The Order of the Phoenix News Network: August 2011

Blog upgrades coming soon!

I am happy to announce that soon, this blog will be experiencing some major changes.
Here are some of the changes that will take place as the Order of the Phoenix upgrades
itself to version 3.5:

The "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Movie Page" will be taken down.
The list of past PhoenixCast episodes will be updated with our newest shows.
Our F.A.Q. page will be updated with additional or revised information.
Our "Sponsors" page will be updated with new sponsors worth noting.
The "News subscription information" page will be taken down.

The information on subscribing to us, that was featured on the News Subscription Info
page will be moved to its new home on our F.A.Q. page!

All of these changes/improvements will go into effect starting on September 1st,
to commemorate the start of the school term at Hogwarts.

We are partnering with the PhoenixCast blog to put newer podcast episodes
onto this blog for our viewers to try out, and hopefully enjoy.
http://phoenixcastblog.blogspot.com/

Please note that it is unknown at what exact time on September 1st
that one or all of these changes will take place.

Thanks to all our viewers for your continued support, and your 3,300 views this month!
It was your support that made this blog (soon a website) what it is today!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 german release date announced!

Thanks to information provided by amazon.com,
Harry Potter fans in Germany now have an official
release date for the final film: December 31st.

I am sorry to say that you fans in Germany will NOT
be getting the final film for the holidays.

The price was 26,97 Euros, so it will not be cheap.
(The nice thing is that it is available in Blu-Ray.)

So if you live in Germany and want to order
the film, use this link: http://www.amazon.de/Harry-Potter-Heiligt%C3%BCmer-Todes-Amazon/dp/B005HGXSFG/ref=pd_cp_d_0

No U.S. or U.K. release dates, (apart from France), have yet been announced.

Pottermore.com continues to let more lucky fans enter the site early!

The official Pottermore blog set up by J.K. Rowling,
PotterMore Insider, updated itself with a new post,
telling viewers that more of the people selected for
early access to the site have been allowed in.

"On Monday 15 August, we began sending out
Welcome emails to a small number of Beta users."

"These people have been busy exploring the site,
commenting when they like something, and
making suggestions when they find something
that they would like us to improve."

"In just four days we’ve learned an awful lot and, as a result,
have started making changes to improve the Pottermore experience."

"We know that a lot of people are eager to receive their Welcome emails and that it’s difficult
to wait but, as we mentioned in our earlier blog post, we’re staggering entry to Pottermore
and to start with we’re only letting a small number of people onto the site."

If any of you reading have been allowed early access to Pottermore, congratulations.
Pottermore.com goes live on the internet this October.

British scientists work on creating more Harry Potter based tech!

British scientists have announced that they have developed another piece of technology
based off of Harry Potter, binoculars which they say can allow users to pause, rewind,
and play back whatever they are viewing, similar to the magical device used by Harry Potter.

The digital devices, developed by researchers at Sony, could make
sport watching even more enjoyable.

In the fourth HP book, 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' ,
Harry was shown using a very similar piece of wizarding tech,
called an Omniocular, to watch the Quidditch World Cup.

Sony calls these new video binoculars the "first devices of their kind".

According to timesofindia.com, these Sony devices can record anything
in either regular viewing, or in 3-D, which can be replayed on 3-D TVs.

Here is another example of a piece of Harry Potter's world
making its first appearance in our own. Is this a good idea, or not?

New LEGO Harry Potter game pics now online!

Thanks to gamershell.com, all-new game pics
from LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 are online!

To the left is one of the newly released pics,
based on one of the scenes in the fifth movie
in the now complete Harry Potter series,
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

Here is the second picture, to the right, showing
Lucius Malfoy, ready for the battle to begin,
in the Ministry of Magic.

If you look carefully at the pictures, you can tell their
similarity to the film scenes they were based on.

In the third game picture, shown to the right,
we see a two-shot of two very familar faces:
Sirius Black and Lucius Malfoy.

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 is released
in U.S. stores on November 15th.

Worldwide release dates for the game
have not yet been announced.

Click "Read more" to see additional pictures
from the upcoming game.

LEGO.com has recently debuted a new LEGO
Harry Potter mini-game on their site, lego.com,
and it is quite fun to play.

"LEGO Harry Potter: Battle for Hogwarts"
Game Review: It's fun, funny, and well worth the
time spent playing. I recomend it to any HP fan
looking for something to play for a few minutes.
It doesn't take long to beat, so be warned.

Hint; The bad guys will try to stop you, but once you watch them for a minute,
you can easily avoid them. They are very predictable, so it shouldn't be hard to
get past them to your goal. Use this link to go to lego.com, and play the game now!
http://harrypotter.lego.com/en-us/Games/BattleForHogwarts/Default.aspx

All-new gameplay video from LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 leaked online!

