In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Harry Potter (and now Fantastic Beasts) producer David Heyman talks about the films and working in the industry. He is set to receive the David O. Selznick Achievement Award at the 27th annual Producers Guild Awards this weekend.  The Fantastic Beasts related questions may be read below:

Why did you decide to return to the world of Harry Potter?

It was exciting to move on and to embrace new challenges with Gravity and Paddington, but when it finished, there was a not-insignificant sadness because [the Potter films] had been such a big part of my life. Jo Rowling created such an incredibly rich and deeply conceived world. What you read in the books is in some ways just the surface of this world. I’d ask her about the [character Sirius Black’s] family tree because we had to paint it on the wall [for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix], and the book only had two names, and half an hour later I’d receive a family tree going back six generations with 100 people. I’m sure Newt Scamander and his story have been in her mind for many years. We were sitting around wondering what else we could do in this world, and [producer] Lionel Wigram, who is the person I first brought the first [Potter] book to, thought about maybe doing a documentary about Newt. That idea was floated to Jo, and she responded to doing a film about [that character].

Is Beasts designed as a franchise?

We’ve talked about making a couple, but with all these things — and this may be a failing of mine — I don’t look at them as franchises; I look at them as films. We want to make each film as good as we can because if you don’t, you won’t have a second film or a third.

What’s the biggest difference between Fantastic Beasts and the Harry Potter films?

Not having to work children’s hours. (Laughs.) And it’s set in 1920s New York as opposed to the U.K. in the ’90s.

He also answers a question about what he wishes he knew when he first started producing.

It’s something I know but I struggle to do: not take it all personally. On the one hand I think it’s important to take it all personally because you have to fight to the bitter end to make it as good as it can be, but at the same time, as one faces rejection on a daily basis, it can be hard at times.

As part of the celebrations for Harry Potter Book Night: A Night of Spells, Bloomsbury Children’s Books is launching the first official global search to find the world’s favourite spell from the Harry Potter books. You can visit http://bit.ly/HarryPotterSpellVote to vote for your favorite spells! The poll is open until Tuesday 2nd February with the results being announced on Harry Potter Book Night, Thursday 4th February.

A Night of Spells is the theme for Harry Potter Book Night 2016. Harry Potter Book Night gives fans of all ages the chance to celebrate J.K. Rowling’s wonderful novels by creating events all across the world using a specially created event kit. You can find out more about Harry Potter Book Night at http://www.harrypotter.bloomsbury.com/uk/harry-potter-book-night/

The hundreds of amazing spells created by J.K. Rowling within the pages of the Harry Potter books are legendary. Full of inventiveness and cunning, these famous magical incantations protect and challenge Harry and his friends in all sorts of ways.

Will the favourite be a sly spell, a mysterious charm or a unforgiveable curse like Avada Kedavra? It’s over to the Harry Potter fans across the world to cast their vote. Vote for your favourite spell at http://bit.ly/HarryPotterSpellVote

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016

• The Harry Potter™ Expo: 9AM – 6PM | Soundstage 33
• Movie in the Park: 1:30PM – 4:30PM | Music Plaza Stage
• Opening Night Event: 7:30PM – 8PM | Music Plaza Stage

SATURDAY, JANUARY 30, 2016

• The Harry Potter™ Expo: 9AM – 4:30PM | Soundstage 33
• Kids’ Duelling Demonstration & Wand Masterclass with Paul Harris: 10AM – 10:30AM | Music Plaza Stage
• Kids’ Harry Potter™ Film Trivia: 10:45AM – 11AM | Music Plaza Stage
• Bringing the Harry Potter™ Films to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™: 11AM – 11:30AM | Toon Lagoon® Amphitheater
• Kids’ Dance Like a Beauxbatons, Battle Like a Durmstrang: 11:30AM – 12PM | Music Plaza Stage
• The Global Impact of Harry Potter™: The Exhibition: 1PM – 1:30PM | Toon Lagoon® Amphitheater
• Kids’ Harry Potter™ Film Trivia: 2PM – 2:15PM | Music Plaza Stage
• Graphic Design for the Harry Potter™ Films with MinaLima: 2PM – 2:30PM | Toon Lagoon® Amphitheater
• Kids’ Dance Like a Beauxbatons, Battle Like a Durmstrang: 2:45PM – 3:15PM | Music Plaza Stage
• Harry Potter™ Props Showcase with Acclaimed Prop Maker Pierre Bohanna: 3PM – 3:45PM | Toon Lagoon® Amphitheater
• Behind the Scenes: Harry Potter™ Film Talent Q&A Session: 4:15PM – 5PM | Music Plaza Stage
• House Rally: 5:30PM – 6PM | Music Plaza Stage
• Harry Potter™ Film Tribute: 6:45PM – 7:45PM | Music Plaza Stage

SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2016

• The Harry Potter™ Expo: 9AM – 6PM | Soundstage 33
• Kids’ Duelling Demonstration & Wand Masterclass with Paul Harris: 10AM – 10:30AM | Music Plaza Stage
• Kids’ Harry Potter™ Film Trivia: 10:45AM – 11AM | Music Plaza Stage
• Harry Potter™ Props Showcase with Acclaimed Prop Maker Pierre Bohanna: 11AM – 11:45PM | Toon Lagoon® Amphitheater
• Kids’ Dance Like a Beauxbatons, Battle Like a Durmstrang: 11:30AM – 12PM | Music Plaza Stage
• Bringing the Harry Potter™ Films to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™: 1PM – 1:30PM | Toon Lagoon® Amphitheater
• Kids’ Harry Potter™ Film Trivia: 2PM – 2:15PM | Music Plaza Stage
• Graphic Design for the Harry Potter™ Films with MinaLima: 2PM – 2:30PM | Toon Lagoon® Amphitheater
• Kids’ Dance Like a Beauxbatons, Battle Like a Durmstrang: 2:45PM – 3:15PM | Music Plaza Stage
• The Global Impact of Harry Potter™: The Exhibition: 3PM – 3:30PM | Toon Lagoon® Amphitheater
• Behind the Scenes: Harry Potter™ Film Talent Q&A Session: 4PM – 4:45PM | Music Plaza Stage

Today Universal Studios Hollywood has announced a contest where a lucky fan will win a Harry Potter “Trip Around the World” to celebrate the April 7 opening of “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.”

Universal is partnering with TripAdvisor to launch the Ultimate Harry Potter Trip Around the World sweepstakes sending one winner and three guests on a magical journey to experience the wonders of Harry Potter experiences across the globe. The prize includes visits to the Grand Opening at Universal Studios Hollywood, visits to Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Japan, as well as a trip to “The Making of Harry Potter” at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London.

Fans can enter to win at http://www.tripadvisor.com/wizardingworldhollywood.

The press release may be read in full below:

Universal Studios Hollywood and TripAdvisor to Send One Lucky Winner and Guests on the Ultimate Harry Potter Trip Around the World to Experience

“The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” at Theme Parks in Hollywood, Orlando and Japan and “The Making of Harry Potter” at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London

Sweepstakes Winners Begin Once-in-a-Lifetime Adventure at the Highly-Anticipated Grand Opening of “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” at Universal Studios Hollywood on April 7, 2016

In celebration of the opening of “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™” at Universal Studios Hollywood on April 7, the global entertainment destination and TripAdvisor, the world’s largest online travel site, are launching the Ultimate Harry Potter Trip Around the World sweepstakes sending one winner and three guests on a once-in-a-lifetime magical journey to experience the wonders of Harry Potter experiences across the globe.

This exciting contest, which kicked off on January 14, will whisk the sweepstakes winner and three guests on a spellbinding voyage to visit “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” locations around the world beginning with the Grand Opening at Universal Studios Hollywood and including lands at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Japan.  The winners will also visit “The Making of Harry Potter” at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, where they can discover behind-the-scenes filmmaking secrets at the home of all eight Harry Potter blockbuster films. Fans can enter to win at www.tripadvisor.com/wizardingworldhollywood.

More than five years in the making, and inspired by J.K. Rowling’s compelling stories and characters that were brought to life in the Warner Bros. films, “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” is being masterfully recreated at Universal Studios Hollywood and will be faithful to the visual landscape of the fiction and films, including Hogwarts castle which will serve as its iconic focal point.

From its snow-capped roofs and cobblestone streets to the historic British sensibilities that characterize the whimsical look and feel of the land, “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” will transport guests of all ages to the very places they read about in the stories or watched on the silver screen.

Upon entering the land through the archway, Hogsmeade will bustle to life with the same vitality of a quaint local village: merchants hard at work, a train conductor welcoming new arrivals and a pub packed to the gills with hungry patrons, but with the added element of enthusiastic guests intent on experiencing them all, including the land’s signature ride, “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey,” and the family outdoor coaster, “Flight of the Hippogriff™.”

An achievement in pioneering theme park ride technology, “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey” will make its U.S. debut at Universal Studios Hollywood in hyper-realistic 3D-HD designed to further immerse guests in an already engaging storyline.  The multidimensional thrill ride features a groundbreaking robotics ride system, fused with elaborate filmed action sequences and immersive visceral effects.  In this updated adaptation of the ride, guests will sport Quidditch-inspired 3D goggles as they venture through journeys experienced by Harry and his friends, spiraling and pivoting 360-degrees along an elevated ride track on a whirlwind adventure of a lifetime.

Also within “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” the enchanting family coaster, “Flight of the Hippogriff™” will open as Universal Studios Hollywood’s first outdoor roller coaster.

