“Green Lantern” is the most anticipated film opening this weekend — though chances are just as good that it’ll be a big flop — but the buzz this week centered on a movie that’s not premiering until next month. A new trailer — likely the last — for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” was released this week, and fans couldn’t be more pleased. They already know the plot of the film, of course, as the final book in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling came out four years ago. But seeing Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint grow from children to adults — just as their respective characters, Harry,
Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley have — and face their last showdown with evil is a distinctly different pleasure. This new trailer shows “Part 2” continues the series’ trend of getting darker and darker, with more frighteningly exciting action sequences. The final film in the franchise opens July 15. Watch The Examiner then for our interviews with some of the talent behind the movie.
Watson was also in the news this week for another reason: She has left Brown University. Rumors had it that she dropped out because of mocking and bullying from fellow students, but she’s denied that. The pixie-haired young actress will grace the cover of the July issue of Vogue. There she talks about growing up as one of the most famous girls in the world, in words that might explain why she found her new surroundings difficult to handle: “I have had no control over my life. I have lived in a complete bubble. They found me and picked me for the part. And now I’m desperately trying to find my way through it.” Not that the in-demand Watson, who’s also the face of Burberry, needs a college education for continued success.
It’s hard to believe that a decade after the first film, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” was released, the series is finally bowing out. Or is it? This week, Rowling debuted a website, Pottermore.com. “Looks like the owls are getting ready to deliver some exciting news,” says the site’s Twitter feed. We muggles should learn that news — whether it’s a new book, a new film, or something entirely different — on Thursday.
Meanwhile, two of the most anticipated films of 2011 and 2012 have finally finished casting their biggest parts. “The Hobbit” — the J.R.R. Tolkien novel is being split into two films, as his “Lord of the Rings” was divided into three — is in production now in New Zealand. Welsh actor Luke Evans will play Bard the Grim, heir to the dead king of Dale. Evans can be seen on screen sooner, though: He is Aramis in the upcoming adaptation of “Three Musketeers.”
