the first story apparates on March 8 at 9 a.m. ET.

The History of Magic in North America will cover a number of topics in America’s magical history including:

—The U.S. Hogwarts, Ilvermorny

—Skin-walkers, a Native American legend

—The Salem witch trials, a formative event for the country’s national magical identity

—Our Ministry of Magic, the Magical Congress of the United States of America

Universal Studios Hollywood has launched the Hogsmeade Hunt, a contest where fans can win a VIP trip for four to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! You also have daily chances to win a Harry Potter wand.

Find each wizarding item on participating websites for a chance to win a trip for 4 to Universal Studios Hollywood to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™! Visit the Hogsmeade Hunt website every day and you can also be one of the daily instant winners of a Harry Potter™ Collectible Hero Wand!

For more information and for official rules, please visit: www.universalstudioshollywood.com/hogsmeadehunt

To play:

1.Visit hogsmeadehunt.com every day at 12pm EST to discover where you can find the day’s item

2. One item will be available to find each day from 3/1 – 3/21, each on a different website.

3. Visit the named website to find that day’s item, and click on it to be entered for a chance to win!

Note: This contest is only open to U.S. Residents

Pottermore has shared the first photo of the full Harry Potter and the Cursed Child cast! According to the website, “56 creatives, actors and members of the production team came together this morning for the first time to be part of this amazing photo, right before the first read-through of the script.”

Rehearsals have begun! See @JK_Rowling & the Company of Harry Potter & the #CursedChild together for the first time. pic.twitter.com/t2tCYgjHgb

— Harry Potter Play (@HPPlayLDN) February 26, 2016

Names of the new cast members can be read below:

Please welcome Nicola Alexis, Helen Aluko, Jeremy Ang Jones, Rosemary Annabella, Annabel Baldwin, Jack Bennett, Paul Bentall, Anthony Boyle, Zoe Brough, Sam Clemmett, Morag Cross, Cristina Fray, Rudi Goodman, Claudia Grant, James Howard, Christiana Hutchings, Lowri James, Chris Jarman, Martin Johnston, Bili Keogh, Chipo Kureya, James Le Lacheur, Helena Lymbery, Tom Mackley, Barry McCarthy, Sandy McDade, Andrew McDonald, Adam McNamara, Poppy Miller, Tom Milligan, Jack North, Alex Price, Stuart Ramsay, Nuno Silva, Cherrelle Skeete, Esther Smith, Nathaniel Smith, Dylan Standen and Joshua Wyatt… who make up the entire cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Among these names are seven child actors who will alternate between roles.

The unveiling of a brand new (not to mention huge) Harry Potter team, is a very special moment indeed. Looking at the sheer number of creative minds at work on this production, it’s safe to say that Harry, Ron and Hermione’s next adventure is in good hands.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will premiere in London’s West End at the Palace Theatre this summer. If you want to buy tickets visit the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child website. You can also see detailed interactive seat plan for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child here at SeatPlan.