It looks like comic book fans have some stake in the Harry Potter franchise after all. Warner Bros. Entertainment President Alan Horn made a tiny little comment at ShoWest that’s got people in full Montgomery Burns mode (Excellent!). With four DC Comics films in the rear view mirror and at least five on the way, the snippet reported by /Film would seem obvious, but means a whole lot more coming from Horn.

“As we ease out of Harry Potter, we hope to bring you the excitement of the DC [Comics] Library.”

There you have it. Their little magician is all grown-up and it’s time to show him the door. Frankly, I’m surprised they don’t just come up with their own stories, considering WB is all out of books to adapt. Don’t be surprised if it happens sooner or later.

Regardless, this is an exciting time as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all four DC films by WB. Yes, even Superman Returns. It’s no secret Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise has redefined the comic book movie culture and without him we may not have daily news to report. As for Watchmen, it wasn’t a box office behemoth, but most who saw it thoroughly enjoyed it. So, let’s dissect the DC movie slate a bit and see what is coming up and what may be on the distant horizon.

2010:

Jonah Hex - Opening June 18th, this film will probably catch people off guard. He isn’t the most well-known character, but boy does it sound awesome. The synopsis reads “In the Wild West, a scarred bounty hunter (Josh Brolin) tracks a voodoo practitioner (John Malkovich) bent on liberating the South by raising an army of the undead.”

2011:

Green Lantern- Production began just this week and set photos are already out showing Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. I’ve always been a big Ryan Reynolds fan, especially in the right role (Van Wilder, Waiting, Smokin’ Aces, marrying Scarlett Johansson). It was only a matter of time before he played a superhero (Blade 3 doesn’t count- nothing super about that). Why else would he take his shirt off so much? This adaptation of Green Lantern has big names all over it and should be a huge draw next year.

In Development:

The Flash - Probably the most beloved character in DC Universe that has not graced the big screen, The Flash is a definite future project. Rumors of potential directors have surfaced, but it has all been a guessing game. Nobody really knows what Warner Bros. has in store for the character, but check out our in-depth look at the possibilities. With this latest director rumor circling, you can expect more Flash news coming up, at least this summer at the San Diego Comic-Con.

Batman 3 - Christopher Nolan has been circling this project like a hawk, waiting for the right time to strike. The man is notoriously picky with his words, and has yet to officially announce himself as the director. We can assume it will all work out, as he’s got his brother penning a script. The core of creators that took the embarrassed superhero’s reputation and generated the best adaptation of any comic character ever, may be waiting for the right time to reveal their progress: San Diego Comic-Con?

Superman: Man of Steel – The world is calling for another reboot of the franchise, only giving the latest one film to prove itself. I actually liked the direction Singer was going in, but I understand the gripes. With David Goyer writing the latest rendition, there is hope for a darker, meaner Superman. Not to mention Christopher Nolan’s involvement. As long as they get away from Lex Luthor for once, the Man of Steel will have a chance to wow audiences and be something new.

Lobo - Some news surfaced a year ago about this sadistic character being put on film. It would sure make for one dark movie, but it’s not a character that has won over many fans. Nothing has come of this, but considering the push now, there is a distinct possibility of further news.

Deadman - Guillermo del Toro came out and announced he would be spearheading this story in a fashion similar to Crow. Considering the story is about a trapeze artist who is murdered and embodies others as a ghost to exact revenge, it may get dark and there isn’t much of a base audience, but that’s WB’s job, right?

Continue for DC/WB Movies waiting in the wings…

For the past few months, the constructions crews, art directors, and special effects “wizards” (pun intended) have been busy working on turning the story of Harry Potter into a living breathing world as an attraction at Universal Studios Orlando.

As per the Universal website:

“For the first time, guests can visit ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’ and stroll the streets of Hogsmeade, exploring the sights, sounds and magical wonders therein; and experience thrilling rides and attractions that bring  the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends to life.”

Of course, all of that sounds great but how is it going to actually look?

Recreating the Hogwarts castle, something that only existed in the mind of J.K. Rowling until the first Harry Potter film, is no small task. Disney is usually the theme park king when it comes to creating entire sections of park that revolve around a particular theme. Universal, while having a fantastic park, has only recently moved in that direction, with their Islands of Adventure addition.

They did a nice job of creating a Dr. Seuss-themed play land in Islands of Adventure, but even though the artistry was extremely whimsical and top notch, the area lacked any type of ride or reason to revisit it. Across the street in the classic Universal Studios park, the focus is more on movies and behind-the-scenes recreation; this is where Universal shines.

Universal knows Harry Potter will be a HUGE attraction and they have to absolutely do it right or suffer the wrath of Potter fans worldwide. The Super Bowl ad they ran this year gave us the first good look at what visitors can expect (minus the whole flying on a broomstick part). Today, we have some great pictures of the construction being done and the sets going up and I have to say they look fantastic! The set builders have to be extremely proud of their work because to create a full size replica of an entire fictional town is a daunting task indeed.

Take a few moments to look through the 12 pictures below and then let us know what you think in the comments section.

Continue to pg. 2 for more photos…

]]> http://screenrant.com/wizarding-world-of-harry-potter-construction-photos-pauly-48645/feed/ 8 http://screenrant.com/2010-saturn-award-nominations-ross-45936/ http://screenrant.com/2010-saturn-award-nominations-ross-45936/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:03:09 +0000 Ross Miller http://screenrant.com/?p=45936

Today marks the day when the nominations for the 36th Annual Saturn Awards are given out. In case you’re not familiar with them, they are given out by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (they also include TV shows and stage productions) so as a reader of Screen Rant I believe they’re right up your alley .

The awards will be given out on June 24th, so we have over four months to speculate and choose the nominees we’d give the award to. The categories range from the usual Best Film (separated into Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction etc) to Best DVD release and Best DVD Special Edition.

Keeping in line with all of the rest of the major awards, films like Avatar, The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds have snagged a high amount of noms, with a couple of fan-favorites like District 9 and Star Trek also being included.

We have the full list of nominations for the Saturn Awards so what are you waiting for? Scroll down and find out what they are!

Best Science Fiction Film

The Book of Eli (Warner Bros)

Knowing (Summit Entertainment)

Moon (Sony Pictures Classics)

Star Trek (Paramount)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (20th Century Fox)

Best Fantasy Film

Avatar (20th Century Fox)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner Bros)

The Lovely Bones (Paramount)

The Time Traveler’s Wife (Warner Bros.)

Watchmen (Warner Bros.)

Where the Wild Things Are (Warner Bros.)

Best Horror Film

The Box (Warner Bros.)

Drag Me to Hell (Universal)

Frozen (Anchor Bay Films)

The Last House on the Left (Rogue / Universal)

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Summit Entertainment)

Zombieland (Sony)

Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film

2012 (Sony)

Brothers (Lionsgate)

The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)

Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Co.)

Law Abiding Citizen (Overture)

The Messenger (Oscilloscope Pictures)

Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros.)

