8th Harry Potter Movie

United Press International has an article that states that crew members working on the current movie adaptation of the 6th book, Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, has mentioned that the 7th book might have to be made into two movies. Their concern is that there is so much story in the final book, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows, that it would be difficult to reduce it into a single movie.

"There's so much to fit that the view is the last movie should be in two halves," one anonymous source said. "There is a huge battle when Harry, played by Daniel Radcliffe, takes on Voldemort that needs to be done really well."

They state that it is all a matter of keeping the "artistic vision" of the story intact and it is "not aimed at cashing in on the highly profitable series." Which I frankly don't believe. I am an avid reader of the series and have watched the movies with cringes and cries of pain. They have manipulated, cut, and re-imagined the "artistic vision" of the previous books since the second movie. They have shown no concern for the original vision of the story nor presenting information that is vital to the depth of the story.

Simply put, they are just using the excuse of the battle at the end of the last book to milk this movie franchise for every penny they can get. It's no different then how many movies have repeated re-releases of movies in order to have people who love the movies buy them again for an added scene or feature. The scary thing is that despite so many of the buyers being aware of this fact, they still purchase the extended special editions and I have no doubt that people will watch the split-up Harry Potter movie.

Damn us all for being consumer whores.

James Potter and the Hall of Enders' Crossing

First lets get this straight, Rowling is not making this "sequel" book. It is in fact a fan made book that is being sold at EldersCrossing.com

A sequel to the Harry Potter series has been made and has a website to promote it. The book, titled James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing, is about the adventures of Harry Potter's eldest son. The book will be 360 pages and is being made by George Lippert, a 37 year old digital artist from St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Lippert has stated that he wrote the book for his family who are fans of the series and were looking forward to more.

Christopher Little, Rowling's agent, has targeted any unauthorised works trading on the Harry Potter name. But experts specialising in copyright law say it may be less straightforward to prosecute Mr Lippert because young James Potter makes a fleeting appearance in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The site is well made and is so realist that many people who have stumbled across it have theorised that J.K. Rowling is behind it, which was proven false by the face that Rowling is attempting to sue Lippert over copy right. Upon entering the site a brief video promoting the upcoming book followed by a countdown clock to the day of the book's release is displayed. More features can be accessed by using the following passwords:
1st Password: Genisolaris
2nd Password: Corsica
3rd Password: Poink
4th Password: Sylvven

The first password will give you access to an excerpt from "Technomancy, History, and Magical Polices." The second password displays a little video celebrating the end of Voldermort and admitting that this is not a site supported by J. K. Rowling. The third password gives access to an additional excerpt from "Technomancy, History, and Magical Polices." The forth password gives you access to a picture of the book's cover art.

From the excerpts and the artwork it is quite clear that Lippert has really dedicated himself to this project. The drawings are in the style of the Harry Potter books and the writing is very similar to the style of Rowling. I look forward to this book and will enjoy it as what it is... fan fiction.

I hope that Lippert wins against the might of Rowling's lawyers especially give that "experts specialising in copyright law say it may be less straightforward to prosecute Mr Lippert because young James Potter makes a fleeting appearance in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

Via [The Scotsman]

Newsie News 11/13

Pike Cast in New Star Trek Movie
Bruce Greenwood has been cast as Christopher Pike, the Starship Enterprise's first captain. For the major fans of the original series they know that Captain Pike was the captain of the Enterprise in the original pilot of Star Trek, but when the show was eventually approved (much later than expected) the actor playing him was unable to return for filming so Captain Kirk was created in his place. Pike later returned as the "first captain of Enterprise" in a special two-part episode.

Eragon Gets a Fourth Book
I don't know how many of you have enjoyed the Eragon books (Inheritance Trilogy) written by Christopher Paolini. He has only produced Eragon and Eldist and we have been waiting for the third book for about three years. Now, after the years of silence, in has been announced that the delay is due to the fact that now the Inheritance Trilogy is becoming a quartet. There are now going to be four books in the Inheritance Cycle with the third coming out September 23, 2008.

