MEGA UPDATE : News Of The Day 09/05/07

The May 8 edition of Film Music Weekly contains a new interview with Nicholas Hooper about his score he composed for the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Recorded in March and April at the famed Abbey Road Studios in London, England, the music for the fifth Harry Potter film will again contain the beautiful Hedwig's Theme originally created by John Williams for Sorcerer's Stone, where we will hear this piece again "first in the film's opening and then subsequently at particular dramatic moments."

The music will feature a choir, the 90 member Chamber Orchestra of London, electronic sounds, and even a particular drum. ""Worth particular note was a huge Taiko drum from Japan, suggested by my agent Darrell Alexander – it makes a deep sound you can actually feel," says Nicholas Hooper. Mr. Hooper continues on to describe two of the new themes we will hear in the soundtrack, due to be released on July 10.

"The themes of the film itself demanded a lot of fresh and different material. Two of the main themes developed were the 'Umbridge Theme' and the 'Possession Theme'," explains Nicholas Hooper. "Professor Umbridge is a new central character in this fifth story, and is an apparently fluffy but cruel and increasingly mad witch who is planted in the school by the Ministry of Magic. The theme reflects her character in an insistent, irritating way and was great
fun to write – should be a hit with ring tones!

The 'Possession Theme' is the story of Harry's gradual possession by Voldemort, who convinces him that Sirius Black, his godfather, is being tortured. It appears in various forms, at times slow but mainly with a sense of panic, and often getting faster and faster. This searing theme was enormously rewarding to write."

To read this entire interview, click here (PDF, pg 4)

In an effort to crack down on pirated copies of major film releases, Warner Bros. has decided to halt preview screenings in Canada of a number of their summer films including Oceans Thirteen and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Reuters reports, the decision was made after WB became "frustrated with unauthorized camcording of its new releases in Canadian cinemas..." and not wanting more illegal copies distributed, decided that it would cancel any public preview screenings.

After many studios wanting legislation in Canada about film piracy, WB is the first to take action. WB president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said of the decision:

"We regret having to cancel our screenings in Canada, but our studio must take steps to protect not only our branded assets but our commitment to our filmmakers and to our distributors."

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be released in theaters July 13.

Jim Dale to Host "Deathly Hallows" Midnight Release Party in NYC

In an effort to meet as many of you as humanly possible during this incredible summer, we are proud to present...the PotterCast Summer of 7 TOUR!

The three hosts from PotterCast, our Harry Potter podcast, are going to be traveling the Pacific Southwest in half of June and through part of the midwest in July, for a summer that will feature more than 20 live shows all over the country at Borders bookstores, libraries and more. And what's MORE, for all of June, we will be traveling alongside the Harry and the Potters Summer 2007 Tour, so that we can present three huge, live, joint podcast/rock shows at libraries! For the first time EVER you can see us both in one place! And, on the June days that we're not doing a joint show, you can meet us at a podcast midday and come with us to the HatP show at night. It's several weeks of daylong parties, guys, and we can't wait to dance it out with you.

In July we'll be all over the Midwest (though we are not yet sure about details of July 20, so we'll let you know that as soon as we can).

Come see us! We can't wait to meet SO MANY THOUSAND of you, and dish theories nonstop in these last days during which theories are worth their weight in galleons!

Our full schedule is HERE. You can also visit us at PotterCast.com or the PotterCast MySpace, both of which will shortly feature all this content.

While touring, and before it, we will be providing constant content updates, pictures, videos, blogs, etc., from the PotterMobile. John, Sue and Melissa are set to spend a very long time in the car together and it should lead to some, um, interesting things. If you can't make it out to hang with us, we hope that you can experience part of this awesome summer that way. And, of course, audio from all the shows will be posted online, so you can listen anywhere!

You'll hear more about how this tour came to be, and our plans, on this week's PotterCast, which will be out this evening.

With pre-orders at an all time high and 12 million copies set to be in print, stores in the UK are facing very stiff competition and many are selling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at extreme discounts, creating a possible 'price war' among the many retailers vying for customers wanting to get their hands on the final book July 21st. The TimesOnline is reporting that major retailers are concerned whether a profit can be made while offering such greatly reduced discounts to their customers.

Bloomsbury, which has sold 325 million Potter copies worldwide, sells the books to retailers for about 55 per cent below the cover price, so supermarkets will be making a loss if they sell them much below 8.10.

Neill Denny, the editor-in-chief of The Bookseller trade journal, said that Harry Potter was one of the most discounted of all the children's books series available. He said that UK retailers had sold 22.5 million copies of JK Rowling's series for a total of 172 million compared with the 243 million they would have earned if it was sold at full price.

The L.A. Times has a brand new interview with actor Dan Radcliffe about working on the set of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In this lengthy new feature on the fifth Harry Potter film, which also contains new quotes from director David Yates confirming again his return to the helm of the Half-Blood Prince movie, as well as quips from actress Emma Watson and producer David Heyman, Dan Radcliffe talks about the pivotal battle in the ministry between Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon)

As these two great wizards parry and thrust their dueling wands, shooting out spells and, for now, imaginary rivers of fire that will meet and crash together like sparking electrical currents, off-camera wind machines blast and tug at their robes. Cowering to one side, Daniel Radcliffe's terrified, ashen-faced Harry Potter recoils from the pyrotechnics exploding above his head, smaller, tributary spells that rat-a-tat-tat the walls like machine-gun fire.

"It's a very intense scene," says Radcliffe during a break in filming the sequence, part of the climax to "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which premieres July 11. "Harry's so out of his depth, he's emotionally pretty much destroyed by this point and given up all hope."

The political under themes of the movie are on the mind of the cast and crew, but producer David Heyman says while it is present, its not the entire focus of the movie, noting ""There's no question there are political aspects to this story." I don't want to give the impression it's a political film. It's an entertainment." However Dan Radcliffe and David Yates have a bit more to say on the nature of the politics found in the fifth movie.

"We're the French Resistance," he explains of Dumbledore's Army, "and Voldemort and the Death Eaters are the Nazis. Obviously, in a magical context." Not that his analogies end there. "Harry's like a Vietnam veteran," he says. "He's seen awful things and come back into a society that's rejected him. That's the main parallel I've been drawing on." Fudge, meanwhile, he equates to Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair.

"Dan's absolutely right," says Yates several months later in his Soho office. "What Fudge does is he spins everything all the time. He's a great manipulator of information, and there is a bit of Blair about Fudge."

Finally, as reported previously this week, David Yates again mentions his return to direct the sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as he says

"I know Alfonso and Mike, when they came out, they were kind of shredded, but I've come out feeling invigorated," Yates says. "And I don't think I'm quite done with this world yet. These can be great films about childhood. The next one's full of sexual politics, and the kids are getting better as actors, and I want to push them even more. This one's quite lyrical and intense. The next one is more fun."

He grins. "I've had more fun in the last two years than I've had making anything. The whole thing's slightly addictive. It's difficult to let go."