† NillaMora †

By BRUCE KIRKLAND

LEAVESDEN, HERTFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND -- The Harry Potter series will lighten up on the darkness and turn into a romantic comedy for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

That is the word on set at Leavesden Studios, where the Potter franchise has established its own world, and its permanent sets, for the decade-long production of all seven movies.

Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger, and Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley, are delighted about the comic touch on Half-Blood.

Daniel Radcliffe, as Harry Potter himself, is not as keen. Instead, he is eager to skip to the dark finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, due in 2010.

"We've got a long haul ahead of us!" the charming yet eternally serious Radcliffe says when Sun Media wishes him luck on the current shoot. When I mention that "everyone's delighted" to have a tonal shift from…

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth book in the series

Scenes for the latest Harry Potter film are being shot at Surbiton train station this weekend.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, starring Daniel Radcliffe as boy wizard Harry, will be on location overnight from Friday to Sunday.

Café Chaud on platforms one and two at the station is reportedly being used in the movie.

Filming for the sixth book in the Harry Potter series, which has made author JK Rowling a multi-millionaire, has only recently begun.

Seargeant Christopher MacKellaich, of the British Transport Police, said: "We will have officers down at the station on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night to assist with any public…

A few weeks ago we first reported the denials from J.K. Rowling's camp that she was writing an eight Harry Potter book called Elder's Crossing featuring a young James Potter. Now comes news that the author of this book, which will be available via the internet starting in December, may face legal action from Rowling.

Author, George Lippert, wrote the book for his wife and sons, who love the series, and believes that fans of his book may be angry when they find out the book's not written by Rowling.

Mr. Lippert said:

I am a little worried that people will be angry when they find out it's not Rowling. But I hope Harry Potter fans will enjoy reading it as…

Warner Bros. has announced that casting on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" has been completed. Production on the sixth installment of the "Harry Potter" franchise has begun, with the film targeted for a November 21, 2008 release. David Yates, who directed "Order of the Phoenix," is returning to direct based on an adapted screenplay by Steve Kloves.

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are reprising their roles as young wizards Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who are facing new challenges and dangers in the wake of Lord Voldemort’s return. They will be reunited with returning cast members, including Helena Bonham Carter, David Bradley, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Natalia Tena, Julie Walters and David Thewlis, as well as Evanna Lynch, Matthew Lewis and Bonnie Wright.

Two award-winning actors are joining the film’s all-star cast in their first…

With filming currently underway for the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie, news comes this morning of the complete cast list for the movie. Ralph Fiennes's nine-year-old nephew, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, will be playing the role of young Tom Riddle at age 11, while 16-year-old Frank Dillane is playing the teenage Riddle.

David Heyman said:

I am really excited that David Yates and all our cast are back for the sixth film and welcome some wonderful new additions to our ensemble. We all share a commitment to Jo Rowling and to Harry Potter fans around the world to keep making these films the best they can be and, as we head into the final installments, I can promise that this level of commitment will not waver.

From the press release:

Additionally, several young newcomers will…

As reported previously, author J.K. Rowling will be auctioning off a hand-written copy of her special "Tales of Beedle the Bard"book for charity via Sotheby's in London, England. The auction house has now added a few more items from J.K. Rowling that will be auctioned the same day, December 13, including this lovely original sketch by Jo. This pencil sketch was made originally by Jo for the for the BBC charity Children in Need in 1999. In the sketch, you can see Hagrid, Snape, Harry Ron Hermione, Professor McGonagall, along with Crookshanks, Dobby, the Sorting Hat, Fawkes, and a snitch. Estimates by Sothby's put this 10,000—15,000 GBP range.

Also due to be auctioned the same morning is an ink and watercolour drawing of "Harry Potter in Conversation with Buckbeak the Hippogriff" by artist Cliff Wright. This item by the artist…

Warner Brothers has given the official US “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” website a complete makeover today. The site is now revamped to highlight the OotP DVD, with a special countdown clock that you can embed on your blog or website, ticking off the days hours and minutes until the release here on December 11.

Also new are links to the Sweepstakes entry form that we told about recently to win a trip to the set of the ” Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” movie. The trailer for the OotP DVD is now featured on this redesigned website, using many of the backgrounds first seen on the UK version of the Harry Potter site. If you click on the spinning…

The Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix DVD will be out shortly in the U.S. and now fans can watch 3 deleted scenes courtesy of MTV.com.

You can see the three clips here, which include a 'Walk though the Hall of Prophecy,' 'Sybil Trelawney's Messy Meal' and 'Harry in Solitude.'

The DVD will be released in the U.S. on Tuesday, December 11th.

Settle down, girls — and Hermione, you're just going to have to wait — Ron Weasley has a girlfriend. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince director David Yates has hit upon just the right shade of Lavender.

Jessie Cave, 20, has been cast as Lavender Brown in the blockbuster series' sixth installment, reports the BBC. A Gryffindor student and member of Dumbledore's Army, Lavender becomes Ron's girlfriend during the students' sixth year at Hogwarts, and soon becomes known around the Tower for what some would call very public displays of her affection. This and the fact that she's generally perceived as a silly, flighty girl makes her a perfect choice to create jealousy and resentment in Ron's real, if unspoken, interest.

The news of Cave's involvement comes nearly five months after Yates told MTV News of open casting calls to be held for the role in London.

But unlike…

By Bryan Ochalla

Author J.K. Rowling surprised Harry Potter fans the world over last month when she revealed that Hogwarts school headmaster Albus Dumbledore was gay.

Critics, fans and pundits have shared their reactions to the character’s outing, but what about the people who have helped bring Rowling’s story to the big screen for the past seven years?

"J.K. Rowling is an incredibly intelligent woman,” Daniel Radcliffe, who has played the titular role in all five Harry Potter films to date, told BBC News recently.

“She can't have thought for a moment that that would go down well in the Bible Belt of America, but she put it brilliantly herself: 'He's my character—I can do what I want with him,'” he added. “Which I think is fair enough."

Added Emma Watson, who has played Hermione Granger in the blockbuster films: "It never really occurred…