Tag: J.K. Rowling

New ‘Fantastic Beasts’ film casts a winning box-office spell

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Again confirming the magic touch of J.K. Rowling, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” took in an estimated $62.2 million this weekend to lead North American box offices, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday. This second Harry Potter prequel came in slightly behind the first “Fantastic Beasts” movie, which earned $74.4 million in its opening three-day weekend, but it has already scored an impressive $253.2 million overseas. Warner Bros. […]

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JK Rowling defends Depp casting after fan backlash

LONDON, United States (AFP) — British author J. K. Rowling has said she is “genuinely happy” with Johnny Depp’s casting in the upcoming “Fantastic Beasts” film after fans called for his replacement over domestic abuse allegations. The US actor, who plays villain Gellert Grindelwald in the Harry Potter spin-off, had been accused of physical abuse by his former wife Amber Heard during divorce proceedings. But actress Heard withdrew the allegations last year when the pair […]

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J. K. Rowling marks ‘wonderful’ Harry Potter 20th anniversary

by Mark McLaughlin with Rosie Scammell in London Agence France Presse EDINBURGH, United Kingdom (AFP) — Author J. K. Rowling on Monday marked the “wonderful” two decades since her Harry Potter creation first hit the shelves, starting a global literary phenomenon which has inspired a generation. “20 years ago today a world that I had lived in alone was suddenly open to others. It’s been wonderful. Thank you,” she wrote on Twitter. A pair of […]

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Harry Potter play to open in New York in spring 2018

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” the smash-hit, award-winning London play about the fictional boy wizard as a grown father of three, will open in New York in spring 2018. The show will make its official Broadway debut on April 22 at the Lyric Theatre, currently under renovation in preparation for the North American premiere, producers of the London show said on Thursday. Preview performances and casting will be […]

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J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore plans to conjure up profit for 2017

NEW YORK CITY, United States (Reuters) — Launched as a fan community site in 2012, Pottermore has evolved from a self-publishing site for one of the world’s most popular authors into a firm that sells increasing volumes of ebooks and audio books via partnerships with online retailers and expects to turn a profit in its current fiscal year the company said on Tuesday (November 22). Recognizing the pitfalls of a purely go-it-alone, direct-to-fans approach, Pottermore […]

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‘Potter’ fans work box office magic for ‘Fantastic Beasts’

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Harry Potter spin-off “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” debuted atop the North American box office, industry data showed Monday, taking a satisfactory but far from spellbinding $74.4 million. Based on a 2001 book by “Potter” novelist J.K. Rowling, the Warner Bros. film — starring Eddie Redmayne as a wizard in 1920s New York — had to rely on fans of the original franchise to bump up its […]

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Johnny Depp enters Rowling’s magical world in ‘Fantastic Beasts’ sequel

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) — Johnny Depp has swashbuckled as a pirate, played a mad hatmaker and will next step into “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world of magic in the “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” sequel, film trade publications said on Tuesday (November 1). Depp, 53, one of Hollywood’s top actors and box office draws, will co-star in the 2018 sequel to “Fantastic Beasts,” due out in theaters on Nov. 18, […]

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Enchanted Potter fans attend global ‘Fantastic Beasts’ event in London

REUTERS — Enchanted “Harry Potter” fans lined up in London’s Leicester Square on Thursday (October 13) for a global fan event to get a sneak peek at the new spin-off movie penned by J.K. Rowling, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”. The British contingent of Potter-philes were part of a coordinated event to see early footage from “Fantastic Beasts” at select IMAX theaters in cities including Rome, Sao Paulo, Mexico City and New York. […]

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J.K. Rowling releases new ‘Harry Potter’ ebooks

LONDON, England, United Kingdom (Reuters) — British author J.K. Rowling is delving back into the world of “Harry Potter” for a series of short ebooks with new stories about some of her characters from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Pottermore, the digital publishing and e-commerce world founded by Rowling for fans of the boy wizard, said on Wednesday (August 17) it would be releasing three short ebooks starting September 6. Called “Pottermore Presents”, the […]

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‘Harry Potter’ author Rowling warns on Brexit, nationalism

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — J.K. Rowling, creator of the mass-selling “Harry Potter” books, made an impassioned plea Monday for Britons to vote to stay in the EU, warning in a blog posting against rising nationalism across the world. The British author, whose novels and films about the boy wizard have become a global phenomenon, said many of those backing a Brexit in Thursday’s EU referendum were making a protest “against everything about modern life […]

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J.K. Rowling receives PEN award for literary service

NEW York City — The famous author of Harry Potter, J.K Rowling has been given an award recently from the 2016 PEN/Allen Foundation Literary Service Award in New York City. Rowling is responsible for the Harry Potter series which has been published in 79 languages, over 200 territories and spawned eight films and three theme parks. Actress Sarah Jessica Parker presented her with the award and credited her with changing the landscape of children’s literature […]

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The chair J.K. Rowling sat on while writing her first two Harry Potter books goes up for auction

  (Reuters) — The chair that birthed Harry Potter and millions of so-called Potterheads is hitting the auction block. The wooden dinning chair once owned by J.K. Rowling, comes with a letter in which she said she was sad to let it go. “This is a chair that J.K. Rowling wrote the first two Harry Potter books on. And it was in her government flat. It was given to her with a group of chairs. […]

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