Eson at 10:16 PM CST - Alleged Harry Potter Fraud on eBay
Some people... *shakes his head* AuctionWatch reports:
An Arlington County, Virginia, man was arrested last month for purportedly selling fraudulent first editions of the phenomenally popular Harry Potter book series on eBay.
Ralph Vitale Jr., 62, was arrested and released on bond after he was accused of selling the misrepresented first editions to 20 victims on the auction site. He claimed in his auctions that the author and creator of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, also signed the books.
Suspicions about the authenticity of the books were brought to the attention of Arlington authorities after a San Francisco woman complained she had paid Vitale $405 for one of the books. The woman insisted that Rowling's signature was a fake, according to a March 23 article in the local newspaper, The Fairfax Journal.
According to a statement from local authorities, Vitale started out selling legitimate copies, but then continued to sell misrepresented books and pass them off as autographed first editions when he ran out of the real thing.
The victims were cheated out of almost $6,000, with some people reportedly paying almost $1,000 for the supposed rare find. Not a bad purchase, considering that legitimate first-edition, first-print Harry Potter books go for more than $3,000 unsigned on the open market, according to the Journal article.
Eson at 5:55 PM CST - Movie to be Given Worldwide Release
Digital Media FX has with some great news for overseas HP fans:
Warner Bros. plans on giving Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone a worldwide release, opening it the same day on over 10,000 screens worldwide. Recognizing Harry Potter as a worldwide phenomenon, Warner Bros. plans on giving equal treatment of the movie to as many countries as possible. The move is likely to receive strong acclaim overseas as most overseas markets wait months for a movie to go from the U.S. to another country.
To date, Warner Bros. has been masterfully marketing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone worldwide. Last month, Warner Bros. arranged for over 200 theaters throughout the U.K. and Ireland to show the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone movie trailer in a continuous loop. Admission was free.
Plans for the sequel titled Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets are already moving forward in high gear.
Monday, April 09, 2001
Eson at 1:05 PM CST - More Full Version Trailer Info The Leaky Cauldron delivers some more information on the full version of the trailer:
One of my contacts from Warner Brothers gave me a little bit of an update regarding trailer news, more still pictures etc. According to Warner Bros. the next teaser will be released in July with a final blockbuster trailer due out in September, the same time the advertising and media campaign for the movie is launched. The next set of "stills" will be put out on the Web in May followed by "mailings" of more in August. Scholastic is planning a huge Halloween event to publicize the Harry Potter movie.
Saturday, April 07, 2001
Eson at 2:29 PM CST - An Official Hogwarts!
There is going to be an official Hogwarts! BBC reports:
Harry Potter author JK Rowling, Warner Brothers and Electronic Arts are working together to create an online game version of the wizard's world that fans will be able to enter, explore and play in.
The Harry Potter computer game and the online world should be finished by the end of the year, and is just one of the many persistent worlds that Electronic Arts is planning to put on the net over the next few years.
John Riccitiello, president of Electronic Arts (EA) made the announcement about the Harry Potter online game at the Accenture 13th annual Global Communications Forum being held in Miami Beach this week.
Mr Riccitiello was reluctant to give too many details about the game but said it would give fans of the books the chance to study to be a wizard at the Hogwarts school just like Harry Potter.
The gaming site is likely to be opened up towards the end of the year to coincide with the release of the Harry Potter film.
Eson at 10:38 AM CST - Gagging Orders for Potter Kids
It sure looks like Warner Bros. is pretty serious about secrecy on the set. The Daily Record reports:
The child stars of the Harry Potter film were forced to sign confidentiality agreements to stop them spilling the beans about plot secrets, it was revealed yesterday.
There was tight security in place to stop snoopers getting onto the set of the movie, due for release in November.
But the latest revelation shows just how far the producers are prepared to go to keep their secrets. Performers as young as nine were made to sign before being allowed on to the set.
Friday, April 06, 2001
at 10:14 PM CST - Things to come...
Well, this is my first post with blogger. Eson usually handles the news, as you can see with all of his posts, but some of you may know me from the boards. I just thought I would tell you what I had in mind for the future here at MuggleNet. I'm totally re-doing the Chapter Pictures page (which isn't there right now), scanning in my own pictures and thumbnailing them. I'm thinking about doing a biography page for the major characters, but I'm not sure. I'd like to see some feedback on that, so E-mail me. (I think you can just click my name, otherwise it is hooky_2004@yahoo.com ) Well, that's all for now...
Thursday, April 05, 2001
Eson at 5:19 PM CST - Something is Wrong With Blogger :(
We apologize about the messed up posts... our weblog, Blogger, is having problems right now (maybe it's just us... I don't know.)
Eson at 5:17 PM CST - Hogwarts Goes Online!
Cool! There's going to be an official Hogwarts (not like the lame one on the official site now). Eson at 9:41 AM CST - Hogwarts Goes Online!
Cool! Wednesday, April 04, 2001
Eson at 2:55 PM CST - The Full Trailer The Leaky Cauldron reports that the full version trailer does exist! (Apparently, the full trailer is available to WB and it's partners only) But was given more information on it via the Kmart insider. (The subject for emailing was actually costumes... hehe) It's definitely worth reading.
Eson at 1:56 PM CST - “Terrible Fate” For Potter Star Empire Online has a (controversial, in my opinion) article about Daniel Radcliffe (rather, what he's missing being one of the most famous kids in the world)...
Landing the lead role in what is sure to be one of the biggest franchises ever is a dream come true right? Wrong. According to director John Boorman, young Daniel Radcliffe doesn’t know what he’s let himself in for.
“I think it’s a terrible fate for a ten-year-old child”, Boorman told Empire Online of Radcliffe, who he recently directed in The Tailor of Panama. “He’s a very nice kid, I’m very fond of him. I was very surprised though, when he took the role of Harry Potter. You know his mother said she’d encouraged him to do our film because she felt he was rather shy and lacking in confidence and the experience would bring him out and that it was a one-off thing. So I was astonished that he was going to spend the next four years or so doing Harry Potter, it’s really saying farewell to your childhood isn’t it?”
“His parents are both very stable, sensible people so perhaps they can get him through it,” said Boorman. “But what is he going to do when he goes back to school? He’s always going to be Harry Potter, I mean what a prospect.
Tuesday, April 03, 2001
Eson at 6:50 PM CST - A Real Life Hagrid?
A reader sent me a few pictures of their friend and neighbor who happens to look just like Hagrid!
"When I saw the movie trailer...My jaw happened to drop. Hagrid is my neighbor in Columbus Ohio. His name is A.J. Drew and he is a twice published Wicca author. He also Happens to own a magik shop that sells herbs, incense and cauldrons. He has a very large iguana named Fred behind the counter and a store cat named 'cat'. If you are interested, I will send you photos of this "real life" Hagrid for your website in his usual attire of a long black trench coat, boots with his wild long hair and big bushy beard. he has looked like this as long as I have known him, approx 8 yrs.
Yes I am a Harry potter fan...and I have been telling AJ for years that he is this character in these books. Although he has not read any of these books, he has been getting many phone calls and visits at his store because he is 'Hagrid'."
Eson at 12:30 PM CST - More Gloucester Filming Info
A reader of The Leaky Cauldron sent in a lengthy follow up on the article in Gloucester Today several weeks ago. It describes the scenes (from the books) in which they were filming at Gloucester Cathedral. The article also confirmed that "Emma Watson was really ill just before Christmas and delayed filming for two weeks. She had to have a doctor on set at all times during this period."
