Leading up to Movie 6
A big thanks to Cristabelle from The Remembrall for this! You can also listen to all of these news stories on the first edition of Accio Remembrall, a joint podcast between TAPP and Remembrall Live.
AUGUST 2006
- August 8, 2006: This morning many Harry Potter fans woke to reports that Warner Bros. had announced a release date of November 21st, 2008 for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. You may remember that in March David Heyman mentioned that Half-Blood Prince was set to for 2008. Please note that no information about the movie, director or actors has been announced. We will update with any news we receive from Warner Bros. in reference to this date.
OCTOBER 2006
- October 5, 2006: Rumors that David Yates will be returning to direct HBP.
- October 10, 2006: In a new interview Rupert Grint spoke a little about the fifth Harry Potter movie … The Ron Weasley actor also touched on the topic of a director for HBP, noting rumors that Alfonso Cuaron or Chris Columbus may return for the film.
NOVEMBER 2006
- November 11, 2006: Rumor: Michael Hoffman is directing the HBP, according to Dark Horizons.
- November 8, 2006: Warner Bros. confirmed that no director has been chosen yet.
OCTOBER 2007
- October 7, 2007: Dan Radcliffe confirms that filming begins this day.
- October 21, 2007: It was announced that filming for the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will take place in the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral, where they, "double up as areas in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where Harry and friends Ron and Hermione, live out many of their fantastic adventures."
NOVEMBER 2007
- November 11, 2007: In an interview with CBBC Newsround, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Daniel Radcliffe discuss working on the fifth and sixth Harry Potter films, where the former two talk about the girl cast as Lavender Brown in Half-Blood Prince. Rupert divulged the (first) name of the actress who will portray his on-screen girlfriend in the sixth film (who we now all know as Jessie Cave), and Emma goes into great detail about how lovely the girl is. The pair believe that it will be 'quite funny' and a 'comic film'.
- November 17, 2007: Warner Bros has released a press release, which lists all of the actors that will have a part in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. In addition to Daniel, Rupert, and Emma, many of the old cast members will be returning, 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. As for new-comers, we have already been told that Jim Broadbent will play Horace Slughorn and Jessie Cave will be Lavender Brown. New noted roles, however, have been those of the two young actors to play Tom Riddle, one as a child and the other as a teen. Nine year-old Hero Fiennes Tiffin, nephew of Ralph Fiennes (who plays Voldemort in the series), will play Tom Riddle as a child; and 16 year old Frank Dillane will play Tom Riddle as a teenager. We hope to have photos of the two actors soon enough.
- November 18, 2007: Warner Bros. UK official Harry Potter website has updated with a sneak peek page, where about four minutes of new footage for Half-Blood Prince can be watched, but only by inserting the Order of the Phoenix DVD (which was released in the UK earlier today), into your computer.
DECEMBER 2007
- December 12, 2007: The Order of the Phoenix DVD has been released in the United States today, a month after fans in UK and Australia got their hands on it. There is a new sneak peek of Half-Blood Prince on the DVD. The clips differ from those that were available online to UK/Australia buyers.
- December 16, 2007: Direct from Warner Bros., we now have our very first high resolution promo picture from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The shot shows Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) carrying the Marauder's Map, and, more notably, the Half-Blood Prince's potions book.
JANUARY 2008
- January 1, 2008: WB has confirmed tonight that a poster for HBP that has been floating around the internet for a while now is, in fact, a fake.
- January 29, 2008: The BBC has new video online tonight of the work being done to prepare the site for the filming as well as new interviews with the students who will take part as Hogwarts students. In the video you can see the area where the students will be fitted for their costumes, and hear interviews with the students from King’s School on the Hogwarts houses they will represent. There has been no specific HBP location filming dates announced for the Cathedral, the report says Warner Brothers is insisting on secrecy, however signs indicating upcoming parking closures give an early February (next week) time frame for the filming of the sixth Harry Potter movie. We will continue to follow the preparations being done in Gloucester; anyone with photos and reports please send them in!