This is both great news and dismal news. The great news is that Paolini isn't going to cut the story and shorten the book in order to keep in a trilogy. The problem, if it's going to take him four years (in total) to release the third book, how much longer do we have to wait for the fourth book? Well, like most good books, I'll still be waiting for it if it takes 10 years, only I might not enjoy it as much as my future kids will by then.

Mark Wahlberg Cast as Max Payne
Yup, Mark Wahlberg (aka Marky Mark) will be playing the part of the movie adaptation of the popular Rockstar game Max Payne.

I have one word to describe this news... meh.

The game was okay, not great but not bad. Mark Wahlberg is a good actor who sometimes does crappy movies, but since I really enjoyed The Italian Job, I'll give this one a chance.

Scrubs Not Getting a Finale
Due to the WGA strike, the series finale for Scrubs has yet to be written and will thus not be shown until this strike is over. It looks quite likely that the episode will not be shown this season, but Bill Lawrence, creator of Scrubs, has promised that if NBC doesn't show it, he will get it to air on ABC.

This news is amongst many shows suffering due the strike. Heroes is going into reruns and The Office has completely stopped production, firing all it's hair dressers, set designers, etc.I am all for the strike but I do miss my shows. I just hope that Hollywood realizes soon how important writers are before we see hundreds of reality shows covering our tv screens.

Newsie News 10/25

J. K. Rowling Glad to Reveal that Dumbledore is Gay
Last week J. K. Rowling, the creative mind behind the popular Harry Potter books, revealed that Albus Dumbledore is gay. This revelation has shocked many people and has created a lot of buzz for the author. At another conference this week Rowling shared that very early into her writing of the books she already had the idea in her head that the beloved Headmaster was gay. She was glad to say that the whole thing was "freeing" and that one man even came out at Carnegie Hall after the announcement.

Honestly, I was worried this was nothing more then a publicity stunt but looking back on the books and looking more closely at Dumbledore, it becomes quite obvious. It even better explains the young Dumbledore's relationship with the dark wizard Grindelwald as apparently many fans have suspected.

The Dark Crystal Returns!!!
TokyoPop and The Jim Henson Company have decided to come together and make a prequel graphic novel to The Dark Crystal. The novel is titled Legends of The Dark Crystal: The Garthim Wars and TokyoPop has released the following description:
Lahr and Neffi are gentle and fun-loving Gelflings who want little more than to enjoy the simple pleasures of life and love. But when their villages are attacked and plundered by the violent Garthim, their worlds are turned upside down as they narrowly escape with their lives. Now, united against insurmountable odds, the two Gelflings must put aside their peaceful ways and emerge as heroes to lead a frightened neighboring village into something they never thought they’d face-war.

If you were a fan of the original movie, then I suggest you keep an eye out for this novel. And if you feel very kind, buy me a copy. Please and thank you!!

The Rock Drops Out of Spy Hunter
YEAH!!!! One less videogame made into a terrible movie. What? Did you want to know why he droped out? Who cares. I'm just glad he did because that is one giant nail in this movies coufin.

Cover for Harry's Final Adventure

Here is is folks. The book art and cover for the 7th and final Harry Potter book. I hope you're excited because if you're not... then you're dead to me. :-P





Via [Mugglenet]

Harry's Final Battle is July 21st!!

Fellow readers around the world have been ancipating the release of the final Harry Potter book. On July 21st, 2007 the wait is over.

Announced today at Scholastic.com, they inform the world that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling, the seventh and final book in the best-selling series, has been scheduled for release at 12:01 a.m. on July 21, 2007."

I started reading the Harry Potter books shortly after the release of the fifth book. I put off reading the series because I was worried if would get me back into liking books again... but the temptation overtook me and I gave in. Sure enough, I finished the first four books in 3 days... bought the fifth later that week and read it in one night.Needless to say, these books brought back my hunger for reading and I've been reading again ever since.

I loved the series so much that I was actually there for the midnight release of the sixth book. Many book stores had little "Harry Potter" parties for the release so I will not be surprised to see even more for this one. You can count me among those who will be there when they start handing out the first books in my timezone.

Will you be joining me for Harry's final battle?