An all-new gameplay video from the upcoming
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 video game has
just been leaked online.

It's a 10 minute video showing a level from
the game being played, and it gives an idea
to potential buyers what the game will be like.
Here's the video itself (below):

New images now available of pottermore.com!

Thanks to PC Magazine's website, we now have
all-new images of the upcoming Pottermore.com
website, available to all this October!

To the left is the "Hogwarts acceptance letter"
issued from Pottermore.com, likely given to
anyone in the process of setting up an account.

(Click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

To the right is pictures of what PotterMore
members, if they are decided to be among
the Slytherin house, would likely see.

Members of other "houses" wouldn't see
this page, and some exclusive content
that it may hold.

And it has been made clear that,
as in the case of Harry Potter himself:
Once chosen for a Hogwarts house,
there is no going back, no second chance.

You'd have to create or use a second
e-mail account to try again, so be aware.
Either way, Harry Potter book fans will likely
love the site, from the look of it.

Pottermore.com goes live
sometime this October.

No release date has yet
been announced.

As a reminder, e-book versions
of all seven Harry Potter books
will be available through PotterMore.com!

Lucky Harry Potter fans can now enter Pottermore.com!

For those of you who have been among the chosen
for entering Pottermore.com earlier before the rest,
the official PotterMore blog, PotterMore insider has
revealed that you can now enter the site!

PotterMore insider tells us:

"We’re excited to announce that early access
to Pottermore.com has begun."

"To begin with, we’ll be inviting a very small number of people onto the website,
so you may not receive your Welcome email straight away.
We’ll be sending those Welcome emails out over the coming weeks."

"Once your invitation e-mail arrives, you’ll be able to log in
and start helping us develop the Pottermore experience."

"As Pottermore users, you’ll be exploring all the different elements of the site
and, hopefully, sharing your thoughts with us along the way."

"By using the ‘Beta feedback’ button. You’ll find it located at the bottom
right-hand corner of every page on the site, and this is what it looks like..."

As many Harry Potter fans are by now
aware, there will soon be an opportunity
to visit the actual sets on which the films
were created, seeing many iconic and
quite familiar locations from the films.

Tickets for the tour will be available from
October 13, ahead of its grand opening in
Spring 2012.

"We are thrilled that fans will soon be able to experience the award-winning
artistry and talent that lovingly went into producing the actual sets, props,
costumes and special effects of this record-breaking film series,"
said Sarah Roots, the vice president of Warner Bros Studio Tour London

£28 for adults, (about $40 is U.S. money), and £21, (about $30 in U.S. money.)
This is quite expensive, regardless of what type of money you have.

Is the price worth the risk? Let us know! go through this link,
and place YOUR comment on our PhoenixCast comments page!
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1742132085166856024&postID=7942016997755621147&isPopup=true

Update: a promotional trailer for the attraction has been released, watch it now!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 coming to DVD and Blu-Ray this November?

According to a somewhat reliable source, the release date for
the DVD and Blu-Ray versions of the final Harry Potter film,
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two",
and it will be avaliable for Blu-Ray, and as a
4-disk DVD/Blu-Ray/Digital Copy combo pack.

It is currently unknown if the final Harry Potter film will be
released on DVD, because DVD is starting to fade away.

We'll have to wait for official confirmation as for the
DVD version of the film, but rest assured that the film
will be available for Blu-Ray and for digital download.

To check out this, for now, unofficial information, use this link:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Harry-Potter-and-the-Deathly-Hallows-Part-2-3D-Blu-ray/26079/

Warner Bros.com lets Harry Potter fans buy limited edition film reel collection!

It isn't often that I come across a piece of
Harry Potter merchandise worth its price,
but to a die-hard collector, this would be one.

"Own a piece of Harry Potter history with this
montage of framed film cells featuring
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Dumbledore,
and more from all eight Harry Potter films."

The set includes a mini poster for each of the
eight films and 16 authentic film cells.

"The film cells are pieces of actual 35mm film
from the movie, individually cut from movie reels."

"Each set comes with a certificate of authenticity and unique placard
with the serial number and individual edition number."

"The posters and cells are double mounted and come in a black wood frame.
This limited edition framed set measures 19 x 20 inches
and is a limited edition of 5000."

"Please note the cells may vary from piece to piece because
they are hand-selected from reels of film."

You can find this interesting product, along with many others, on wbshop.com!

Special collector's edition for Harry Potter films to be avaliable this November?

This is a picture of the upcoming official, entire
Harry Potter film collection, containing all 8 films.

It contains 16 disks, 2 disks per film, one for the
film, and another containing special features.

Along with the films is a specially designed
container to hold them, with the official
Hogwarts seal.