MARCH 2008
- March 4, 2008: UK paper The Sun is reporting that location filming for the sixth Harry Potter movie is currently taking place in Farnham, Surrey, England, and a couple of visitors made an unexpected appearance during the shoot. The paper claims “two male streakers” caused a bit of chaos by “darting naked through undergrowth during a woodland scene. Stars Daniel Radcliffe and Helena Bonham Carter retreated to their caravans while security chased the pair off.” The article continues to say the pranksters then “crept back and made monkey noises at the location shoot in Farnham, Surrey. A source said: “Seeing naked bodies was a laugh-but the joke wore thin.”
- March 9, 2008: We have a set report from filming at the Millenium Bridge in London, where crews have been filming this weekend for Half-Blood Prince. Details: -Filming is for the bridge collapsing scene. - About 60 crew members and 120 extras. - Stuntmen will be falling into the river. - Bridge was being filmed with helicopter, on foot, and mounted camera crane. - Crews were only allowed to film every half hour to allow public on bridge. - More location shoots will be taking place in London.
APRIL 2008
- In April we got many new set reports.
MAY 2008
- May 4, 2008: We have a rumor of a new description for the HBP teaser trailer. (At this point it was still expected to be shown infront of the new Narnia film which is released on May 16th.) According to the report the trailer was expected to: "clearly show the darkening tone of the series, “with footage of the attack on the Burrow” as evidence of this. Reportedly, trailer shots will include a taunting Bellatrix, Draco on the train, Slughorn, Snape in a pivotal moment, Dumbledore in the cave, and clear evidence of the developing Harry/Ginny relationship. There are also quick glimpses of Quidditch, the Trio, and a bit of humor from Ron."
- May 9, 2008: A brief new interview with Jessie Cave, who says "It was a bit embarrassing. Our first screen kiss was on my third day of shooting. It's been an amazing experience though. I've been completely immersed in the Harry Potter world since filming started last year."
- May 18, 2008: The Boston Globe reported that John Williams is set to score the soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. However, Warner Bros previously reported that Nicholas Hopper would be doing Half-Blood Prince. As many of you know, much of the Harry Potter soundtracks are based off of John Williams' original scores, so it may be that this is where the confusion lies. (Now we all know that Nicholas Hopper did, in fact, compose the score.)
- May 25, 2008: The official site of actress Emma Watson was updated with the news that principal photography on the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was completed on Saturday, May 17. Her site notes that now that filming on the sixth Harry Potter movie is finished, Emma is focusing on her A-level exams at the moment.
- May 26, 2008: We regret to inform you that BBC News announced on May 24th that Robert Knox, the actor who plays Marcus Belby, the Ravenclaw student who wants to be in the Slug Club, in Half-Blood Prince, was murdered late at night on May 23rd. He was stabbed to death while defending his younger brother just outside Metro Bar on Station Road in Sidcup. Warner Bros. has said: “We are all shocked and saddened by this news and at this time our sympathies are with his family.”
JUNE 2008
- June 7, 2008: Warner Bros has announced the companies that will be doing the products for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The release is to advertise what products companies will show their products during the Licensing International Expo place June 10-12 in New York City.
- July 2, 2008: Dan Radcliffe and director David Yates have reportedly spoke with Empire Magazine about Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Dan: "There’s a fair amount of sexual energy and drug parallels. We have a couple of Trainspotting moments. That’s two films I never thought would be mentioned in the same breath." Mr. Yates: "We’re opening with a big attack. We’ll bring a major London landmark crashing down."
JULY 2008
- In early July we got LOADS of new HBP images, including hi-res stills.
- July 27, 2008: It has now been confirmed by Warner Bros. that the worldwide satellite teaser trailer for the sixth film, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” will debut via Satellite this coming Tuesday, July 29th from 9:00pm – 9:15pm EST (6:00pm – 6:15pm PST). A second airing of the worldwide teaser trailer will air on Wednesday, July 30th from 6:00am – 6:15am EST (3:00am -3:15am PST) EST as well. AOL will also be hosting the web debut of the HBP Teaser Trailer.
