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        <a href="  http://www.myspace.com/harrypotter05  " target="_blank">The Official Page Of Harry Potter Fan Site</a>

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IsLaMiCOnLiNe

Several actors from the Harry Potter films are to be part of an effort
in the UK to introduce students to a wider spectrum and knowledge about
films. A new initiative has now been launched in the UK called "Film Club"
and actors Dan Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Alan Rickman (Severus Snape),
Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy,) and John Hurt (Mr. Ollivander) are all
lending their support to this endeavor that will allow students to watch a variety of films and learn more about them. According to Variety, Dan Radcliffe and John Hurt have also volunteered to visit schools to help the students as well.

On the filmclub website, Alan Rickman is quoted as saying:

"Film
Club is such a great idea. Play Stations and IPods are fun but there’s
nothing like sinking into a story and loving, hating or identifying
with a character in a film. You, too, could be a writer, director,
producer, cinematographer, editor, script-supervisor, make-up artist or
grip. Or actor. Keep watching!"

                Forbes.com released the 2007 edition of The Worlds Billionaires and in the list published today, Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling has again been named among them.  This is not her first time on the list, she was part of this Forbes list last year as well.

Items from the world of Harry Potter contributed by actress Emma Watson
(Hermione Granger) are up for auction for the Wild Trout Trust, a wildlife conservation charity in Britain.  Emma donated a Hogwarts Express Train Set signed by Dan Radcliffe (Harry Potter,) Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Emma herself as well as a Harry Potter Tote Bag that is only given to cast and crew of the films.  Bidding is open now and ends March 15th.

Thanks to Ryan for the heads up!

There is a new interview online today with Dame Maggie Smith, where she
briefly mentions her role in the Harry Potter films. In this feature
from The Evening Standard, the Academy Award winning actress quipped
that the role is "Miss Jean Brodie in a wizard’s hat," and says that Sorcerer’s Stone is her favorite of the movies. Quotage:

"Her
characteristic blend of piercing wit leavened with sudden shafts of
sadness has made her a prime exponent of Alan Bennett, but film roles
no longer challenge her. Which of the Harry Potter films, in which she
plays Professor McGonagall - "Miss Jean Brodie in a wizard’s hat" -
does she like most? "Is it five, now? I seem to be doing less and less.
I liked the first one when I changed from a cat. The thing is, as I get
older, the film roles seem to get smaller."

Dame Maggie Smith will be seen again as Professor McGonagall in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. She is also set to open in a play in London, but that has been delayed by a few days, while she recovers from a bout of  the flu.

There
are several articles now online highlighting again the challenges
independent booksellers are facing in regards to pricing for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. As we reported previously
some retailers in the UK were not going to stock the last Harry Potter
book due to concerns about being unable to compete and match the
discounting larger retailers can offer. Publishers Weekly reports
that while all the independent sellers they contacted here in the
States were going to stock the book, there were still concerns about
the pricing of the book.

"We’re haven’t
quite figured out what we’re going to do," said Josie Leavitt, co-owner
of the Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne, Vt. "We’re probably going to
treat it like an adult hardcover and give it a 25% discount. No kid can
afford $35."

Several booksellers will offer discounts in the 20%
to 25% range on pre-orders. And many booksellers said they will order
cautiously. "We’ll order carefully, and if we run out we’ll end up
going to Sam’s to restock," said Ellen Scott, children’s book buyer at
the Bookworm in Omaha, Neb. "It’s cheaper there than ordering from
Scholastic. That’s what we did last time."

In a related piece, The Guardian reports
how several UK independent sellers are trying a different strategy this
time, and planning to win customers with loyalty programs and
incentives.

"At the vanguard of the battle for the
boy wizard’s fans is Dulwich Books, an independent in south London
which is hoping to win customers with a Harry Potter loyalty scheme.
Every purchase of children’s books worth £10 or more before June will
win earn a point and when the card is full with 10 points, customers
will be entitled to a free copy of the new Harry Potter.

"We
believe in rewarding our loyal customers as well as promoting other
children’s books," explained Sheila O’Reilly, the owner of Dulwich
Books. "The ultimate reward for children who read will be a free copy
of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Independent bookselling is not
about competing on discount; we must offer more than the chains and
supermarkets."

With a bevy of boffo titles and no World Cup to gum up the works, film
execs are hoping this summer’s international B.O. could hit a record
high.

But
if that happens, it won’t necessarily be an easy victory. Because of
the summer glut, there will be a fight for good screens and the split
of UIP means there will be more companies fighting for eyeballs.

More
than ever before, studios will go day-and-date with domestic releases,
aiming to make each film into a worldwide event and get the maximum
money early. Such moves can be risky, since day-and-date precludes any
significant changes to marketing campaigns after the opening.

But
for the right pics, there could be a bonanza by getting key territories
in the mix. For example, Japan, usually months behind on getting top
U.S. releases, is expected to see day-and-date releases of such
juggernauts as "Spider-Man 3," "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" and the
fifth "Harry Potter" installment.

And Italy is getting
day-and-dates, a big change for a market that tends to release pics
well after they’ve already hit other Western Euro markets. The
country’s moviegoers generally decamp to the beach for the entire
season, but local exhibs — demoralized as the rest of the world rakes
in big money from summer hits — are planning to change things.

A dozen megabudget tentpoles are opening between the first weekend in May and early August.

Warner
Bros. has decided on summer dates for "Ocean’s Thirteen" and "Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," though those pics’ predecessors
generally bowed in the winter. Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, Warner’s
international prexy of distribution, notes "Potter’s" international
clout dictated going day-and-date on the second weekend of July.