But this isn't the only cool thing about this
collector's edition, certainly not.

This special collector's edition also features an
official Harry Potter wand, one featured prominently
in the final film. Fans will know it as the Elder Wand.

You can pre-order in France now for 199 Euros.
It is set to be released on November 30th.

It is currently uknown when this Harry Potter movie collector's edition
will reach the United States, or the rest of the U.K. ,but it will probably
be also sometime in late November as well.

Thanks to mugglenet.com for the tip!

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 now avaliable for pre-order!

According to the product page on amazon.com,
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, the second
LEGO Harry Potter game in the current series,
is now available for Pre-order.

Its retail price, according to amazon.com,
is $49.96, saving you exactly $0.03,
which isn't exactly a great deal overall.

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 is available on the following platforms:
Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Nintendo DS, PSP,
and will be available on Nintendo 3DS.

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 will likely be one of the very last LEGO video games
to be availiable on the Nintendo Wii, as the Wii U, the next Nintendo game system,
will be released this December, with its first games released then also.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dvideogames&field-keywords=LEGO+Harry+Potter+years+5-7&x=0&y=0

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 becomes the number #3 most successful film worldwide!

There was no doubt in anyone's mind a month ago
that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
would do very well, perhaps even just beat the first
Harry Potter film, which earned $974.8 million dollars.

What few people guessed was that it may make more
money worldwide then the 1997 movie Titanic.

As of today, the final Harry Potter movie is challenging
Titanic, and will likely push past it, and soon become
the number #2 most successful movie worldwide!

However, it remains unlikely that it will beat Titanic's record
of 1.8 billion dollars, but it may come close to doing so.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has made $382.4 million dollars
in the U.S. alone, and $1,133,901,000 worldwide!

It is showing signs of slowing down, but it has not stopped yet.

Send in your Harry Potter comments, and they may be read on a future PhoenixCast episode!

I am very happy to announce that all you listeners have the chance to share YOUR
Harry Potter thoughts, opinions, and questions to us, and we will have them read on
our Harry Potter podcast, PhoenixCast! (http://phoenixcastblog.blogspot.com/)

PhoenixCast is a Harry Potter podcast that we created back in January,
and is doing quite well, so your comments will be heard by a LOT of people!

All you have to do is publish your thoughts on the comments page,
which can be found just under this text.

If we see that it is appropriate, it will appear on a future PhoenixCast episode!
Hurry, because you only have until August 16th to send in your thoughts
for our next episode, which probably will be out by August 18th!

Anyone whose comment(s) is approved will have their screen name posted
on the PhoenixCast blog, and will get a shout-out from us on the show!
Send in YOUR questions, complaints, and/or comments NOW!

Tonight is the final chance to register for early access to Pottermore.com!

Now is your last chance, literally, to be accepted for early access into Pottermore.com!
If you want to see if you will be one of the lucky few, go to Pottermore.com, solve the clue featured on the main page, and follow the instructions, and you may be one of the select few
who will be able to enter the unique Harry Potter website/social network early!

You have very limited time, so ACT NOW!
You will not have this chance for early access again!

UPDATE: The clue is LIVE and SOLVED! Use this link to have a CHANCE
at entering PotterMore earlier then October! Go to: http://quill.pottermore.com/21

Harry Potter continues to pull off its magic at the box office!

Already, the final Harry Potter film
has surpassed all of its predecessors,
now at $328,025,686 domestic,
and at $1,041.2 worldwide.

And although it already has earned
over a billion dollars worldwide,
it's not stopped yet.

It looks like it is slowing down, in terms of how much money it is earning,
but it may stay in theaters for a few more weeks before ending its run.

With the film already in the top ten most successful films worldwide,
the only question remaining is: Will it enter the top 5?

It would need to pull in exactly another $22 million dollars
to do that, so we'll see where it ends up.

EXCLUSIVE: LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 game release date delayed!

There has been a new announcement in the case of the upcoming Harry Potter videogame coming
this Winter, "LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7.

The game's original release date of November 1st
has just been pushed back exactly two weeks,
to November 15th!

It is unclear exactly why the LEGO company
would choose that day as a release date,
but the game is now set to be released on November 15th in the U.S.

Here is the official description for the game, which is avaliable on amazon.com:

"Based on the last three Harry Potter books and final four films,
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 takes players through Harry Potter’s
heroic adventures in the Muggle and wizarding worlds."

"From Privet Drive in Little Whinging to Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and Hogwarts
– plus new locations including Grimmauld Place, the Ministry of Magic,
and Godric’s Hollow – players will encounter new faces, new challenges
and new magic, preparing them for the ultimate face-off against Lord Voldemort."

Release dates for the game in other countries is unknown at this time.

The Order of the Phoenix News Network