Potter Fans Like Sneak Peek of Young Voldemort

The links could boost Potter's box office, writes Gregg Kilday

(NEWSER) - Now that Osama bin Laden has been killed, the inevitable question: When will the first movie about his death come out? In the Hollywood Reporter , Gregg Kilday makes the case that it might be as soon as July 15 ... when the final Harry Potter installment hits theaters. There have been some "eerie links" between the boy wizard's story and the al-Qaeda terrorist's journey ever since the first Potter movie came out just a few months after the Sept. 11 attacks, he argues. More»

Part 2 of ‘Deathly Hallows’ in theaters July 15

(NEWSER) - The end of the Harry Potter series is that much closer with the release of the trailer for the grand finale. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is out July 15, and the tease looks promising. "The quiet, almost elegiac opening seconds, though, are what get me the most," writes Nina Shen Rastogi in Slate . "I have no doubt that this final showdown is going to be a fist-pumping glory, but those brief glimpses give me hope that the human element won't get lost in all the wand-slinging battles." The trailer indeed looks "epic,' notes the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog , which hopes the movie lives up to it. More»

Soul-sucking horror for boy wizard in new trailer

(NEWSER) - Desperation, death, and soul-sucking chills. And that's just a taste of what our boy wizard is up against in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, flying to theaters Nov. 19 . The brand new theatrical trailer for the Warner Bros. film reveals a blacker black from director David Yates, heart-stopping evil from Ralph Fiennes' Lord Voldemort and a crisis of faith for the three magical musketeers. Enjoy. More»

(NEWSER) - The digital guinea pigs of G-Force took a bite out of Harry Potter this weekend, with an unexpected $32.2 million take, the Los Angeles Times reports. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince fell harder than most other films in the franchise, landing second with $30 million. Critically-loathed rom-com The Ugly Truth took $27 million, while the low-budget horror flick Orphan scared up $12.8 million for fourth. More»

Books lack moral weight as Potter gets off easy

(NEWSER) - Harry Potter is a fitting hero for a generation of readers: his powers arrive on a silver platter, and from there it’s “all zapping bad guys, no taking out the trash,” writes Kyle Smith in the New York Post. While heroes like Luke Skywalker face obstacles to achieving their potential, JK Rowling’s creation, "like many of his generation, is the Cosseted One from an early age.” More»