"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" thread

[cqb101]

Release Date: November 21 2008


Some casting news:

The Slug Club just got its leader: Jim Broadbent will play Hogwarts potion master Horace Slughorn in the upcoming "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the Oscar winner recently revealed to DarkHorizons.com

The former head of Slytherin house, Slughorn is "drawn back out of retirement" by Harry and Dumbledore at the beginning of the novel "because he's got some secrets they need in the battle against the Death Eaters," Broadbent said. Indeed, Harry's quest for a particular memory of Slughorn's is a central mission in the blockbuster sixth novel (see "Daniel Radcliffe Loses It In 'December Boys' Before Getting Back To Harry Potter").

For his part, Slughorn is initially reluctant to reveal details about a seemingly innocent conversation with a young Tom Riddle that centers on Horcruxes, or vessels in which a wizard can imprison part of his soul to keep him immortal. Thinking the damage to be irreversible, Slughorn isn't swayed until Harry confronts him during a particularly emotional scene in Hagrid's cabin.

But despite these dark and tragic undercurrents, the character is "quite comic," insisted Broadbent. "An older man [who wears] tweedy sorts of things."

Part of what makes him comic, of course, is his appearance: Slughorn is described by author J.K. Rowling as a short wizard with a bald head, large belly and an enormous walrus-like mustache. But Slughorn is also something of a professorial groupie, surrounding himself with the best and brightest witches and wizards. As leader of the Slug Club, he has an uncanny knack of picking the Hogwarts students who ultimately go on to accomplish the greatest things.

"He's quite star-struck as a teacher, and he's drawn back into the fold because he likes to notch up celebrity students," Broadbent explained. "He's drawn back by Harry."

Broadbent, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "Iris" in 2002, will film "Half-Blood Prince" until "May," the actor told Dark Horizons. The film will open next November.

Check out Daniel Radcliffe discussing Slughorn in the MTV Movies Blog.

Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

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Eileen Campos - Celebrity News Service News Writer
Burbank, CA (CNS) - Warner Bros. Entertainment, holder of the Harry Potter movie franchise, has released a statement regarding the additions to the sixth installment of the series - Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince.

Jeff Robinov, President of Production for Warner Bros. made the announcement that there will be several actors joining the mainstay cast with returning director David Yates.

Some of the additions include Academy award winner Jim Broadbent from "Iris" and "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," who would be playing a professor at Hogwarts. Helen McCrory who has starred in "Becoming Jane" and "The Queen" is also another award winning actor to join the cast.

Younger Potter debutants include Jessie Cave, Frank Dillane and Hero Fiennes Tiffin. Tiffin happens to be the nephew of Ralph Fiennes who plays the adult version of the main villain of the movie, Voldemort.

The Half-Blood Prince will open in theaters November 21, 2008.

[Jo Dawn]

Yay! Can't wait.

[Peanut]

I'm hoping this one will turn out as well as Philosophers Stone did. Since Half-Blood Prince is really so focused with it's story, it shouldn't be as hard to put it on the screen without making any major changes. Hopefully we won't lose all the special character moments that make the books so good, and the last 3 movies so average.

[BubblyShell22]

I'm excited for this movie already. I hope it will be just as dark as OOTP was, maybe even darker with the whole Horcrux thing.

[AquaParade]

I wish I liked Harry Potter.

[Dr. Doom]

What a waste of a post.

[Cure]

Originally Posted by BubblyShell22

I'm excited for this movie already. I hope it will be just as dark as OOTP was, maybe even darker with the whole Horcrux thing.

I dunno what that is, but I assume it's from the books. Let's try to keep in mind that people that watch the movies don't necessarily read the books. Thanks, everyone.

[AquaParade]

Originally Posted by Dr. Doom

What a waste of a post.

What an Ironic post

[ZariusTwo]

Frankie Goes To Hollywood to play death-eaters Dumbledore fends off!

[BubblyShell22]

TheCure, I'm sorry for posting that. I sometimes forget that there are certain people who only watch the movies and don't read the books. My bad. I'll try to be more careful in the future.

[Mr. Snackpants]

New trailer:

http://movies.ign.com/dor/objects/40...r1_073008.html

Creepy. I like the dialogue at the very end. Pretty sweet.

[愛]

Originally Posted by TheCure

I dunno what that is, but I assume it's from the books. Let's try to keep in mind that people that watch the movies don't necessarily read the books. Thanks, everyone.

What, you too poor for books?

People who only watch the movies are really missing a lot of the story. But I guess the same can be said for all books turned into movies. But if you're into the movies that much and you keep going to see each movie that comes out, maybe you should give the books a crack. They're masterpieces, in my opinion.

[Mecha Cow]

I wouldn't go as far as calling them masterpieces but the books are definitely great and infinitely better than the movies, most of which are rather poor in my opinion. Any fan of the movies owes it to themselves to pick up the books.

[Brodie]

Originally Posted by Ai

What, you too poor for books?

Didn't you say your mom bought your books for you?

[愛]

Originally Posted by Brodie

Didn't you say your mom bought your books for you?

That doesn't mean that I'm too poor for books. That just means I take advantage of my mom's generosity.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Ai

That doesn't mean that I'm too poor for books. That just means I take advantage of my mom's generosity.

You totally are too poor for books, though. Or anything else for that matter. At least Kev owns a 360.

Also, you're a new kid on the block. You can't start talking sh*t about Harry Potter movie fans yet. Get out!

Originally Posted by Mecha Cow

I wouldn't go as far as calling them masterpieces

I would. I don't understand what a book requires to be called a masterpiece. Does it need to contain a ton of fancy language, deep social commentary, or an overabundance of hidden philosophical meanings to be a masterpiece?

The Harry Potter series is one of very few to actually illicit some kind of emotional response from me. They're engrossing and highly entertaining books. That's all I need.

[Hannah]

My mommy bought my books for me!

[ThirdMarioBro]

I need to catch up on my reading.

[Mecha Cow]

I would. I don't understand what a book requires to be called a masterpiece. Does it need to contain a ton of fancy language, deep social commentary, or an overabundance of hidden philosophical meanings to be a masterpiece?

No, just violence, swearing and full frontal nudity.

[Tinuvielsdreams]

Like always I absolutely can not wait for this next film

I was a little disappointed in a few of the details they have had to leave out in the past movies(Particularly in the Goblet of Fire), I am slightly worried about this film because there are a lot of things happening both past and present they have to handle. However...The little bit of Dumbledore and young Tom I saw in the trailer is really exciting!
I can't wait to see how they do the Horcruxes and see Slughorn introduced.
I usually try to read the books over again right before the respective movies comes out