HP goes 'green' for next installment October 16, 2003 [ ananova ] reports:

JK Rowling says her next Harry Potter book will be printed on environmentally friendly paper.

So far, her novels about the teenage wizard at Hogwarts school, have used up an estimated 6.5 million trees.

The Scottish writer is among a number of authors, including Andy McNab, Philip Pullman and Ben Elton, who have pledged their support for the environment by using recycled paper.

Techniques pioneered in Canada allow, for the first time, paper from waste such as office paperwork to be used to make books, says The Times.

Rowling has guaranteed that her sixth Harry Potter book will be printed either on recycled or on "ancient forest-friendly" paper, which is sourced from sustainable planted forests.

At present, no major publishers of fiction in Britain use 100% recycled paper.

The Canadian edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was printed without chopping down a single tree, saving an estimated 40,000 of them.

Photos from next HP Movie September 3, 2003 [ ananova ] reports:

Stills from the next Harry Potter film, showing Gary Oldman as the mysterious Sirius Black, have been released.

Bearded Black plays Harry's godfather in The Prisoner Of Azkaban - the latest adventures of JK Rowling's boy wizard.

Oldman, 45, the prisoner of the title, escapes from Azkaban where he was being held for mass murder.

Also new to the Potter cast for the third Potter movie, is Sir Michael Gambon, 62, as lovable wizard Dumbledore.

He takes over from the original Hogwarts school headmaster Richard Harris, who died last year.

The movie is being directed by Mexican, Alfonso Cuaron, 41, who is also new to the Potter scene. He said: "I didn't know much about the Potter universe, but I got excited when I read the material."

The actors are still filming in Hertfordshire and Cuaron has eight months to get the special effects just right.

The Prisoner Of Azkaban will be on cinema screens on June 4 next year, says The Sun.

New Potter book titles 'revealed' September 3, 2003 [ ananova ] reports:

The titles of the last two Harry Potter books may have been revealed, according to newspaper reports.

The Sun says J K Rowling's sixth and seventh Potter books could be Harry Potter And The Mudblood Revolt and Harry Potter And The Quest Of The Centaur.

Both titles have been registered as trademarks by a company called Seabottom Productions.

Seabottom Productions shares the same London address as law company Field, Fisher, Waterhouse.

They are the lawyers for Warner Brothers, who turned the first the Potter books into films.

In another twist, the only employee listed is a legal secretary with Field, Fisher, Waterhouse.

A Patent office source explained that future titles would be registered as trademarks to stop anyone cashing in on the Harry Potter brand.

Potter fans have claimed they could be a smokescreen as Rowling titles are "cooler than that".

New HP video games to be launched July 4, 2003 [ ananova ] reports:

Harry Potter fans will be able to relive his first year at Hogwarts through a computer game.

Software developer Warthog has announced the game will go on sale later this year.

The news came as the company issued a profit warning, saying it expected to report pre-tax losses of around £750,000 for the year ending March 31.

The loss is due to the fact that publishing agreements on some games had been expected to be concluded by the time the results were issued later this month.

But there is a significant risk that they will not be signed by that date, even though the company expects an element of the revenue to be recognised in this year's results to March 2004.

Manchester-based Warthog, which employs more than 250 people, has signed a deal with games software publisher Electronic Arts to develop the Harry Potter game.

Called Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone - after the first novel by JK Rowling - it will be made for the PlayStation2, XBox and Nintendo GameCube.

It features new 3D graphics and takes the player on a journey to unravel the mystery of the philosopher's stone.

Warthog has also signed new contracts to development games modelled on children's TV programmes Battlestar Galactica and Looney Tunes.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is here! June 20, 2003 [ ananova ] reports:

Wow, the much anticipated book will be released at midnight tonight. I can't wait.... except I wont be able to get it until tomorrow. I have a fever of 104.9*F and I feel like I 'm going to die. My little brother is actually typing this.

Anyway, after you all read the book, why not go into the message boards or chat room? The links are at the top of the page. Hope to see you there.

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