Best Actor

Robert Downey, Jr. (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Tobey Maguire (Brothers) (Lionsgate)

Viggo Mortensen (The Road) (The Weinstein Co.)

Sam Rockwell (Moon) (Sony Pictures Classics)

Denzel Washington (The Book of Eli) (Warner Bros.)

Sam Worthington (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Best Actress

Catherine Keener (Where the Wild Things Are) (Warner Bros.)

Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)

Alison Lohman (Drag Me to Hell) (Universal)

Natalie Portman (Brothers) (Lionsgate)

Zoe Saldana (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Charlize Theron (The Burning Plain) (Magnolia)

Best Supporting Actor

Woody Harrelson (Zombieland) (Sony)

Stephen Lang (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Frank Langella (The Box) (Warner Bros.)

Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones) (Paramount)

Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)

Best Supporting Actress

Malin Akerman (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)

Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)

Rachel McAdams (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Lorna Raver (Drag Me to Hell) (Universal)

Susan Sarandon (The Lovely Bones) (Paramount)

Sigourney Weaver (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Best Performance by a Younger Actor

Taylor Lautner (The Twilight Saga: New Moon) (Summit Entertainment)

Bailee Madison (Brothers) (Lionsgate)

Brooklynn Proulx (The Time Traveler’s Wife) (Warner Bros.)

Max Records (Where the Wild Things Are) (Warner Bros.)

Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) (Paramount)

Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) (The Weinstein Co.)

Best Director

J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) (Paramount)

Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) (Summit Entertainment)

Neill Blomkamp (District 9) (Sony)

James Cameron (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Zack Snyder (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)

Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)

Best Writing

Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell (District 9) (Sony)

James Cameron (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers (Where the Wild Things Are) (Warner Bros.)

Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci (Star Trek) (Paramount)

Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)

Alex Tse, David Hayter (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)

Best Music

Brian Eno (The Lovely Bones) (Paramount)

Michael Giacchino (Up) (Walt Disney/Pixar)

James Horner (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Taro Iwashiro (Red Cliff) (Magnolia)

Christopher Young (Drag Me To Hell) (Universal)

Hans Zimmer (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Best Costume

Colleen Atwood (Nine) (The Weinstein Co.)

Jenny Beavan (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Anna Sheppard (Inglourious Basterds) (The Weinstein Co.)

Jany Temime (Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince) (Warner Bros.)

Michael Wilkinson (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)

Tim Yip (Red Cliff) (Magnolia)

Best Make-Up

Barney Burman, Minday Hall,

Joel Harlow (Star Trek) (Paramount)

Joe Dunckley, Sarah Rubano,

Frances Richardson (District 9) (Sony)

Sarah Monzani (The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus) (Sony Pictures Classics)

Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger (The Book of Eli) (Warner Bros.)

Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger (Drag Me to Hell) (Universal)

Mike Smithson, John Rosengrant (Terminator: Salvation) (Warner Bros.)

Best Production Design

Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Scott Chambliss (Star Trek) (Paramount)

Stuart Craig (Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince) (Warner Bros.)

Sarah Greenwood (Sherlock Holmes) (Warner Bros.)

Philip Ivey (District 9) (Sony)

Alex McDowell (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)

Best Special Effects

Tim Burke, John Richardson, Nicholas Aithadi, Tim Alexander – (Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince) (Warner Bros.)

John DesJardin, Peter G. Travers, Joel Whist, Jessica Norman – (Watchmen) (Warner Bros.)

Volker Engel, Marc Weingert, Mike Vezina – (2012) (Sony)

Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, Burt Dalton – (Star Trek) (Paramount)

Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken – (District 9) (Sony)

Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones – (Avatar) (20th Century Fox)

Best International Film

District 9 (Sony)

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (Sony Pictures Classics)

Lorna’s Silence (Sony Pictures Classics)

Red Cliff (Magnolia)

Taken (20th Century Fox)

Thirst (Focus Features)

Best Animated Film

Disney’s A Christmas Carol (Walt Disney Studios)

Fantastic Mr. Fox (20th Century Fox)

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (20th Century Fox)

Monsters Vs. Aliens (Paramount/DreamWorks)

The Princess and the Frog (Walt Disney Studios)

Up (Walt Disney Studios/Pixar)

Best Network TV Series

Chuck (NBC)

Fringe (Fox)

The Ghost Whisperer (CBS)

Heroes (NBC)

Lost (ABC)

The Vampire Diaries (CW)

Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series

Breaking Bad (AMC)

Battlestar Galactica (SyFy)

The Closer (TNT)

Dexter (Showtime)

Leverage (TNT)

True Blood (HBO)

Best Television Presentation

Doctor Who: The End of Time (BBC America)

Alice (SyFy)

The Prisoner (AMC)

Torchwood: Children of Earth (BBC America)

The Tudors (Showtime)

V (ABC)

Best Actor in Television

Josh Holloway (Lost) (ABC)

Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) (AMC)

Matthew Fox (Lost) (ABC)

Michael C. Hall (Dexter) (Showtime)

Zachary Levi (Chuck) (NBC)

Stephen Moyer (True Blood) (HBO)

David Tennant (Doctor Who: The End of Time) (BBC America)

Best Actress on Television

Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad) (AMC)

Jennifer Love Hewitt (The Ghost Whisperer) (CBS)

Evangeline Lily (Lost) (ABC)

Anna Paquin (True Blood) (HBO)

Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) (TNT)

Anna Torv (Fringe) (Fox)

Best Supporting Actor on Television

Jeremy Davies (Lost) (ABC)

Michael Emerson (Lost) (ABC)

Aldis Hodge (Leverage) (TNT)

Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) (AMC)

John Noble (Fringe) (Fox)

Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood) (HBO)

Best Supporting Actress in Television

Morena Baccarin (V) (ABC)

Gina Bellman (Leverage) (TNT)

Julie Benz (Dexter) (Showtime)

Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) (Showtime)

Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost) (ABC)

Hayden Panettiere (Heroes) (NBC)

Best Guest Starring Role in Television

Bernard Cribbins (Doctor Who: The End of Time) (BBC America)

Raymond Cruz (Breaking Bad) (AMC)

Michelle Forbes (True Blood) (HBO)

John Lithgow (Dexter) (Showtime)

Leonard Nimoy (Fringe) (ABC)

Mark Pellegrino (Lost) (ABC)

Best DVD Release

House of the Devil (Dark Sky/Magnet)

Laid to Rest (Anchor Bay)

Not Forgotten (Anchor Bay)

Nothing But the Truth (Sony)

Pontypool (MPI)

Super Capers (Lionsgate)

Surveillance (Magnolia)

Best DVD Television Release

Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead (BBC America)

Torchwood: Children of Earth (BBC America)

Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season (Warner)

Primeval, Volume 2 (BBC America)

Lost: The Complete Fifth Season (Buena Vista)

Life on Mars: The Complete Series (Buena Vista)

Best DVD Special Edition

Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut (Warner)

300 Complete Experience (Warner)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Blu-Ray) (Walt Disney)

District 9 (Two-Disc Edition) (Sony)

Terminator 2: Judgement Day: Skynet Edition (Lionsgate)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Two Disc Special Edition) (Fox)

Best Collection

Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics, Volume 1 (Sony)

The Hannibal Lector Anthology (MGM)

Hellraiser Boxed Set (Anchor Bay)

Icons of Sci-Fi: Toho Collection (Sony)

Star Trek Original Motion Picture Collection (Paramount)

The William Castle Collection (Sony)

Similar to the Scream Awards, I really dig the Saturn Awards because of the types of films they celebrate. Often with awards like the Oscars and the Golden Globes, purely fun films that have every bit of merit as the serious ones get left out.

