The Official MovieSet Blog
Posts Tagged ‘harry potter’
Twilight watch: $65 M opening weekend possible
Thursday, November 20, 2008
For a guy that’s not stoked about the impending release of Twilight I sure like to talk about it. Still, I think that I have a good reason and that’s because all signs point to Twilight being the next big thing for Hollywood. Box office analysts began the week by pegging the possible opening weekend box office for Twilight at around $30-35 million. By mid-week those estimates were being revised to $40-45 as word got out that 2,000 shows of the film has already sold out, 600 of which are midnight screenings happening tonight. And now the latest estimates have been revised again: Twilight could make $65 million dollars this coming weekend. That’s big news for a number of reasons. Continue reading…
Posted at 11:34AM by Patrick
New Harry Potter trailer is such a tease
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Really Mr. Potter, how do you do it? First you promise your fans that your new film, in which you investigate the mystery surrounding the half-blooded prince, will come out in November. Then your corporate masters decide to change their minds and shelve your appearance until next July, leaving other pale-faced bloodsuckers to take your release date. And then when you decide to show back up and remind us all that you still exist, it’s with a week to go until that fresh-faced vampy show has its opening night! You think that there was some kind of master plan at work! Continue reading…
Posted at 11:06AM by Patrick
JK Rowling wins Harry Potter copyright suit
Monday, September 08, 2008
According to The Hollywood Reporter:
A judge ruled Monday in favor of “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling
in her copyright infringement lawsuit against a fan and Web site
operator who was set to publish a Potter encyclopedia.U.S. District Judge Robert P. Patterson said Rowling had proven
that Steven Vander Ark’s “Harry Potter Lexicon” would cause her
irreparable harm as a writer. He permanently blocked publication of
the reference guide and awarded Rowling and Warner Bros.
Entertainment Inc. $6,750 in statutory damages. [more at source]
Fantastic, justice has been served. An author gets to protect their earnings gained by squeezing their own creative juices onto the page.
Who else could have come up with a bespectacled and disaffected British teen who’s dealing with authority figures while learning to become one of the world’s most powerful sourcerers?
The answer? Neil Gaiman.
Seven years before Harry Potter Gaiman published The Books of Magic with a character named Timothy Hunter who even looks like Harry Potter.
The similarities are kind of close. I know it’s old news but I thought it appropriate to bring up again seeing as the workd copyright is being bandied about.
Rowling denies any prior knowledge of Gaiman’s books and Gaiman himself says he’s OK with the similarities. Perhaps Carl Jung was right when he wrote about the collective unconscious. I know I as a writer have seen my stories appear on screen over and over again, and I don’t presume anyone has stolen them.
However, just for conspiracy’s sake, Warner Bros optioned The Books of Magic but the project never went anywhere. They also own the movie rights to the multi-billion dollar Harry Potter franchise.
Interesting. You can make of that what you will.
Regardless, justice has been served. I guess.
You can see more about the next film in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on the official MovieSet sitelet for the movie.
Posted at 9:31PM by admin
New images from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince at MovieSet
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
If you’re a fan of the Harry Potter film franchise, you’re looking forward to the release of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince that’s been pushed to next summer. If you can’t wait and need a quick fix of Harry Potter right now here’s a recent still from the movie:
There is lots more still and content for your enjoyment at the official MovieSet sitelet for the film.
Posted at 7:25PM by admin
Harry Potter sues Hari Puttar
Monday, August 25, 2008
Would you get confused between two movies, one titled Harry Potter and the other Hari Potter? Or would you be more likely to take a closer look at Hari if you were already familiar with J.K. Rowling’s young boy wizard? That’s probably what lies at the heart of the lawsuit filed by Warner Bros., the movie company that holds the cinema rights to Rowling’s character, against a Mumbai, India-based film production company called Mirchi Films. Mirchi has a new movie called Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors slated for release on September 12. Warners is trying to stop the release of the film and their case will go in front of an Indian judge next Monday.
“Since the case is sub-judice, we can’t comment as of now,” the CEO of Mirchi Movies, Munish Purii, told The Hollywood Reporter. “However, we registered the ‘Hari Puttar’ title in 2005, and it’s unfortunate that Warner has chosen to file a case so close to our film’s release. In my opinion, I don’t think our title has any similarity or links with Harry Potter.”
That’s not what Warner Bros. thinks. “We have recently commenced proceedings against parties involved in the production and distribution of a movie entitled Hari Puttar,” a Warners representative said about the case. “Warner Bros. values and protects intellectual
property rights. However, it is our policy not to discuss publicly the details of any ongoing litigation.” You can almost sense the pack of rabid WB lawyers just waiting to be unleashed, can’t you? And they’ll win too.
This isn’t the first time Warner is siccing its in-house Dementors after an international Harry Potter copycat. A couple of years back there was an Indian book called Harry Potter in Calcutta which had the British kid hang out in the sub-continent. There’s also the rip-off spin-offs like Tanya Grotter, a Russian female equivalent to Harry that sold a million copies in the former Soviet Union.And the Chinese got in on the act too with a book titled Harry Potter and the Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon. Good ol’ C.S Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Roald Dahl never had to worry about this kind of crap in their day, did they?
Posted at 9:04PM by admin