AUGUST 2008
- August 5, 2008: Virgin Media has posted ten things that they feel we should expect in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film. Some of the things they say: -Director David Yates, one of British TV's most respected director (thanks to the drama series State Of Play), has said the movie will be a cross between the chills of Prisoner Of Azkaban and the fantastical adventure of Goblet of Fire. -The movie starts with some serious fisticuffs, involving the demolition of a major London landmark. What's more, the Death Eaters...have a much bigger role to play on screen... -Harry starts fancying Ginny, Ron's younger sister, while Ron himself is paired up with new girl Lavender Brown. Oooooh, snogging! -Inferi, the undead corpses Harry must grapple with in order to gets his hands on a much-needed device. "They're horrible," actor Daniel Radcliffe told Empire magazine. "It's that terrible look of a body that's wasted away, but not a skeleton." -Quiddich is back. -If you thought that you knew everything about Harry Potter then think again, producers have hinted that some new revelations about the boy wizard will be revealed in the closing minutes of Harry potter And The Half-Blood Prince!
- August 15, 2008: Warner Brothers has just announced that Half-Blood Prince will be delayed. The film will instead be released on July 17th, 2009. In making the announcement, Mr. Horn stated, “Our reasons for shifting ‘Half-Blood Prince’ to summer are twofold: we know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent pole release, as proven by the success of our last Harry Potter film, which is the second-highest grossing film in the franchise, behind only the first installment. Additionally, like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writers’ strike, which impacted the readiness of scripts for other films—changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of. We agreed the best strategy was to move ‘Half-Blood Prince’ to July, where it perfectly fills the gap for a major tent pole release for mid-summer.”
- August 16, 2008: In a blog post, Entertainment Weekly revealed that not only will Potter be on the cover of this week's issue of the magazine, but not everyone at WB was in-the-loop about the decision: EW and Warner Bros. share a parent company, but they clearly do not share, you know, important friggin’ information. A WB publicist stressed that word about the rescheduling had only just come down on the 15th—which is most likely true, given that the Half-Blood teaser trailer is already in circulation. We got the scans from the EW set report, and they gave away way too much HBP information too soon! (Not that we were complaining)
- August 20, 2008: Fans had been complaining to WB about their disappointment of the release change, and Alan Horn from WB responded: “Many of you have written to me to express your disappointment in our moving “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” to Summer 2009. Please be assured that we share your love for Harry Potter and would certainly never do anything to hurt any of the films. Over the past 10 years, we have nurtured and protected each film, and the integrity of the books upon which they are based, to the best of our ability. The decision to move “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” was not taken lightly, and was never intended to upset our Harry Potter fans. We know you have built this series into what it is, and we thank you for your ongoing enthusiasm and support. If I may offer a silver lining: there would have been a two-year gap between “Half-Blood Prince” and the much-anticipated first part of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” which opens in November 2010. So although we have to wait a little longer for “Half-Blood Prince,” the wait from that film until “Deathly Hallows” will be less than 18 months. I am sorry to have disappointed you now, but if you hold on a little longer, I believe it will be worth the wait.”
*NOTE: Once the date changed was announced the news slowed down quite a bit*
SEPTEMBER 2008
- September 12, 2008: After Warner Brothers moved the movie version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to next Summer, it was assumed that Electronic Arts would reschedule the game to match. Today, EA made it official that the release date for the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince game would coincide with the movie's new July 17 opening. There's no word on whether or not any changes will be made to game during the delay.
- September 20, 2008: There is a new interview with David Heyman. He revealed that the battle at Hogwarts and Dumbledore's funeral have to be eliminated to avoid repetition, as well as to provide the "right ending" to this film. "The reason why we left out the Battle at Hogwarts is because we have a battle at Hogwarts in the Seventh film and we are avoiding repetition." He then added on Dumbledore's funeral scene, "Dumbledore's funeral was something that I really loved and is a fantastic part of the book and part of me would have loved it in the film. But we decided that while we loved it that what we came up with was the right ending for the film that we had made."
OCTOBER 2008
- October 26, 2008: It would appear a leaked trailer from HBP with all new footage has appeared at Traileraddict.com! The description that came along with this trailer called it the international teaser trailer. However, looking back at when The British Board of Film Classification was updated with trailer lengths, the trailer appears to be the UK trailer, called "Trailer 2" by the British Film Classification Board, as it is of the correct length.