Here’s just some of my quick thoughts on who and what’s been nominated: I’m glad to see so many nominations for my favorite show Lost, racking up nine in total (nice to see Josh Holloway finally get recognition for his acting). I’m delighted to see Sam Rockwell get recognition for his fantastic performance in Moon (I was really annoyed that he didn’t get nominated for an Oscar).

I’m a little (no, A LOT) suspect of The Book of Eli, Transformers 2 and Wolverine getting nominated for Best Fantasy Film (and District 9 didn’t?!) and New Moon and The Box getting nominated in the Horror category (were either of those even horror movies?).

Which Saturn nominations do you agree and disagree with? Which nominees are you hoping snag wins come this June?

The Saturn Awards will be presented on June 24th, 2010.

Source: Collider

For movie fans, it seems that the Super Bowl may not be offering the true first looks at new footage and teases for some of the upcoming films whose studios are paying millions of dollars for. Instead, they’re being released online in advance.

Earlier today we got a look at what may be my most anticipated film of the year in the new Super Bowl TV spot for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender and now we also have the TV spots that will air for Robin Hood and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

I find it strange these are becoming available several days before the main event but I’m not complaining. There are still several other big movies set to show off new TV Spots during the Super Bowl, but maybe they’ll all come early too?

Before we get to the actual movie ad, here is the teaser for families who would love to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Orlando. We posted the first look of the attraction through an image of Hogwart’s Castle and now we have an idea of exactly what we can expect to experience:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWNKWE-vFAI

Next up we have the TV spot for this summer’s prequel to Gladiator starring Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott, returning to the franchise to… oh, I mean Robin Hood.  In all seriousness though, I am looking forward to watching Robin Hood despite it re-telling the familiar version of Robin Hood we all know (instead of their original plan to make it called Nottingham where Robin is the villain) and despite the dudes in this ad running up the beach with shields made of cardboard, flapping in the wind.

Head to Yahoo for the HD version

What do you think of the TV spots?

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens in just a few months and Robin Hood hits theaters May 14, 2010.

The onslaught of 3D movies just keeps on coming as today we get word straight from one of the major studios that their upcoming movies will be in three dimensions. Read on below for the details on which movies we’re talking about.

First, Warner Bros. confirmed that the upcoming Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk) directed Clash of the Titans remake will indeed be in 3D as well as the regular 2D. There was much back-and-forth speculation that it would be released in 3D, and a couple of weeks ago we reported the studio had just ten days to decide whether they wanted to shell out the cash to convert Titans to 3D. Obviously the studio has decided to go for it, jumping on the 3D bandwagon with just about every other new blockbuster out there. The 3D conversion company handling Titans‘ 3D makeover is the established Hollywood company, Prime Focus.

This decision means that we won’t see Clash of the Titans until April 2nd, which is a week after the original release date of March 26th. Not too much of an extra wait and understandable if they need the time to do when needs to get done for the 3D release.

If you think Clash of the Titans is the one and only film WB is planning on unleashing upon us in 3D then you’d be dead wrong. The studio also listed a few more films to be released in the 3D format: they confirm previous reports that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 will be getting the 3D treatment, but no official announcement has been made for Part 2 (although you can expect it to follow suit). Also on WB’s 3D slate is Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (finally! ) and Guardians of Ga’Hoole. All of those (apart from Deathly Hallows pt. 2) hit theaters before the end of 2010.

Get ready for the wizarding world of Harry Potter in 3D!

In a statement about the 3D releases, Warner Bros. President of Domestic Distribution, Dan Fellman said:

“We are experienced and have been successful in the conversion of 2D to 3D going back to such hits as ‘The Polar Express,’ select scenes in ‘Superman Returns’ and the last two ‘Harry Potter’ films. We are confident in the constantly evolving 3D technology, and the results for ‘Clash of the Titans’ will be presented onscreen with the highest-quality images available today. Based on our track record, we know that audiences are embracing the RealD and IMAX experiences, and we see many opportunities on our film slate to provide moviegoers with these great options at the multiplex.”

“We’re excited about 3D and look forward to bringing a rich, involving visual experience to audiences around the world,” added Warner Bros. Picture Group President, Jeff Robinov.

We know that Cats and Dogs 2, Clash of the Titans and the first part of the last Harry Potter flick will all be converted to 3D, as opposed to being filmed for the technology. That is bad news in my eyes as it means the scenes that are supposed to really “pop” in 3D won’t work as well because they weren’t filmed for that purpose.

Are you glad all of the movies mentioned are getting the 3D treatment? Or as you sick of the technology and wish they would just stick to regular ‘ol 2D? Let loose in the comments below.

Clash of the Titans is now set to hit theaters on April 2nd, Guardians of Ga’Hoole hits September 24th and Cats and Dogs 2 on July 30th, all in 2010. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is released on November 19th, 2010 with Part 2 following on July 15th, 2011.

Sources: Warner Bros., Coming Soon and Variety

Spring 2010 is almost upon us, which means only one thing for Harry Potter fans worldwide: the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Orlando. Last month, I wrote about some of the awesome attractions awaiting guests at the park, including real-life replicas of The Three Broomsticks and Hogshead Pub taverns, a variety of thrill rides themed after the books and movies, and perhaps coolest of all, a giant replica of Hogwarts Castle.

While talking about the theme park was enough to juice up most Potter fans, many of us were left wondering when we were actually going to get our first look at it. Admittedly, the concept art (featured above) is beautiful, but how close would it be to the finished product? Now, we don’t have to wonder anymore.

Thanks to the good people at Universal, yesterday we got our first real look at the centerpiece of the park, Hogwarts Castle. To feast your eyes on the sumptuously detailed home of Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor, check out the image below.

Pretty cool, right? I definitely think so. Of course, according to an article in the UK’s Daily Mail, the exterior of Hogwart’s Castle isn’t fully completed yet. Unfinished or not, it sure looks great in this first picture. One of the biggest problems people have with theme parks is having to stand around waiting in lines to get in rides, but I don’t think people will mind waiting inside of Hogwarts Castle if the detail on the inside is as good as the detail on the outside.

