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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Harry Potter

Harry Potter stories: 101 news summaries

1 - 20 of 101 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next >>

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 New Moon Eclipses 
 Ticket Records 

Twilight sequel leaves Potter pre-sale mark in dust

Nov 19, 09 6:52 PM CST
(Newser) - It doesn't open until tomorrow, but the latest Twilight movie already is breaking records. Fandango, AMC, and MovieTickets.com all say that fans are scooping up advance tickets to The Twilight Saga: New Moon in unprecedented numbers. Thousands of shows are sold out around the country, leaving pre-sale records held... More »

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entertainment • Harry Potter • AMC • Lord of the Rings • ticket sales • movies • Twilight • Robert Pattinson • Kristen Stewart • New Moon • Taylor Lautner • Fandango • MovieTickets.com • New Moon reviews

Quidditch Scores Big
on College Campuses

Inability to fly on broomsticks doesn't stop undergrads

Nov 9, 09 1:00 PM CST
(Newser) - Heads up, NCAA: Quidditch has cast its spell on America's campuses. Technically known as Muggle Quidditch—due to the lack of actual flying brooms—the game looks like "a mixture between ultimate Frisbee and dodgeball," one player tells the Chicago Sun-Times . And if it sounds like a fringe... More »

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Harry Potter • sports • JK Rowling • university • college sports • Quidditch

Broke Aussie Author Inspires Bidding Frenzy

Rebecca James' debut has publishers seeing next JK Rowling

Oct 24, 09 7:47 AM CDT
(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... More »

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Harry Potter • JK Rowling • literature • publishing • bidding war • women's issues • Rebecca James • Beautiful Malice • teen literature

MOVIE REVIEW

 Cirque du Freak 
 a Bloodless Bore 

Vampire's Assistant has an identity crisis

Oct 23, 09 11:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant isn't particularly freaky, and it sure could use some assistance. Some critics' takes:
  • Peter Travers doesn't deign to explain the film's loose ends. "All you need to know is that the movie is a setup for sequels that I hope never come,
... More »

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entertainment • Harry Potter • film • movie review • John C. Reilly • Salma Hayek • vampire • Twilight • Michael Cerveris • Cirque du Freak • Chris Massogli

 Facebook Fans 
 Win Release of 
 Sexy 'Weasley' Film 

Rupert Grint stars in edgy coming-of-age film about Belfast teen

Oct 5, 09 2:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Facebook petition drive by fans of the actor who plays Harry Potter's sidekick have won release of an edgy sex- and drug-fueled coming-of-age film about a Belfast teen starring Rupert Grint. The film, Cherrybomb, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival but failed to find a distributor. A British company,... More »

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Harry Potter • film • Facebook • movies • Rupert Grint • Cherrybomb • Ron Weasley

(Newser) - Banning a book is a move laden with ironies that can make the banner seem dull-witted in the long run. For National Banned Books Week, 11Points.com lists "the most hypocritical, ignorant, and, based on the content of the books, ironic" bans:
  • Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury: 
... More »

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Harry Potter • JK Rowling • literature • Salman Rushdie • publishing • Anne Frank • Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl • Mark Twain • banned • books • Fahrenheit 451 • Ray Bradbury • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • The Satanic Verses • banned books • National Banned Books Week

 

 Harry Potter Park 
 Opens This Spring 

Visiting Muggles can buy wands, meet hippogriffs, drink butterbeer

Sep 15, 09 2:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - Get your wands ready: the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens next spring, Universal Orlando announced. Muggles will enter through the village of Hogsmeade, where they’ll visit Hogsmeade station, Zonko’s joke shop, and the Three Broomsticks pub to sample some butterbeer. But the main event, called Harry Potter... More »

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Florida • entertainment • Harry Potter • Universal Studios • theme park • Wizarding World of Harry Potter

 Ivy Tweeter 
 Dogs Emma 
 at Brown 

Witch way to turn, Hermione wonders

Sep 9, 09 2:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Too bad Hermione can't make technology disappear. It seems Twitter is one more irritation for Emma Watson as she begins school in the hallowed halls of Rhode Island's Brown University, CNN reports. First, a dad annoyed Emma last week when he snapped her photo as she walked around school grounds... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Harry Potter • Columbia University • celebrity • Brown University • Twitter • Emma Watson • James Franco • tweet

(Newser) - Never had an inspiring, funny, or even downright godawful teacher? Luckily, Hollywood has them in spades. Babble presents the 40 best fictional teachers:
  • Ms. Norbury, Mean Girls: She taught “the female student body to lay off the sexist insults.”
  • Economics teacher, Ferris Bueller’s Day
... More »

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entertainment • Harry Potter • Albus Dumbledore • The Great Debaters • teachers • Mean Girls • Ferris Bueller's Day Off • Music of the Heart