NOVEMBER 2008
- November 14, 2008: WB has been sending out links to a new Half-Blood Trailer, which will be live with Twilight NEXT Friday.
DECEMBER 2008
- December 6, 2008: During ABC Family's Potter weekend, there were a few sneak peaks at the upcoming Half-Blood Prince film.
JANUARY 2009
January 7, 2009: MPAA confirms that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been rated PG for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality by the Motion Picture Association of America. This is the first of the Potter films to be rated below PG-13 since Prisoner of Azkaban.
January 23, 2009: Japanese HBP trailer shows up online. 2:11 minute trailer with introduction by Daniel Radcliffe
http://www.youtube.com/v/a6GA2ZBH1P4&hl=en&fs=1
January 28, 2009: IMDB updates page with news that HBP will be 2 hours 20 minutes. This makes the movie eight minutes longer than Order of the Phoenix, ten minutes shorter than Goblet of Fire, four minutes longer than Prisoner of Azkaban, sixteen minutes shorter than Chamber of Secrets, and six minutes shorter than Sorcerer's Stone.
FEBRUARY 2009
February 6, 2009: The man accused of killing actor Rob Knox will stand trial beginning Monday. Knox was stabbed to death on May 24, 2008 when stepping into a fight involving his brother. Karl Bishop, the accused, denies the charges.At the time of his death, Knox had recently finished filming his part as Marcus Belby in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
February 9, 2009: The UK's Daily Mail reports on the first day of the trial of Karl Bishop, who is accused of stabbing to death Robert Knox, who played Marcus Belby in the Harry Potter films. Witnesses said that Bishop is a serial knife offender who had told Knox a week earlier, "Someone is going to die." The prosecutor told the court, "It's quite clear that Robert must have believed on good grounds that Jamie [his brother] was in danger and he acted as someone would to defend his younger brother. Unhappily, his courage and sense of duty cost him his life."
February 10, 2009: Today's Telegraph reports further on the trial of Karl Bishop, accused of murdering Harry Potter actor Robert Knox (Marcus Belby). Knox's younger brother, Jamie, whom Knox died to protect, said, "He was shouting. He was going mad, saying 'you held a knife to my brother, why did you hold a knife to my brother?'" Asked if Robert looked after him, Jamie said, "A lot, a hell of a lot, very protective," and replied to the question of whether Robert was inclined to shy away from trouble or get involved, "He would but he wouldn't do anything unless he felt it was absolutely necessary."
February 11, 2009: Today in the trial of Karl Bishop, accused of stabbing to death actor Robert Knox (Marcus Belby), a friend of Robert's testified about the night of the attack. He said,"It happens really quickly ... I grabbed the defendant's left hand to try and stop him from swinging the hand round with the knife. I used my right hand to grab his left hand. As I proceeded to grab his left hand, he swung his arm over my head and his hand towards my chest. I raised my left hand in defence to cover myself. The knife in his right hand went right through my wrist and came out between my thumb and index finger. As I'd been stabbed I put my hand up, turned away and as I turned away Rob moved past me towards the defendant."
February 22, 2009: With a further update on the trial of Karl Bishop, accused of killing actor Rob Knox (Marcus Belby), BBC News reports that Bishop is showing "no remorse" as the trial progresses. Reportedly, when told he was to be charged, he responded, "yeah sweet." About his incarceration he said, "I don't mind, I get gym every day, meals, just take me there." The trial is currently ongoing.
February 23, 2009: A new featurette on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has surfaced online, containing a good deal of new footage - including Hermione's bird scene. Watch it http://accio-potter.com/hbpfeaturette here!
February 23, 2009: As the trial of Karl Bishop, accused of killing Rob Knox, goes on, Bishop today testified on his own behalf about what happened the night of the stabbing. He claimed to have had "no other option" but to fight, for a variety of reasons.
"From what I can remember I was always going backwards and just swinging and trying to keep people away from me but they just kept coming towards me. You wouldn't think people would run at someone who's got a knife. I didn't intend to wound anyone at all, but they attacked me. There was no other option. They ran at me, they attacked me. They had me surrounded at one point so I couldn't go anywhere even if I wanted to."