Personally, I would love to see more pictures of the park, but considering that this is the first official image we’ve gotten and the park is supposed to open in only a few short months, it seems like Universal is keeping most of it under wraps. Oh well, I guess the only way I’ll be able to see it in its full glory is to schedule myself a vacation. Who’s coming with me?

What do you think of this first image? If you decide to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, what’s the first thing you plan on doing?

Warner Bros. is trying to hop on the 3D bandwagon by releasing the two-part Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 3D, reports Heat Vision Blog.

This news comes on the heels of a recent rumor that WB is also debating converting the upcoming Clash of the Titans remake to 3D, a decision that is expected to be finalized by week’s end.

So let’s get down to the ins and outs of all this, shall we?

James Cameron has successfully ushered in the official “era of 3D cinema” thanks to Avatar’s current status as the top-grossing film of all time. Now every blockbuster movie is being considered for 3D and that trend is unlikely to alter course anytime soon.

Deathly Hallows, it must be understood, is being considered for conversion into 3D – it will not be filmed with 3D cameras as Avatar was. The 3D conversion process is becoming more and more affordable; Heat Vision Blog has the expense tagged at $5 million for movie conversion and $5 million for the glasses, per pic. The returns on the higher ticket prices for 3D films can be well worth the trouble (as Avatar has proven).

Clash of Titans would also be a 3D convert (it was also not filmed in 3D) and its release date would likely be pushed back to accommodate the change (only about a week or so, though, no worries). While people are currently awed by the Avatar experience (the ones not hating, at least) already a faction of “3D purists” are decrying films that are retroactively trying to go 3D (myself included). The reason? Unless a film is conceived in 3D from the outset (like Avatar or Pixar’s Up) the technique is often used as a gimmick that does little to enhance the film (or justify the hiked ticket price).

So what do you think about seeing Deathly Hallows converted to 3D? Yes? No? Maybe so?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I hits theaters on November 19, 2010; Part II will be released on July 15, 2011. We’ll keep you updated on what happens with Clash of the Titans.

Source: Heat Vision Blog & Market Saw

With the amount of big blockbusters there were this year – films full of explosions, magic spells and other worlds meticulously rendered onscreen – I’ve been looking forward to seeing which of those films will get recognition at the Oscars. And, in the only category you’re likely to see many of the summer ‘09 films in is undoubtedly the Best Visual Effects category, which in the past few years has included Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Superman Returns.

The Academy of Motion Picture Art And Sciences has today announced the shortlist for Best Achievement in Visual Effects. The list has seven films on it, which will then be whittled down to three and those will be announced along with the rest of the nominees on February 2nd. Here are the seven films:

• Avatar
• District 9
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Star Trek
• Terminator Salvation
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
• 2012

Take away your opinion of the films overall, and that’s a pretty darn impressive list when it comes to special effects, I think you’ll agree. 2009 was certainly a great year for visual effects, from the low-budget to mega-budget movies. It’s really tough to narrow the list down, but if I had to choose three to be nominated, I would pick District 9 (astonishing effects for the fairly low $30 million budget), 2012 (messy destruction flawlessly visualized) and Avatar (the technology employed to achieve the effects makes it an absolute no-brainer).

As for what I think will actually get nominated, I think my personal picks will stand except for 2012 – I think Transformers 2 might get nominated in place of it.

In your opinion which of those seven movies should be nominated for their visual effects?

As stated, all the nominees for the Oscars this year will be announced on February 2nd.

Source: Oscars Official Site via /Film

We’ve all seen it before: A soundman’s boom mic dips slightly into frame or an entire camera crew shows up in the reflection of a shiny car window. For as long as there are humans making films, there will inevitably be mistakes in those films. We are, after all, only human (unless of course 10 more years pass and James Cameron figures out a way to change all that).

Personally, I love finding mistakes in movies – and not just the microphone and crew type, either. Mistakes in continuity, timelines and even scenery can sometime run amok in a film. The script supervisor is usually the person responsible for making sure that the character wearing a pink ball cap turned to the left and standing in front of a tall fichus tree in one scene looks exactly the same after the camera cuts away and then back to the actor. If the camera comes back and the guy is wearing a blue hat turned backwards standing in front of a banana tree, then that would be a “whoops” on their part and continuity is broken.

Every year MovieMistakes.com publishes their list of the worst offenders in terms of cinematic blunders – and 2009 has some real gaffs.  We’ll have a look at the top 10 films and some of their major goofs, starting with number 10 and working our way to the film that had 94 mistakes (and it’s probably not the film you’re thinking of).

2009 brought us 146 films containing a total of 1049 mistakes. While that may seem like quite a few, the year that had the most problems was 2003… with 5651 mistakes. Apparently that was the year that Hollywood tried to “go by memory” while shooting movies instead of using a script supervisors. You can visit Movie Mistakes for the entire list of 146 films, but we’ve shaved the big list down to the worst 10 offenders.

[WARNING: SOME OF THESE "MISTAKES" MAY BE CONSIDERED SPOILERS!!!]

#10 – Inglorious Basterds – 25 mistakes

Oh, Quentin Tarantino! You make one helluva fun flick (even though your films do seem to be full of exposition) but you may need to get a better script supervisor.  As Brad Pitt says, “We’re in the mistake bidness, and bidness is a boomin!”

Glaring Error – In the bar scene, the Gestapo officer says that he will buy the men a ‘33 whiskey. However, later, the Gestapo officer says that Lt. Hicox is no more German than that “scotch.” Hicox perpetuates this later by saying that there is a “special rung in hell for people who waste good scotch.”

#9 – 2012 – 26 Mistakes

2012 may have made an earth-shattering amount of money (pun intended) but the number of mistakes in the film is what made it truly disastrous.

Glaring Error – Nima says that Tenzin will meet them at the West Gate of Cho Ming valley, but a sign at the gate says it is the East Gate.

#8 – Paul Blart: Mall Cop – 26 Mistakes

A surprising hit with audiences this year was the bumbling but sweet mall cop protecting his territory from robbers. Too bad he couldn’t protect the movie from having a shopping cart full of mistakes.

Glaring Error – After Blart gets spray tanned, his shirt is a mess with the tanning spray. A few shots later, his shirt is clean again. Then a few shots later, his shirt is once again dirty.

#7 – Knowing – 28 Mistakes

Knowing is a movie about a little boy communicating with a group of aliens who allow him to foresee bad events before they happen. I guess the intelligent alien race forgot to include scene continuity as well. Also a mistake? Nicholas Cage’s recent choices in movie roles.

Glaring Error – In the last couple of scenes, when John is driving through the city from the gas station, the back door of his truck constantly changes from open to closed, to no door at all.

#6 – Angels & Demons – 30 Mistakes

When Hollywood powerhouses Tom Hanks and Ron Howard decided to bring Dan Brown’s novel to life they choose to take a more literal route, which makes me wonder if they also intentionally left in the mistakes as well.

Glaring Error – In their first visit to the Vatican Archives, Robert and Vittoria are sitting the table across from one another. When Vittoria asks Robert “Do you need help with Latin?” the shadow of the boom mic is seen moving on Robert’s face.

