Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
from Photographers Blog:
When Harry met Hermione…
Last night the great Behemoth that is the Harry Potter franchise machine rolled into town for the world premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2": the eighth and final film installment from JK Rowling’s phenomenally successful book series about the adventures of a boy wizard.
A swathe of central London seemed to be shut down for the launch. Thousands of young fans had camped out for up to five days in Trafalgar Square waiting to glimpse their screen idols, and a red carpet measuring some 1.2 kilometers (0.7 miles) – reputedly the longest in the world - underlining the scale of this publicity spectacular. Despite having shot more film premieres than eaten bags of popcorn at the cinema, I still have to admit to being wowed by the scale and choreography of this event.
The three leading cast members have become instantly recognizable faces and multi-millionaires but remain, they say, "like siblings" since being selected as unknown child actors for the first film "Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone" some ten years ago.
But undoubtedly, after photographing the comings and goings of the premieres and junkets from "The Goblet of Fire" to the "Deathly Hallows – Part 2," it’s Emma Watson who plays Hermione, (rather than Rupert Grint or even Daniel Radcliffe) who in front of crowds, interviewers, television cameras and us photographers has consistently carried a presence, and a certain "star quality" that has pervaded ever since the first Potter all that time ago…
“Harry Potter” works like magic at box offices
With the latest Harry Potter movie opening across North America tomorrow, “The Half-Blood Prince” is already — and perhaps expectedly — among the hottest-selling movie tickets of the year.
From Alaska to Florida, 2,500 midnight showtimes of “The Half-Blood Prince” have sold out, according to Fandango, a top movie and entertainment online ticket seller.
“Harry Potter” faces its “Twilight”
As the film industry looks ahead to box office business after “Harry Potter,” with the lucrative franchise due to wind up in the summer of 2011, one person in as good a position as most to offer an opinion on what may be the next big film series suggests that the “Twilight” vampire romances could fill the void.
“Harry Potter” 1-5 have amassed $4.5 billion at global box offices so far, and with HP 6, otherwise known as “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, due to hit cinemas this week, the cash tills look set to go on ringing. HP 7, the final book in J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard series, has been split into two movies, meaning that at the current rate, the 8-movie series could take a cool $7.2 billion.
“Harry Potter’s” most anticipated kiss: Not with Harry!
The “Harry Potter” series is all grown up, that is if you count an on-screen lip lock as a sign of maturity. In one of the most talked about moments in an upcoming “Harry 
Potter” movie, Emma Watson, who plays witchcraft ingenue Hermione Granger, kisses Rupert Grint, the actor who plays Harry Potter’s friend Ron Weasley.
It does not come in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which opens in the U.S. and many other countries on July 15, but in the next installment in the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” which is split into two movies.
First look at “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
Okay all you aspiring young wizards and Harry Potter fans, in general. We’re certain you were disappointed when Warner Bros. delayed the release of the upcoming “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” until July, from its previously scheduled roll-out date earlier this month.
But never fear, cable network ABC Family is hosting a weekend of four of the “Harry Potter” films PLUS a “first look” at portions of “Half-Blood Prince.” The “Harry Potter” weekend will run on ABC Family December 5-7.
