The TQ Archives Please Do Not Litter!

London, UK—Life might be rather dangerous for Harry Potter right now, at least in the wizarding world, but in the muggle world, he’s doing quite well.

He’s doing quite well indeed.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the muggle adaptation of the third year in Harry’s life at Hogwarts, brought in over 93 million dollars during its opening weekend in the United States, outgrossing its two predecessor movies, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

“Phenomenal—quite phenomenal!” said Belinda Hackett, an expert on Muggle money. “I suppose most expected it would do quite well, considering it was released during the summer (for more explanation about summer “blockbuster” status, please see our May issue) but no one expected it would top the first movie.

The “kid-friendly” status of Sorcerer’s Stone guaranteed it a position among the highest grossing movies of all time, but Prisoner of Azkaban seems well on its way to becoming just as popular and lucrative as its predecessor.

As previously perceived, however, Azkaban has been slowing down in the weeks following its incredible opening; it dropped nearly 60% in total gross for its second weekend, making over 30 million muggle dollars. In its third weekend, in which it was pushed from the top slot by another muggle story, it grossed over 18 million, behind its predecessors.

“Despite its fantastic story, this version of Harry’s life really is a bit darker, and it lacks what some would call, familial rewatchability,” says witch Erika Shadowstein, a ‘muggle film expert’. “Prisoner is a bit scarier for younger kids, so they’re not going to go back and watch it over and over again. So it should be no surprise that as summer draws on, and as new, more exciting films are released, that it should drop in popularity.”

However, Prisoner has seemed to gain a new fan base, which is encouraging for Warner Bros. motion picture studio, who are in production of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a much darker and more mature version of Harry’s world. Fears that the newest movie might be too much for youngsters won’t be as disconcerting if the newest fans of Harry Potter aren’t children, but teens and young adults.

“So far, what we’ve been seeing is an increase in the number of older fans taking to the story,” says Shadowstein, “it appears that as the kids grow, so do the ages of the fans. By the time movies 5 and 6 are released, Harry could justifiably be considered an art form, perhaps even Oscar-worthy, in terms of the filmmaking and story. Especially since the newest director, Alfonso Cuaron, raised the bar as to how the movies should be made. We shall have to wait and see.”

Harry Potter 4?
Goblet of Fire underway!

Hertfordshire, UK—Despite the highly acclaimed release of the newest Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, only weeks ago, already fans are hankering for information on the newest film, which began production in March.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire tells of Harry Potter’s adventures in his fourth year at Hogwarts, and is the follow up to this year’s smash hit Prisoner of Azkaban. But nothing fans have seen in the preceding three movies will equal what Harry has to face in his fourth year.

“It was probably the most difficult year he’s had to face so far,” says Hermione Granger, a close friend of Potter, “quite a few things happened that were—well—horrifying, to say the least. And Harry had to deal with them all, most of the time, by himself.”

Goblet of Fire takes a slightly different format than the previous movies. Instead of dealing solely with Harry’s life at school, it introduces a great many characters that exist beyond the boundaries of Hogwarts, including international wizarding schools and their students, and quite a few members of the Ministry of Magic, the business and the journalistic wizarding worlds.

All of the previous muggle cast members from Prisoner of Azkaban will be returning this year, including the young actor who plays Harry himself, Daniel Radcliffe. There is a new director; filling the difficult role of becoming Alfonso Cuaron’s successor is British director Mike Newell. New additions to the movie include Katie Leung as Harry’s love interest Cho Chang (who was cut in character from the previous movie but will be introduced in GoF), Robert Pattison as Harry’s rival in love and competition, the genteel Cedric Diggory, and Clemence Poesy as another of Harry’s competitors, the beautiful Beauxbaton Fleur Delacour.

New to the cast as secondary characters are Francis de la Tour as Madame Maxime, Beauxbatons buxom Headmistress, and Brendon Gleeson as the incorrigible Mad-Eye Moody, fresh off his casting as Menelaus in Troy. Returning to the cast is the vile but admirable Jason Isaacs for a brief appearance as Lucius Malfoy, and possibly Toby Jones as the voice of Dobby the House Elf.

Yet to be named is who will play Victor Krum, Hermione Granger’s sort of love interest, and Harry’s other school competitor in the movie. Also remiss is official word on the casting of Rita Skeeter, the vile journalist who plagues Harry’s life, Barty Crouch and Barty Crouch Jr, the Patil twins, whom Harry and Ron will escort to the Yule Ball, and the possible roles of Bill and Charlie Weasley, who are present in the book, although no word has been given as to whether either they, or Percy, played by Chris Rankin, will appear in the film.

And, of course, perhaps the greatest casting mystery of all, the physical form of the ever frightening He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Already cut from the film are Richard Griffiths and Fiona Shaw as Harry’s vile aunt and uncle, Vernon and Petunia Dursley. They received word the Dursleys would not be appearing in the film, much to their dismay.

The failure to recast them calls into question how much of the story will be clipped and edited for time sake; all producers of the film will confirm is that the movie is only one movie, and due to time constraints, will indeed be missing certain scenes.

Details remain sketchy as to what exactly the movie will consist, although that is perhaps to be expected, given that filming has barely begun. All that can be expected is that it will attempt to live up to the reputation of its predecessors, and while that carries a heavy burden, with the cast, screenwriter and head producer returning, will most certainly be of a level comparable.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is scheduled for release in November of 2005.