Continue on to read about the top 5 Mistake-ridden films

As we come to the end of 2009, it’s time to look forward and put together our list of our most anticipated movies of 2010.

Last year could have been worse – 5 of our 10 most anticipated movies of 2009 turned out to live up to our expectations (including Watchmen, Up, and Star Trek), while the other five ranged from mediocre (Public Enemies) to downright disappointing (Terminator Salvation, Wolverine, Transformers 2). Of course “most anticipated” does not necessarily mean “movies we think are going to be awesome” – it’s “movies we hope are going to be awesome.”

This year the task was made a lot easier thanks to our senior editor Kofi Outlaw putting together Screen Rant’s 2010 movie preview, giving us a one-stop list from which to gather the biggies. While last year was a group effort, this year I’ve decided to pull rank and come up with the list myself, with some fine tuning help from editors Kofi and Rob Keyes.

So, without further delay…

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Screen Rant’s 20 Most Anticipated Movies of 2010:

20. The Green Hornet – December 22

Green Hornet made it onto the list just on morbid curiosity. I’m a big fan of the 60s TV series and was hoping to see a serious take on it on the big screen. However the production has not been smooth to say the least with apparent differences of opinion between Seth Rogen, director Michael Gondry and Stephen Chow (who eventually left the production altogether), production delays, script changes, etc. We’ll see what the final product looks like at the end of 2010.

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19. Edge of Darkness – January 29

An older Mel Gibson as a father set on avenging the death of his daughter? Consider my ticket purchased and my seat reserved.

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18. The Last Airbender – July 2

M. Night Shyamalan has been a victim of his own success (and his ego) with each of his films getting pretty much worse than the one that came before. However here he will be tackling something completely different from anything he has ever done before, and based on the one trailer we’ve seen so far it looks like it may turn out to be impressive. We’ll see.

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17. The Wolfman – February 12

Benicio del Toro is a great actor and I’m looking forward to seeing him as the tortured soul cursed by the, uh, curse of the werewolf. It looks like they’ll be trying to do as much as they can with practical visual effects (although I’m sure there will be CGI as well) and that suits this film.

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16. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – May 28

Is this going to be any good? I have no idea – but it looks like a helluva production. And Jake Gyllenhaal as a buffed out action hero? Curiosity factor alone is enough to put this on the list.

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15. The Book of Eli – January 15

Denzel Washington as a righteous, post-apocalyptic bad-ass? Check. Gary Oldman as the bad guy? Check. A trailer that emphasizes both of those to utter awesomeness? Check. See you there.

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14. Robin Hood – May 14

While some were disappointed (myself included) that director Ridley Scott decided to drop a couple of unique concepts for the story from the final product (Russell Crowe playing both Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham, the sheriff as the good guy and Robin as the villain), this still looks like a great, reality-based update of the story.

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13. Alice In Wonderland – March 5

If there was ever a film that was suited to the twisted vision of Tim Burton, this is it. I’m not the biggest Burton fan and some of what I’ve seen in the trailer doesn’t quite work for me (the Red Queen’s head is so huge it looks cartoonish), but overall this is bound to be a feast for the senses and probably the closest a screen version will get to the source material.

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12. A Nightmare On Elm Street – April 30

The original Nightmare on Elm Street is a horror classic and we’re all curious to see how this reboot/remake turns out. From what has been shown it seems like they may tone down the humor and dial up some of the more realistic aspects of the story. Really looking forward to Jackie Earle Haley’s take on Freddy Krueger.

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11. The A-Team – June 11

With some interesting casting choices (Liam Neeson as “Hannibal” Smith, Bradley Cooper from The Hangover and Sharlto Copley from District 9) and director Joe Carnahan (Smokin’ Aces) behind the camera, this could turn out to be a fun hat-tip to the original series.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Click here to see our 10 most anticipated movies of 2010

As 2010 approaches, it’s time to bid farewell to the cinematic happenings of 2K9 – but what does the near-future hold for movie lovers? Luckily for you guys, we here at Screen Rant are dusting off our crystal ball and looking ahead… all the way to the year 2010.

Be sure to read through our entire 2010 movie preview (of over 70 movies!) to get the scoop on when you’ll be able to catch big flicks like Iron Man 2, Christopher Nolan’s Inception, Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Shutter Island, Freddy Krueger’s return to Elm Street, a comic book adaptation that’s sure to Kick-Ass, an animated showdown between Dreamworks’ Shrek Forever After and Pixar’s Toy Story 3 – and for the ladies, a second helping of Sex In The City and an obscure little film called The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

…And that’s just the preview of the preview. Let’s get to the full list of 2010 movies.

You can click on any one of the movie titles to see our archive of coverage on that film.

If you’re impatient and want to skip around, here’s where you can find:

• 2010 Spring movies
• 2010 Summer movies
• 2010 Fall/Winter movies

Enjoy…

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JANUARY

Daybreakers

January 8th

Synopsis: In the year 2019, a plague has transformed most every human into vampires. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the fractured dominant race plots their survival; meanwhile, a researcher  (Ethan Hawke) works with a covert band of vamps on a way to save humankind.

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Youth In Revolt

January 8th

Synopsis: Nick Twisp (Michael Cera), a unique, but affable teen with a taste for the finer things in life falls hopelessly in love with free-spirited Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday). But family, geography and jealous ex-lovers conspire to keep these two apart. With Sheeni’s encouragement, Nick abandons his dull, predictable life and develops a rebellious alter ego who leads him on a path of destruction with uproarious consequences.

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The Book of Eli

January 15th

Synopsis: A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man (Denzel Washington) fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind. Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis co-star.

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The Lovely Bones

January 15th

Synopsis: Based on the critically acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, and directed by Oscar-winner Peter Jackson, The Lovely Bones centers on a young girl (Saoirse Ronan) who has been murdered and watches over her family and her killer from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.

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Legion

January 22nd

Synopsis: After a terrifying biblical apocalypse descends upon the world, a group of strangers stranded in a remote truck stop diner in the Southwest unwittingly become humanity’s last line of defense when they discover the diner’s young waitress is pregnant with the messiah.

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Tooth Fairy

January 22nd

Synopsis: A bad deed on the part of a tough minor-league hockey player results in an unusual sentence: He must serve one week as a real-life tooth fairy.

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Edge of Darkness

January 29th

Synopsis: As homicide detective Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) investigates the death of his activist daughter, he uncovers not only her secret life, but a corporate cover-up and government collusion that attracts an agent tasked with cleaning up the evidence.

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FEBRUARY

From Paris with Love

February 5th

Synopsis: In Paris, a young employee in the office of the US Ambassador hooks up with an American spy looking to stop a terrorist attack in the city.

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Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

February 12th

Synopsis: A young boy discovers he’s the descendant of a Greek god and sets out on an adventure to settle an on-going battle between the gods. Based on the book by Rick Riordan.