“The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” will resonate with immense detail, inviting guests to revel in Harry Potter’s world with the opportunity to enjoy authentic food and beverage at multiple locations, including Three Broomsticks™, and Hog’s Head pub, as well as the Magic Neep and Butterbeer™ carts.

A foray through the shops will add to the authenticity of the land with eight retail venues and locations, including Honeydukes™, Ollivanders™, Owl Post™, Zonko’s™ Joke Shop, Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment, Dervish and Banges, Gladrags Wizardwear and Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods™.

The Ultimate Harry Potter Trip Around the World sweepstakes began on January 14. Fans have until February 24 to register and can enter to win at www.tripadvisor.com/wizardingworldhollywood. The winner will receive a trip for four people, including airfare, four night accommodations at each location, ground transportation, 2-day theme park tickets for each theme park and tickets for Warner Bros. Studio Tour London. U.S. citizens, 18 years of age and older are eligible to enter. Additional eligibility information is available at http://www.tripadvisor.com/wizardingworldhollywood. No purchase is necessary.

Emma Watson introduces the new HeForShe.org, a crowdsourcing platform for gender equality solutions. Your voice matters. Your actions make it real. Make the commitment and take action for gender equality now at www.HeForShe.org. HeForShe wants every voice to be heard in classrooms and corner offices around the world. Everyone has a say. Everyone has a role. Every unique contribution is essential to achieving gender equality.

The world is at a turning point. People everywhere understand and support the idea of gender equality. They know it’s not just a women’s issue, it’s a human rights issue. And when these powerful voices are heard, they will change the world. The time for that change is now.

HeForShe is inviting people around the world to stand together to create a bold, visible force for gender equality. And it starts by taking action right now to create a gender equal world

The new site asks you to get involved in the gender equality issues that matter to you. They have categories for Work, Education, Politics, Health, Identity and Violence.

Rupert Grint’s new film Moonwalkers will be released in the U.S. on January 15, 2016 in select theaters and online streaming sites such as iTunes, Netflix and We Are Colony. A streaming copy of the film, special interviews with the cast and behind-the-scenes extras were provided for review by We Are Colony. Moonwalkers will be available for viewing on January 15, 2016!

After failing to locate the legendary Stanley Kubrick, an unstable CIA agent (Ron Perlman) must instead team up with a seedy rock band manager (Rupert Grint) to develop the biggest con of all time: staging the moon landing.

A trailer for the film may be watched below and you can read our review following. It has no spoilers apart from a general plot outline.

If you’re a fan of Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or RocknRolla, then this film will hit you in all the right places. While it lacks a bit of the wit that fans of Ritchie might be used to, indie-film Moonwalkers takes viewers on a dark and twisted ride, yet leaves you feeling hopeful about the fate of its characters.

As a fan of Rupert Grint, who is perhaps best known as Ron Weasley, the ginger-haired sidekick to Harry Potter, I expected his quirkiness to shine through in his performance as Jonny. I was not disappointed. Grint plays the character to perfection and proves that he is more than just that guy from the Potter films. Not to mention, Rupert can rock a leisure suit!!

Fans of the upcoming Fantastic Beasts trilogy will also be introduced to a well-known actor from the comic film universe, Ron Perlman (Hell-Boy), who was recently announced as joining the wizarding world. Perlman plays opposite Grint in Moonwalkers as Tom Kidman.

Jonny is a down-on-his-luck guy in swinging 1960s London, stuck managing a band who never seem to appreciate all that he does for them. He’s borrowed money to propel the band into superstardom at great personal risk, considering the loan shark he’s indebted to tends to cut the hands and private parts off of those who don’t repay their loans on time. After the band tell Jonny they want a new manager, he begs them for another chance and they give him two days to really get things going.

While trying to hit a well-to-do relative up for cash to save his own skin, Jonny happens across CIA agent, Vietnam veteran and PTSD-sufferer Tom Kidman, who has been drafted by the government for a super-secret mission: to film a fake moon-landing in the event the real one is a failure. Jonny, already in a hard spot, hears Kidman say they will pay him well to meet with famed director Stanley Kubrick and get him to agree to their project, and lets Kidman think he is the man for the job.

I don’t want to ruin all the wacky fun for you as Grint and Perlman take us through one of the world’s greatest conspiracy theories, so I won’t go into any more detail than that. Suffice it to say that the cast of characters that run amok in this film will have you scratching your head, laughing out loud, and asking yourself just what the hell is happening here?

Ultimately, the film is a journey of hope and transformation for an unlikely duo who suffer from different types of bad luck but find a way to turn it around in circumstances that are less than ideal and strike up a meaningful friendship.

The last thing I’ll say about the film is that there is a lot of cursing, nudity, blood, violence, and is very heavy on the drug use. This film is not for children, so be aware of what you’re in for before you let your young ones attempt to see Grint in his latest role!