BOX OFFICE ROUNDUP

 G-Force Blasts to 
 Top With $32.2M 


Jul 26, 09 2:13 PM CDT
(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 ... More »

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entertainment • Harry Potter • film • box office • movies • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince • G-Force • Orphan

 Dumbledore  
 Sparks Fight for  
 Real-World Justice 

Nonprofit Harry Potter Alliance uses books as inspiration

Jul 20, 09 1:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Harry Potter’s battle against injustice in the wizarding world has prompted fans to take the fight to the Muggle universe, the Los Angeles Times reports. Inspired by moral teachings of Albus Dumbledore, Harry’s mentor, the nonprofit Harry Potter Alliance has registered voters, collected some 13,000 books to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Harry Potter • Darfur • Sudan • JK Rowling • literature • political activism • Myanmar • Burma • book • Albus Dumbledore • Andrew Slack • Harry Potter Alliance

OPINION

 Spoiled Harry a Hero 
 for 'Entitled Generation' 

Books lack moral weight as Potter gets off easy

Jul 20, 09 7:21 AM CDT
(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... More »

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Harry Potter • film • JK Rowling • literature • book • Luke Skywalker • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

BOX OFFICE ROUNDUP

 Harry Potter Bewitches 
 Box Office for $160M 


Jul 19, 09 4:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince conjured up a weekend box-office win with $79.5 million, bringing its 5-day total to $159.7 million, Bloomberg reports. The Hogwarts sequel trailed only Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen for the year's best bow. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($17.7... More »

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entertainment • Harry Potter • film • box office • movies • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince • Bruno • The Hangover • Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

OPINION

Hogwarts Is Rife With Homosexual Tension


Jul 18, 09 8:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - No fancy divining necessary: Anyone with decent gaydar can see that new Harry Potter movie is awash in homoeroticism, Natasha Vargas-Cooper writes on Gawker. Hogwarts is seething with hormones in the Half-Blood Prince, she notes, but with the idea of "loose lady wizards" a no-no, most of the flirtation... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Harry Potter • homosexuality • Daniel Radcliffe • teen sex • Hogwarts • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

OPINION

 Harry Potter Is 
 Neutering America 

At the box office, the chaste rule, writer says

Jul 16, 09 8:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Remember the old teen sex comedies, where hormones ruled and no one talked about their feelings? Hollywood doesn't, ST VanAirsdale writes in Esquire. Today's sexless blockbusters—think the Harry Potter flicks and Twilight—reflect how "our PG-13 imperative has scrubbed mass culture of its libido." The new leading... More »

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entertainment • Harry Potter • sex • Transformers • teen sex • movies • Esquire • teenager • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince • Twilight • Stephenie Meyer

(Newser) - Young readers of Harry Potter are all grown up now and able to attend late showings: The Half-Blood Prince set a box office record for a midnight opening by pulling in $22.2 million, reports Variety. The haul is bigger than expected and beats the record of $18 million set... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Harry Potter • Hollywood • box office • movies • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

(Newser) - Though rarely a fan of wizards and witches, the Vatican has declared the latest Harry Potter film a positive tale of “friendship, altruism, loyalty" that achieves the "correct balance" in depicting teen romance, reports the Guardian. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, opening today, makes clear that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Harry Potter • Pope Benedict XVI • Vatican • Daniel Radcliffe • action movie • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince • Emma Watson



 'Hermione' 
 to Star With 
 Marilyn Manson 

She's going from the pal of a boy wizard to a Goth rocker

Jul 14, 09 9:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - When Emma Watson said she was ready to leave Harry Potter behind, she meant it. The actor—whose only major role so far has been Hermione in the Potter films—is reportedly teaming up with shock rocker Marilyn Manson for her next project, playing a princess in a musical Goth... More »

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entertainment • Harry Potter • celebrity • Cinderella • musical • Marilyn Manson • Emma Watson

NEW RELEASE

 Potter Still Making Magic 

Sixth installment is one of the best in the series

Jul 14, 09 7:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Our sixth cinematic trip to Hogwarts holds onto the magic with stunning visuals, great acting, and a maturing storyline:
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is “spellbinding, even though it is more grounded in reality and less fanciful than previous installments,” writes Claudia Puig in USA Today.
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Harry Potter • film • movie review • book • Daniel Radcliffe • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince • Emma Watson • Rupert Grint

 'Harry' Charms 
 Kid Reporter 

Radcliffe exudes class at premiere

Jul 13, 09 7:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - Daniel Radcliffe didn't need his onscreen counterpart's wand to charm a very cub reporter at the New York premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. As journos pressed in on all sides, Radcliffe zeroed in on the nervous 11-year-old Scholastic News reporter, New York reports. He continually—but politely—... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • Harry Potter • celebrity • movie premiere • reporter • Daniel Radcliffe • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

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