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The Wolfman

February 12th

Synopsis: Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro), a haunted nobleman, is lured back to his family estate when his brother’s fiancée (Emily Blunt) tracks him down to help find her missing love. Reunited with his estranged father (Anthony Hopkins), Talbot learns that something with brute strength and insatiable bloodlust has been killing the villagers, and that a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline (Hugo Weaving) has come to investigate.

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Shutter Island

February 19th

Synopsis: Up-and-coming U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Boston’s Shutter Island Hospital. Teddy’s shrewd investigating skills soon provide a promising lead, but the hospital refuses him access to records he suspects would break the case wide open. As a hurricane cuts off communication with the mainland, more dangerous criminals “escape” in the confusion, and as the puzzling, improbable clues multiply, Teddy begins to doubt everything – his memory, his partner, even his own sanity.

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Cop Out

February 26th

Synopsis: A comedy about two cops (Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan) whose adventures include locating a stolen baseball card, rescuing a woman, and dealing with gangsters and their laundered money. Kevin Smith directs. Formerly titled “A Couple of Dicks” and then “A Couple of Cops”. Now it’s called Cop Out.

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The Crazies

February 26th

Synopsis: The inhabitants of a small Iowa town suddenly plagued by insanity and then death after a mysterious toxin contaminates their water supply.

Click to continue reading our 2010 Movie Preview

Who wants a butterbeer? The next round is on me. Well, not just yet, but soon. After all, it’s only a few short months before “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” opens for the first time as part of Universal’s “Islands of Adventures” theme park at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.

Since Universal first announced the development of a Harry Potter theme park, fans of the series from around the world have been clamoring to learn more. Luckily, there was a short sneak peak of the park found in the special features on the two-disc edition DVD and Blu-ray of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. While short, the clip did offer a whole mess of details about the park, which have been compiled quite nicely by Orlando Attractions Magazine.

Besides a warm and frothy butterbeer (which J.K. Rowling apparently “loved”), you can try some of the Wizarding World’s favorite treats like Chocolate Frogs, Every Flavor Beans, Cauldron Cakes, and Treacle Fudge at a replica of Honeyduke’s Sweetshop. Fans will also be able to check out both the Three Broomsticks and the neighboring Hog’s Head Pub. For those looking to make a little magic themselves, the park will have a replica of Ollivander’s Wand Shop so that young wizards in training can pick up their very own wand.

Of course, no theme park would be complete without rides and it sounds like The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will have at least a few that are worthwhile. Take, for instance, the Forbidden Journey ride, which Potter actress Emma Watson described as the “best moments from all the films.” To line up for the Forbidden Journey ride, fans will walk through Hogwart’s castle, complete with moving portraits and other magical touches.

Besides the Forbidden Journey ride, there will be a family-friendly ride called Flight of the Hippogriff, that will feature everyone’s favorite half-giant Hagrid. Guests will be required to properly approach their Hippogriff (avert eyes, bow low, etc.) before being allowed onboard. Another ride is said to feature the Whomping Willow and the over-sized spiders (properly termed Acromantula) from the Forbidden Forest.

I’m a big Harry Potter fan and a huge sucker for theme parks, so this sounds like something I would definitely enjoy. On the other hand, it definitely sounds like it’s got a family/young child vibe, so I wouldn’t be surprised if groups of mid-20’s adults don’t make it a priority to go see the park. What do you think? Does this sound like something you’d bring your family to? Would you go if you don’t have any kids?

Source: Orlando Attractions Magazine

In Screen Rant’s biggest giveaway to date you have a chance to win the Harry Potter Ultimate Edition Years One and Two on Blu-ray. Don’t have a Blu-ray player? That’s OK, the grand prize winner gets both Ultimate Editions PLUS a Blu-ray player!

Four other winners will win both Ultimate Edition Blu-ray sets.

One (1) Grand Prize Winner

• Blu-Ray Disc Player valued at $299
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Ultimate Edition on Blu-Ray
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Ultimate Edition on Blu-Ray

Four (4) First Prize Packs

• Copy of years 1 & 2 on Blu-Ray (single disc)

If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’ve probably already heard about these sets, but here are some details for you whether you have or not:

Each Ultimate Edition includes:

• NEW 1-hour feature from Creating the World of Harry Potter, an 8-hour documentary series revealing the filmmaking magic behind all 7 years!
• Theatrical and Extended Versions of the films
• Over 2 hours of special features
• Magical collectibles

Here’s a video telling you more:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8zSVKZd8U4

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Ultimate Edition (Available on Blu-Ray and DVD December 8th)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Ultimate Edition (Available on Blu-Ray and DVD December 8th)

And go figure, for our biggest contest ever, entering will be simpler than ever -- Just head over to our special contest page, enter your email address and age and that’s it.

Contest is now closed -- winners will be selected soon!

Just a few days ago we got our first look at Part 1 of the upcoming 7th and final installment in the Harry Potter franchise, entitled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, via a couple of officially released images. They weren’t terribly exciting, basically just showing off the cast of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

Now, straight from studio Warner Bros. we have our first proper look at footage from the last Harry Potter flick via the first teaser trailer. The teaser is featured on the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince DVD/Blu-ray (which comes out in a couple of days, FYI) as incentive for fans to run out and buy it.

The actual teaser footage lasts just under a minute, but the whole video lasts one minute and 50 seconds and features introductions by director David Yates and producer David Heyman, as well as some behind-the-scenes footage. I’m sure if you’re a die hard HP fan you’ll want to watch the whole thing, but if you’re not, and you want to get right to the actual teaser, just skip ahead to the 55 second mark.

[Update: Old voiceover has video replaced with new proper teaser]

Special thanks to MovieWeb. Watch and enjoy:

I like how the teaser seems to be designed to educate people who may not have read the books about just what the heck the “Deathly Hallows” are. The name, like Half-Blood Prince, will only make full sense once you see the movie. Having said that, this very much functions as a teaser, as it feels like we’re only seeing a small glimpse of the story (why are our three wizards running through the woods, for example?).

Oh, and I LOVE that they’ve got the brilliant John Hurt in there again, for the first time since his appearance in The Sorcerer’s Stone (he played the wand shop owner, remember?). Is there ANYTHING that man can’t make sound interesting with his voice?

I’m sure the full trailer(s) that we see for Deathly Hallows will show off the magic we’re used to, as well as the special effects employed to make them a “reality.” But this teaser, over 11 months in advance, will definitely do for now.

What are your thoughts on the first teaser for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? Are you excited to see the conclusion of this story? Just curious: how many of you are fans of the books and how many have never read them and only know Harry Potter from the films?

Part 1 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows hits theaters on November 19th, 2010, with Part 2 following on July 15th, 2011.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is released on DVD/Blu-ray on December 8th this year.

Source: MovieWeb, HPANA and /Film

Update: Now we have a SECOND official image from the film!

