No. In fact, at the beginning of Goblet of Fire, Harry is turning 14, and at the moment, while the movie is in production, Dan Radcliffe is 15. That's not all that different.

The reason the box-office has declined over the past three films was because of disappointment. People were WAY disappointed in the first film. Wya more than there should have been. The second film took a steep decline in gross because of it. While the second one did improve, it too lost fans that were willing to give it another shot. By number 3, it had lost a lot of fans. But Prisoner of Azkaban was such an incredible movie (top five of 2004), and everybody I know liked it enough to at least see the fourth one. I don't know if Golbet will be enough to top Stone's gross, but it will definitely go higher than POA, and likely higher than Chamber. Anybody who thinks it will gross lower than Prisoner has a lack of understanding of box-office and Harry Potter's impact on society.

I personally think 95/290.

According to http://www.mugglenet.com, WB said that they will be releasing the trailer this spring. Hope it's good I miss hearing those harry potter bells in the trailer.

The books, not the movies.

I remember the exact same thing being said about POA. :wink:

Me too.

Considering this is the 4th movie in the franchise, I do not know how people can make claims about others not understanding how box office works if it grosses lower than azkaban.

The argument has always been simple

Movie 1 made 317
the next fell to 270 or something
The next to 250

each movie opened as strongly as the other meaning the fanbase remains intact. you cannot say that more people will watch it based upon azkaban cause only 250 million dollars worth of people saw azkaban in the theatres. people who missed the 2nd movie and 3rd movie are not coming back for this. people who skipped the 3rd one after giving 1 and 2 a chance are not returning. This isn't the first sequel where people catch something on dvd or tv and say "hey, lets go see that movie with that harry fellow). its the 4th one in the series. The only way its increasing its number is through repeat viewing, a slightly larger fanbase (from the books) and inflation. and i see this increase as very slight. yet i know enough people who were disappointed by the third movie (non fans and fans alike) to not give this one a chance. as good as 4 might be (and people said the same thing for 3 if i remember, best in the series, blah blah blah), people will not return to it if they missed the previous installment. this aint the scary movie franchise.

And just about everyone agrees that Azkaban was easily the best of the series.

a) The critics do. Look over the internet (and well, you can't see the cinema reaction around where i was), not everyone shared that sentiment outside the fandom (which i've already started, has always been loyal)

b) You missed the point. People said the third was the best book out of all and WILL make so much more. That argument got killed when it didn't outgross the 2nd movie. Now this argument is coming up again.

Azkaban was butchered because of the poor reception of the first two films and summer competition.



Not one film is universally loved. Every movie in existence has people who love it and people who hate it. That said, I've yet to meet one person who didn't at least like Azkaban. Outside of hardcore Harry Potter fans who twitch when a sentence is changed (and yet will still be in a theater in Nov. 2005), there's not one person I've heard of who didn't like the film, or at least consider it better than the first two, except for you and the cinema reaction where you were.

a) Well meet one here. I did not like the 3rd movie. and no, my comments do not come out of not liking the movie. i really really checked at the theatres what reaction it was getting and searched the net as well. yes, no movie is universally loved but there were quite a few in the case of azkaban who did not like it at all.

b) it was butchered because of the poor reception of the first 2 films. thats the point i'm trying to make. whether people loved it or not, the quality of the movies no more define how well they'll be doing. the 2nd one was generally thought to be a better made movie than the first yet it went down due to the ambigious feelings the first one left. that started the whole problem. even though the 2nd movie WAS better, the 3rd could not retain the audience. I believe it will happen again. Its coming out this november right? Well, good luck. December this year is pretty crowded.

I have to agree with you its on the out. One of the main problems being fans' fidelity to the books and the length of Goblet. It was 700 pages if I remember correctly (I read it so long ago). What does that mean in terms of editting? They're not going to split one book like they did LOTR when the books are already a series, and people do have expectations. I guarantee many viewers will be mad when they're "favorite scene from the book" gets left out. That and I must say that even the books are getting a wee bit repetitive. I get it, Lord V. wants to get Harry, Harry and Snape have issues, Harry is coming of age. Unless Newell really decides to play up different factors (first kiss, etc) this film is going to start to feel redundant. And yes, even fans are losing interest. Spider Man went down too. Episodic movies will not keep grossing higher and higher. Its impossible. Cuoron was also very big at the time as being the great South American import (as far as directors) with Y tu Mama....Newell is a great director but his name is probably not actually as recognizeable to day as Cuaron who had Spy Kids and Mariachi trilogy to his name as well. Not 4 Weddings and a Funeral. You're right on all accounts. I doubt this movie will break 225 million.

You are confusing Cuaron with Rodriguez :wink:

Scholastic.com : Half-Blood Prince 672 pages in Length

Scholastic, the US publisher of the Potter books, has updated their customer service page on their website to officially reflect the page numbers for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The Trade edition will contain 672 pages, as does the Library Binding version of the book.

The Special Edition of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is confirmed to have 704 pages which includes a "32 page insert with black and white art from book interior".

More Pictures First pic of Viktor Krum and Harry with the Golden Egg

Are the pics showing? Because there aren't for me.

I can see them just fine. Thanks.

weird I can't see them, I think I need to restart my com.

The guy playing Viktor is kinda hot.. :wink:

But in contrast to POA, the previous installment in the HP series was well recieved by essentially everyone. Few people I have talked to have had valid reasons to not like the movie, and even then they still liked it enough to at least consider seeing the fourth installment.

And series recieving aside, just look at it from a BO point of view.