February 25, 2009: The prosecutor in the ongoing case of Karl Bishop, accused of murdering Potter actor Robert Knox, has said that Bishop "carries knives like others carry pens in their pockets" and "acted in revenge" when he stabbed Knox, the BBC reports. In response to yesterday's claims that Bishop acted out of self-defense, the prosecution told the jury, Stabbing Rob and his friends was out of proportion to anything happening to him, so over the top that it cannot sensibly be regarded as lawful self-defence." The case is still ongoing.
February 26, 2009: In the Bishop trial today, the presiding Judge, Mr. Justice Bean, gave his summing-up to the jury after a full three weeks of the trial, the BBC reports. He told the jury, "You must decide the case only on the evidence that has been placed before you. It is not about whether you feel sympathy for Robert Knox's parents and family. You wouldn't be human if you didn't but it is not relevant to your decision." We will keep you posted on the jury's verdict.
MARCH 2009
March 4, 2009: The verdict is in on the trial of the man accused of murdering actor Robert Knox (Marcus Belby) outside a pub last May, BBC News reports. Karl Bishop, 22, has been found guilty of murder in the case, having stabbed Knox five times for trying to protect his brother. He was also convicted of wounding four of Knox's friends. The sentencing will occur Thursday.
March 5, 2009: As we told you yesterday, Karl Bishop was found guilty in the Robert Knox case in which he was accused of murder. Now, we've learned that he will recieve a life sentence: Bishop, who was found guilty on four counts of wounding, was given three further concurrent life sentences for wounding Mr Knox's friends. Sentencing, Mr Justice Bean told Bishop that he was a highly dangerous man. "I do not think it is proved that you intended to kill Robert Knox. The truth is that you simply could not care less whether you killed him or not," he said. "Your lack of regret let alone remorse was truly chilling".
March 5, 2009: Trailer for HBP released online for fans for download.
APRIL 2009
April 4, 2009: Ben Shepherd, a presenter for GMTV, has announced that he plays a cameo in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. He will "make a brief on-screen appearance as the parent of a young wizard," ITN reports. He says: "I was lucky enough to get a part in one of the scenes. I'm a wizarding parent in a joke shop. I've done documentaries for the last three films and got to know everybody really well, and they finally said: 'Come on and give it a go'."Presumably, the joke shop in question is the infamous Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
April 14, 2009: Now confirmed by Warner Brothers, Half-Blood Prince has been moved 2 days sooner, from July 17th to the 15th. The same thing happened to Order of the Phoenix, so this is not a huge surprise. This puts the movie on a Wednesday, but since it's the summer, this shouldn't change much. One thing it does change however is the Harry Potter Conference, Azkatraz 2009. Originally there was scheduled activities including live podcasts immediately following the midnight showing, but since the movie is 2 days earlier, it is unclear if and when the events will occur. Will let you know of any updates!
April 16, 2009: Final HBP trailer released- http://potterprofiles.ning.com/video/harry-potter-and-the-halfblood
MAY 2009
- May 12, 2009: We have received confirmation from Warner Bros that the UK release date for Half-Blood Prince has been pushed up by two days; it will now be out the same day as in the US, on Wednesday, July 15, 2009.
- May 21, 2009: Warner Brothers has provided us with high-res download links to the Half-Blood Prince clip which aired on Ellen yesterday. (http://www.theremembrall.org/article/1387/)
JUNE 2009
- June 2, 2009: We have high-res download links for you of the clip in Dumbledores office which was aired during the MTV Movie Awards.
- June 10, 2009: Half-Blood Prince will NOT have an IMAX release until two weeks after the HBP release - not until July 2.
- June 24, 2009: WB has just let us know that New Line Records is set to release the original motion picture soundtrack for Half-Blood Prince on Tuesday, July 14, one day before the film! The score will feature 28 tracks- over 60 minutes of music. It will be available on all digital retailers and on CD.
- June 26, 2009: The first five minutes of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is now online. It’s available from Videoload in Germany.
- June 27, 2009: A very extensive, detailed behind-the-scenes look at Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince recently aired on French TV's "50 Min Inside".
- June 30, 2009: There is a new clip from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince online today courtesy of iTunes. Running for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, it shows Dumbledore initially giving Harry the warning about the cave and then entering it.
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