Harry Potter fans are going to have a good 2010. In addition to the opening of Universal’s Harry Potter theme park, fans will get to finally see the first installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series. Directed by David Yates, who also directed the fourth and fifth films in the franchise, Deathly Hallows will show Harry, Ron, and Hermione facing their most difficult challenges yet, as the evil Lord Voldemort is threatening much of the wizarding and muggle worlds.

In a recent article for USA Today, Yates expanded on his desire to make part one of The Deathly Hallows more realistic.

“It’s going to feel very real. We’re going for a vérité approach. Being away from Hogwarts, they’re like these three refugees on the run. They’re out in the big bad world, facing real danger, unguarded by those wonderful benign wizards at Hogwarts. They don’t have a home to go to. We’re kind of pulling away from the magic a bit and bringing more reality to it.”

The article also included some quotes from Rupert Grint (who plays Ron Weasley in the films) describing how Ron, Harry, and Hermione are forced to rough it in the real world.

“They’re paranoid,” says Grint. “It’s quite a scary world because the Snatchers and Death Eaters are running around everywhere. Harry, Ron and Hermione are just camping out in random places, living rough, in regular clothes.”

But what good is talking about teenage wizards looking disheveled when you can actually see them? Along with the USA Today piece was the first official picture from Deathly Hallows. Check it out below. To see a larger version, courtesy of ComingSoon.net, click on the image.

Update: Here’s another pic from Deathly Hallows!

In addition to the news that Deathly Hallows will be a bit more gritty and realistic, David Yates also shared some rather, shall we say, revealing news about the film in an interview with Video Business. In the interview, Yates shared that Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe will appear naked, saying, “a horcrux [carrying a piece of Voldemort’s soul] defends itself by producing nightmarish visions, and one shows Hermione and Harry embracing and kissing…It’s something intriguing and sensual for Rupert to react to, and Dan will be bare for that.”

It wont’ be the first time Radcliffe has shed clothing for a part (there was much ado over his nakedness in the West End stage production of Equus), and I can’t imagine it will be anything worth cringing about (the movie will undoubtedly be aiming for a PG rating), but it will still be interesting to see how people, parents in particular, react to the scene.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost two and a half years since the final installment of J.K. Rowling’s incredible Harry Potter series hit bookstore shelves. Rather than wallowing in sadness and self-pity over the end of an era, however, Potter fans from around the world continued to show an unprecedented enthusiasm for their favorite teen wizard, making the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the eighth highest-grossing film in history. (Fun Fact: Each of the six Harry Potter films holds a spot on the top 25 list of all time worldwide box office grosses.)

What do you think of the first picture? Are you excited to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? Does Potter nudity make you wary?

Part One of Deathly Hallows will hit theaters on November 19, 2010. Fans will have to wait until July 15, 2011 for Part Two.

Sources: USA Today, ComingSoon, Video Business

Update source: Yahoo Movies

Hey Harry Potter fans, guess what! The sixth film in the popular franchise (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on December 8th.

According to Coming Soon, the film will be released in three formats: a three-disc Blu-ray, DVD, digital copy combo pack; a two-disc digital copy special edition (as seen in the above image); and a one-disc wide-screen and full-screen edition.

So, which one should you get? Well, that’s hard to say. Normally, I would recommend buying the Blu-ray DVD. Go big or go home, right?

On the other hand, last month I wrote an article talking about how all Harry Potter DVDs were going to get a Special Edition re-release. If that turns out to be true, I say wait until the Special Edition. After all, the film version of Half-Blood Prince changed a lot of the scenes in the book, so there’s bound to be a number of deleted scenes for die-hard fans to peruse.

Personally, I find it very frustrating when there’s multiple incarnations of a DVD. More often than not, all I’m looking for is a good copy of the movie. I don’t want to say I’m cheap, but dammit, why should I have to buy two copies of a movie with negligible differences in special features?

What do you think Harry Potter fans? Will you buy Half-Blood Prince when it comes out on DVD and Blu-ray, or will you wait until the (officially unconfirmed) Special Edition re-release?

Source: ComingSoon

Universal Orlando Resort (the folks who beckoned us with “Ride The Movies” and delivered with the Jaws, King-Kong and Back To The Future rides) will soon be expanding their Islands of Adventure park with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, set to open in the spring of 2010.

Polish your hand-widdled wands while reading the following press release, or feel free to skip to the videos in which the young stars of the Harry Potter movies chat about the park and a map (they missed the boat on little footsteps that say “You!”) with a virtual tour.  The scholars and gentlemen over at Coming Soon provided us with the following press release:

From the front archway of Hogsmeade to the immensity of Hogwarts castle, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will feature the locations listed below:

• At the entrance of Hogsmeade, billowing steam and an iconic whistle signal the arrival of the Hogwarts Express into Hogsmeade station.
• Across the way is Zonko’s, a joke shop with a collection of tricks and jokes, including Extendable Ears, Boxing Telescopes and Sneakoscopes.
• Honeydukes is next door and full of treats like Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans.
• The Three Broomsticks and adjacent Hog’s Head pub will feature traditional British fare and drinks including Butterbeer and pumpkin juice.
• Across from the Three Broomsticks is The Owlery, where owls roost and await their next delivery.
• The Owl Post sends letters with a certified Hogsmeade postmark and sells official stamps from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
• Ollivanders wand shop is an incredible interactive experience where the wand chooses the wizard.
• Completing Hogsmeade is Dervish and Banges, the magical instruments and equipment shop featuring. Quidditch equipment, Triwizard apparel, Spectrespecs and Remembralls.
• The first attraction, Dragon Challenge, features a twin high-speed roller coaster with many iconic elements from the Triwizard Tournament.
• Next is Flight of the Hippogriff, a family coaster simulating a Hippogriff training flight over the grounds of Hogwarts castle.
• Located in Hogwarts castle, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is a thrilling new state-of-the-art attraction that uses entirely new technology to bring the magic, characters and stories of Harry Potter to life in ways never before experienced.
• Before exiting back into Hogsmeade, Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods is full of Ministry of Magic and magical creatures merchandise, Omnioculars, and even remote control Golden Snitches.

Said Diane Nelson, President of DC Entertainment, who is also responsible for overseeing the Harry Potter brand team worldwide:

“The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is yet another way that fans will be able to experience and enjoy Harry Potter for many years to come,” said . “The power of this brand speaks for itself, as the enthusiasm of our dedicated fans around the world continues to grow even stronger as we move into the future.”

There is more to the press release (much more) if you want to head over to Coming Soon.

Is there any way these guys AREN’T gonna make a bajillion dollars off of this? Will you (and your family) be visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter next year?

Source: ComingSoon.Net

So we just finished telling you why the Summer of 2009 was the season of bad movies. Now, as if to validate our point (sarcasm alert) Variety has just announced that the Summer of ‘09 has set a new record as the highest grossing summer of all time at the U.S. domestic box office.

So there you have it, folks, it’s official: Hollywood has no reason to ever hire good writers, produce good scripts, or offer us anything better at the multiplex than what Michael Bay can half-envision.

Awesome.