The movie will open in 4000 in the heart of the holiday season. It's next weekend will be Thanksgiving weekend. It will be number 1 for two weeks. It will have the holidays to carry it's legs. The last successful movie to open in this scheme was National Treasure, which fell 8.5% in weekend 2. The first Harry Potter movie fell 36%. Die Another Day fell 34% in a similar release scheme. Even The Cat in the Hat could pull off a 36% drop Thanksgivign weekend, and that movie had deadly WOM. Giving the benefit of the doubt, Harry Potter 4 will have at least semi-decent WOM and semi-decent reviews. Taking into account fanboys and frontloadedness, as well as amount of people turned back onto the series after the Prisoner of Azkaban redeemed the first two movies, it could fall as much as 40% the next weekend (which, IMO, is stretching it). Now, if it opens to $90 million, which seems to be an agreeance with most people, it would fall to, what, 54 million? As a minimum? That would put it at $144 million, plus, we'll say $15 million in the weekdays in between. $160 million. And it would only make another $70 million after that? Can you honestly say that? Prisoner of Azkaban managed to make $90 million after it's second weekend, and that movie's legs were awful.

I think that it will drop about 40-50% next weekend, I mean come on, the last one fell 63%, the third fell 50%. The movies are getting more frontloaded and without the holiday I think this film would have dropped 60%.

MORE PICTURES which I can't see for some reason.

GoF Trailer to Arrive March/April

A few readers have e-mailed to say that a WB representative has revealed that the first Goblet of Fire trailer will be released this spring; a source of TLC's confirmed this and also noted that it will be in either March or April.
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Yes thats great, I can't wait to see it.

Official from Warner Brothers: David Yates to Direct Order of the Phoenix

Though there have been conflicting rumors on the Web from different spokespeople, and Yates said a few times that it was true, today, Warner Brothers made the official announcement that David Yates would be directing the film version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. As quoted in this press release, film producer David Heyman and Warner Brothers President of Production Jeff Robinov, confirm that a fifth Potter film will take place.

"I am thrilled that David Yates is going to direct 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,'" Heyman said. "Not only does he have tremendous passion for the world of Harry Potter, but he is a great director with a keen visual sense who fills every frame with humanity and compassion for his characters."
"We've been fortunate to have worked with very talented directors on the first four Harry Potter films," Robinov added, "all of whom have brought these extraordinary stories to life with their own unique creative vision. We're looking forward to continuing that tradition with David Yates on 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.'"


David Yates is best known for his British Television work including the acclaimed State of Play. The screenplay for Phoenix will be written by Michael Goldenberg (Peter Pan). Production of the film is expected to begin in January, 2006.

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To tell you the truth I have no idea who he is. I'll try to get some info about him.

I've got a report. It sounds really really good!

Taken from: http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/setprev3.php

Set Preview: "Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire"
Posted: Friday January 28th, 2005 11:11pm
Location: Leavesden Studios, United Kingdom
Author: Garth Franklin



The "Harry Potter" franchise is now like a well-oiled machine. There may be different people steering the ship, but all the deckhands and important sailors are always there and know their work like the back of their hands. This is one of the most important film franchises in history and no studio or person involved wants to deliver a sub-standard product, rather they're driven to deliver a better job out of the gate everytime.

That looks like it's happening with this adaptation of the fourth book in J.K. Rowling's popular children's novels series. I got to visit Leavesden Studios in the UK back in October last year where "Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire" was in production and let me just say wow. I was there the year before on the "Azkaban" set which, when we were there, looked great and hinted at an impressive new direction for the series under the eye of Alfonso Cuaron.

However what I saw on "Goblet" simply floored me. "Azkaban" for all its magic is a dark and intimate little story. "Goblet" on the other hand is an action epic of a size that makes the last "Spider-Man" movie seem small. Concerns have been raised over the hiring of British Director Mike Newell to take on the big chair but from what I saw there he and the team have done an amazing job.

The Triwizard tournament tasks, the Death Eaters, the Dark Mark, the World Cup, the Yule Ball sequence, etc. All of these scenes have taken paths and looks I had not expected. Sequences in books rarely tend to live up to imagination on screen but this is one of the few times I think it's the other way around. Fans will go absolutely nuts over it all and even those who've never been fully into Potter - this will be the big crossover film. It's the biggest, boldest, most fun and epic yet.

In this fourth film, Harry attends the International Quidditch Cup with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys where festivities are marred by a dark violent incident which hints at more doom to come. Upoon returning to Hogwarts, excitement gorws about about a mysterious event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that will test its players to the limit. Along the way he has his first crush, find out more about his past and witness the rebirth of a terrifying enemy.

In coming months leading up to the film's November 18th release date, I'll be giving you a multi-part online set report complete with assorted cast and crew interviews talking about the production and what was involved to ready this movie for release. Along the way there'll be chats with the producer, the creature effects people, the costume designers, and three of the young cast who play competitors in the Triwizard tournament. Expect more, soon.

Sounds great Neo!

I'm going to have to side with insomniacdude here. I would argue that most people really were surprised in the great film they got for the third Harry Potter instalment, as it was arguably the best of the three so far. It impressed, based on what I see here, the teenagers and adults, the audience which the second film greatly lost because the first one was disappointing (kids can usually love any cool kids film).

Goblet of Fire is going to be at an advantage simply because it is going to be an action film this time around. The Goblet of Fire is greatly different from the general theme of the first three books, where school and Quidditch was the main attraction. In Goblet of Fire, the school year revolves around a wizarding competition between several different schools, and the story I found when I read the book was really different. It involves dragons, sea creatures, more action, greater characters, and the dirtiest Voldermort yet. No longer is it some dinky head on the back of a teacher, or some wimpy kid form - this is where Voldermort is ultimately shown, and his appearance involves a group of murderous followers and blood and everything. I can see this film succeeding very well in the summer, and doing at least better than the previous film.

PEACE, Mike