Potter Pages Leaked in Web Hocus Pocus

(NEWSER) - It's almost 800 pages long and everyone you know will buy one, so Scholastic has a big chance to score green points with the printing of the final Harry Potter book this summer. The latest installment will use at least 30% recycled material in the U.S., and a "deluxe" edition printed on 100% recycled material will also be available. More»

It will be 'very different' than Harry Potter

(NEWSER) - JK Rowling is back, but if you're hoping for more adventures starring a certain boy wizard—or anything along the lines of those books—you're out of luck. Little, Brown and Company announced today that it had acquired the rights to publish a new book by Rowling, but this one will be aimed at adults, the New York Times reports. 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»

Fantasia ripoff is 'the opposite of alchemy'

(NEWSER) - Nobody is cheering for this Jerry Bruckheimer-produced pretender to the Potter throne, based (sort of) on the iconic scene from Fantasia. Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel play a sorcerer and his protege on a mission to ... do something—anything!—involving lots of spells and special effects. The result is anything but magical, critics say:

• A.O. Scott, the New York Times : The Apprentice is "loud, mechanical and uninspired." Cage and Baruchel "supply a measure of well-compensated eccentricity," but "their labors ultimately serve to emphasize the grinding mediocrity of the enterprise."
• Peter Travers, Rolling Stone : "The computer-generated effects come on like heavy artillery blowing away any hint of flesh and blood." The film ought to be "rated U for Untouched by Human Hands."

Rebecca James' debut has publishers seeing next JK Rowling

(NEWSER) - The publishing world is in a frenzy over a debut novel whose Australian author is drawing comparisons to JK Rowling (Harry Potter? Perhaps you've heard of it.). “Beautiful Malice was one of the most extraordinary manuscripts I’ve read in a very long while,” one editor with an insufficient bid says of Rebecca James’ thriller, intended for teens and up. “I'm still reeling over having lost it.” More»