"The
opening date is not an obvious choice on the domestic side, but it
really does put our best foot forward internationally," she says. "With
‘Harry Potter,’ we’re going day and date everywhere except in the
Middle East and a few minor markets, because most are going to be in
holidays at that point, so this date really maximizes our opportunity."

With so many tentpoles, the battle for screens will be intense.

"We’ll
have between 6,000 and 7,000 on ‘Ocean’s’ and over 10,000 on ‘Harry’
but that’s going to be a challenge because there are so many incredible
films coming," Kwan-Rubinek admits.

The Warner biggies are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of recognizable titles. And that’s a key factor internationally.

"You
have to rely on creating franchises and memorable characters that
really have a mainstream appeal," says Anthony Marcoly, BVI’s president
for sales and distribution. "Since foreign audiences don’t go to the
movies as often as U.S. audiences do, having tentpoles is that much
more important for international business."

Studio execs don’t seem worried that there will be so many options for filmgoers this summer.

"This
is going to be the biggest summer ever," declares Paul Hanneman,
co-president of Fox Intl. "Usually, you see the biggest films are split
between the summer and the holidays, but this year, they’re in the
summer. I can’t imagine that theaters won’t be full."

Some of the reasons for optimism:

"Pirates of the Caribbean:

At
World’s End": The second "Pirates" ended on a cliffhanger and grossed
nearly $640 million overseas — a number topped only by "Titanic," the
final "Lord of the Rings" and the first "Harry Potter." The DVD then
sold more than 30 million copies.

Marcoly says, "The second ‘Pirates’ is really our best marketing tool. It’s turned out to be the franchise of all franchises."

"Spider-Man
3": (the first two pics earned $830 million overseas). "We’ll scoop up
as much as we can in the first three weeks," says Mark Zucker, prez of
Sony Pictures Releasing Intl. "We’ll have that period really clear."
(In the U.S., the pic will get competition from the May 18 bow of
"Shrek the Third," but Paramount is waiting until summer for the toon’s
bow in most markets.)

"Shrek the Third": the first tentpole for
the newly minted Paramount Pictures Intl. has worldwide deals with
McDonald’s, Kellogg’s and many other promotional partners.

"Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix": Downside is that the franchise’s
lowest performer overseas ("Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban")
opened in the summer. Upside: it still grossed $540 million
internationally. Tickets are already on sale in Japan, and the seventh
"Harry Potter" book will hit stores on July 21.

"The Simpsons
Movie": British exhibitors suggest a huge worldwide gross isn’t out of
the question, pointing to its appeal among all quadrants. The key for
Fox will be to hammer home the notion that it’s a much different
experience than the TV show, says Fox Intl. co-prez Tomas Jageus.

Other
contenders with international appeal include "Ocean’s Thirteen"; "The
Bourne Ultimatum," for which UPI plans to tour Matt Damon around the
globe; and "Live Free or Die Hard." The Bruce Willis pic is the first
"Die Hard" in a dozen years, but Hanneman believes that makes it
fresher than other sequels. Also, "Evan Almighty," "Transformers" and
"Ratatouille" will have appeal for the potentially massive family
market.

The summer will be the first for Par and U’s newly minted
foreign distribution arms, set up with the aim of maximizing offshore
box office. The existence of two separate operations, instead of a
partnership, is sure to intensify the ferocity of the summer
competition, since both ops will be more focused, more efficient and,
in total, more heavily staffed to squeeze the maximum result out of
their movies.

Paramount Pictures Intl. topper Andrew Cripps
insists his company is well prepared: "While it has been a busy time,
we are now well established as PPI and able to focus entirely on the
films we are marketing and distributing."

U and Par still will be
releasing pics for each other in many major territories, where they
have yet to set up their own direct operations.

"We aren’t
opening any territories except Australia this year," says UPI topper
David Kosse. "And if there was ever a man to accomplish the task of
setting up a new operation and launching tentpoles, it is Mike Baard,
who runs our new operation."

For decades, studios have focused on
domestic summer B.O., while overseas has been sleepy, due to theaters
without air-conditioning and audiences’ decided preference for the
outdoors. But last summer was a reminder that things are changing. Two
summer releases — "The Da Vinci Code" and "Pirates of the Caribbean:
Dead Man’s Chest" — accounted for 14% of the entire year’s $8.6
billion. ("Da Vinci" ended up making $532 million worldwide, with 71%
of that outside the United States.)

And while summer is the
focus, the studios are already gearing up for a big holiday season that
features "National Treasure 2," "I Am Legend," "The Golden Compass,"
"The Bee Movie," "Lions for Lambs," "American Gangster" and "Enchanted."

Previously, we told you about a contest for fans to design a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
book cover. After going through the many wonderful entries, we can now
announce the winners of this contest. The names of the winners are
listed below, and you can also see their entries here in our fan art galleries.

PHOTOSHOP Winners

1st Place:  LeelaStarsky

2nd Place: Maksymilian B

3rd Place:  Kimeshan N

Honorable Mention - Chris T, Jonathan R

HAND DRAWN Winners

1st  Place:  J.L. Cook

2nd Place: Paula F

3rd  Place: Helena F

Honorable Mention: Nick B

Congratulations to all who entered! Be sure and check out these and all the impressive fan art we have in our new Fan Art Galleries. We will also have the winners of the Valentine’s Day contest for you in the near future as well.