A new television commercial for the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is set to be aired during Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday, February 7 on CBS at 6:30pm EST.

The spot will also begin a brand campaign for the resort, carrying the theme “Be courageous. Be outrageous. Be extraordinary.” The idea is to highlight the new Harry Potter attraction, as well as mainstays that feature characters like Shrek and Spider-Man.

The spot is planned for the first half of the game. It was created internally with the help of Rosso Media in Surrey, England.

Thanks SS!

The HarryPotterFilm twitter has made a great announcement:

• To celebrate composer Nicholas Hooper’s Grammy nom for Best Score, we’ll be giving away HP6 soundtracks all weekend long!
• The 1st giveaway will be from 10-11am PST tomorrow.  Apologies, but US entrants only this time around, I’m afraid. 🙁
• Also, subscribe to the official WB HarryPotter.com newsletter to read an exclusive interview w/ Nicholas tomorrow! http://bit.ly/9Lnkjc

I highly recommend purchasing the soundtrack if you don’t win.  It is definitely one of the best Potter soundtracks!

Dobby has been named a Most Downtrodden (Yet Inspiring) Characters In Movie History by Empire Online.

Why he’s so miserable: It may have been largely excised from the filmed versions, but in the Harry Potter universe house elves like Dobby are essentially slaves, in that they work without pay and without possibility of release except by their master’s say-so. That may be alright if you work somewhere fairly cuddly, like the Hogwarts kitchens (where the elves are largely bemused by Hermione and her Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare), but if you work for the Malfoys you can count on regular beatings, semi-starvation, verbal abuse and having to cater to dark wizards.
Why he’s inspiring: Dobby’s best efforts quite often bring disaster on their intended beneficiary (usually Harry Potter), but you can’t fault him for doing everything he can to protect The Boy Who Lived from a clear and present danger – and he does it at considerable risk to himself. Dobby continues to play a heroic role throughout the series, always putting the welfare of others before his own, and plays a role out of all proportion to his size.

Thanks to SnitchSeeker we have some information about a press conference with Thierry Coup, vice president of creative development for Universal Creative:

• At Dervish and Banges, there will be wand accessories that can be bought (though sadly can’t be revealed now).
• The wand choosing process can take anywhere from two to five minutes at least to much more. Pricing range has not been determined; the wand choosing itself won’t be charged, just the wand itself.
• There will be wands from some of the main characters wands – hero wands – including in sets, which are made by Noble Collection; this is different to the personal wands that will be chosen for ‘wizard’ guests to the park.
• As for the shops in Hogsmeade, they are near completion (about 90 percent), but there are still “final touches” to be done to them.
• Hogwarts Castle, from the exterior, is “very large.” Iconic rooms, such as Dumbledore’s office, the Dark Arts classroom, the common room (presumably Gryffindor’s) and the Great Hall, amongst others, will be there and to scale.
• Many props will be displayed from the Harry Potter film sets, such as the Flying Ford Anglia (which sadly did not fly).
• The Owl Post and Dervish and Banges are the smallest shops, Ollivanders is slightly larger, and Zonko’s joke shop is the largest. There are no queues to get into the shops, despite being interactive experiences as well as shops.
• There are no plans yet for expansion within the park, but it is a possibility.
• The shops will be as close to the films’ version as possible (as shown by the early Ollivander’s shop photos). Coup and the rest of his creative team opted to make it as faithful to the original project as possible.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has won THREE Richard Attenborough Film Awards!

As I posted earlier, Half-Blood Prince was nominated for Classic FM “Film Music of the Year Award”. The winners have been chosen and it won that award along with the Alan Titchmarsh show’s “British film of the year award”!

It also won Visit Britain’s “Best Use of UK Locations Used in a Film Award”

Today is sure to be filled with Wizarding World of Harry Potter news!  First up, Universal Orlando released a new press release with some details on Ollivanders Wand shop!  Click here to see a video about it and here to see a photo (well drawing)

When guests visit Ollivanders, they will instantly feel like they’re in the shop from the films. It’s an intimate, single-windowed building, with the same signs, colors and other details read about in the books and seen in the films,” said Alan Gilmore, art director of the Harry Potter films and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. “But more importantly, visitors to Ollivanders will experience for themselves the magical moment that forever changed Harry’s life.”

Inside Ollivanders, visitors will be surrounded by thousands of multi-colored dusty wand boxes stacked on shelves from floor to ceiling. They will be welcomed by an inquisitive Wandkeeper, who will guide them through an enchanting experience to find their very own wand. First the Wandkeeper will ask the guest a few special questions and then select the first wand for them to try. Just like Harry, the guest will be prompted by the Wandkeeper to give the wand a wave, and a series of magical mishaps will occur until the right fit is found.

In addition to the magic featured in Ollivanders, guests will experience many other magical happenings at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, including a Howler featured in the Owl Post shop front window whose ranting can be heard by guests as they pass by; The Monster Book of Monsters in Dervish and Banges that will snarl and growl at anyone who tries to get too close, and the Hog’s Head which can be seen puffing his jowls at visitors who visit the Hog’s Head pub.