The numbers of course tell a deeper tale than that, so if you’d like to find out just how the heck this summer managed to break the box office bank, here’s the breakdown:

Top earners for the season were Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($399.4 million), Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince ($294.3 million), and Disney/Pixar’s Up ($289.6 million). We all know why the franchise players made bank (it certainly wasn’t because the newest installments were great films in and of themselves) and Pixar is a proven brand that happened to offer a truly exceptional film. Other crap sequels that helped fill the piggy bank: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($193.3 million), Angels and Demons ($133.4 million) and Night at the Museum 2 ($176.5 million)

There were also some unexpected boosts to the box office this year, thanks to Warner Bros.’ breakout hit The Hangover ($270.2 million) and the Sandra Bullock / Ryan Reynolds rom-com, The Proposal ($160.2 million).

Rounding out the Summer ‘09 box office cash pile were reboots/relaunches of popular franchises. On that front you had Star Trek ($256.7 million), Wolverine ($179 million), Terminator Salvation ($125.3 million) and G.I. Joe ($133.4 million and counting).

This really must be just a cruel joke being played by God, IMHO. You have he Writers Guild of America strike back in 2007, during which the scripts for a lot of these films were forced to go into production half-cooked (or less), and what’s the moral of the story? What’s the grand example that the talented writers in Hollywood can hold up to the studios? “Hey, you better treat us right, otherwise we’ll stop working and you’ll end up making more money than you ever have before!”

Pretty short soapbox to be standing on.

It’s also arguable evidence of the (snooty) stereotype that the average American moviegoer has the cerebral capacity of a third grader. Just looking at the numbers I have to wonder just how so many people could be so entertained by so much crap. It once again raises a question one of our readers put to us back in June, after the release of Transformers 2: Is there really a difference between movies like The Dark Knight and TF2 when both films start pulling in crazy bank? How much does quality count?

It was an intriguing topic before, but after hearing that the Summer of 2009 will go down as a the “best” summer at the movies ever (from a profit standpoint), it’s now a raging debate. Expect Screen Rant’s post about it soon.

Source: Variety

The nominees have been announced for the fourth annual Scream Awards, held every year by Spike TV. The decisively more “fan-friendly” award ceremony (compared to the Oscars) honors films from the sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic-book genres of movies, TV shows and comic books. The awards are described as, “the first and only global event of its kind,” to honor those genres.

The Scream 2009 nominees were chosen by the Advisory Board of Hollywood and Genre Leaders, a list which this year includes the likes of Wes Craven, Roland Emmerich, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, Eli Roth and Zack Snyder, plus many more. The event will be taped on Saturday, October 17th this year at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles, and will air on Spike TV ten days later on Tuesday, October 27th (check for local times).

Along with the awards, the show will also be airing some exclusive, world premiere of footage of some of the most anticipated movies of 2010! Presenters and musicians for the event are to be announced shortly.

Below is the list of a selection of the 32 categories from this year’s Scream nominations. For those of you (all of you?) who want to have YOUR say on which film should win, you’re in luck!  Public voting for the awards has opened already and will run right up to October 17th. But before you head off to vote, here are some of the nominees:

BEST FANTASY MOVIE

“Coraline”

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

“Twilight”

“Up”

“Watchmen”

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

BEST HORROR MOVIE

“Dead Snow”

“Drag Me to Hell”

“Friday the 13th”

“Let the Right One In”

“My Bloody Valentine 3D”

“Splinter”

BEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE

“Dragonball Evolution”

“Punisher: War Zone”

“The Spirit”

“Watchmen”

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

BEST VILLAIN

Eric Bana as Nero; “Star Trek”

Cam Gigandet as James; “Twilight”

Lorna Raver as Mrs. Ganush; rag Me to Hell”

Liev Schrieber as Victor Creed/Sabretooth; “X-Men”

Alexander Skarsgård as Eric Northman; “True Blood”

BEST DIRECTOR

J.J. Abrams; “Star Trek”

Tomas Alfredson; “Let the Right One In”

Michael Bay; “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”

Pete Doctor & Bob Peterson; “Up”

Duncan Jones; “Moon”

Sam Raimi; “Drag Me to Hell”

BEST TV SHOW

Battlestar Galactica

Dexter

Fringe

Lost

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

True Blood

BEST ACTOR IN A FANTASY MOVIE OR TV SHOW

Ed Asner, “Up”

Hugh Jackman, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

Robert Pattinson, “Twilight”

Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

Michael Sheen, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”

BEST ACTRESS IN A FANTASY MOVIE OR TV SHOW

Scarlett Johansson, “The Spirit”

Jamie King, “The Spirit”

Rhona Mitra, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”

Kristen Stewart, “Twilight”

Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

For the rest of the nominees you can head over to Spike.com, where you can also cast your votes.

Although some of the awards are truly suspect (how the hell The Spirit got nominated for ANYTHING is beyond me), I still like the overall celebration of the type of sci-fi, fantasy, comic book and horror films we here at Screen Rant revel in Although I won’t go into a specific rundown of who I think should win, I’d like to throw my opinion in the ring for a few of them:

Lost should win Best TV Show (I love Dexter, but it’s no Lost); Best Horror Movie should go to Let The Right One In (I would say Drag Me To Hell, but since that’s a comedy too, Let The Right One takes it for me); Best Actor in a Fantasy Movie Or TV Show should go to Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; and Best Comic Book Movie should (EASILY) go to Watchmen.

But enough from me, what and who will YOU vote for? As stated, you can cast your votes over at Spike.com, and you can see if the winners match your picks when the Scream Awards 2009 air on October 27th this year on Spike TV.

Hey Harry Potter fans! You’re in for a surprise – according to /Film, via RopeofSilicon, all of the Harry Potter films are going to get special extended edition re-releases. What exactly the extended editions will include is unclear at this point. It is also unclear whether or not they will be re-released on DVD, Blu-Ray, or (dare I say it) to theaters.

Either way, they’re sure to have some extra goodies that weren’t in the theatrical release.

Okay, here comes the buzzkill. Unlike the extended edition releases of Lord of the Rings, which included hours worth of additional material, Harry Potter doesn’t have that many deleted scenes to add.In fact, as /Film points out, most, if not all, of the extended footage for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone included in the television broadcast premiere on ABC. Could it be that Warner Brothers is just trying to milk the Harry Potter franchise for more money?

Call me a cynic, but I’m always a little bit leery of special-edition DVDs. As much as I love behind the scenes featurettes and production stills, I find it difficult to spring for an extra $20 for a copy of a movie I already own. Unless there is substantially more footage, as in the Lord of the Rings re-releases or the upcoming Watchmen Ultimate Collector’s Edition, I’m more apt to stick with my original copy.

Then again, as much as I love Harry Potter, I wouldn’t call myself a fanatic. On the other hand, I know there are plenty of Screen Rant readers out there who are, so why don’t you guys let me know what you think of these extended editions – are you excited about the possibility of seeing more Harry, Ron, and Hermione?