Harry Potter DVD with REAL extras will eventually come (1 Viewer)

[Dave H]

Here is a quote from part of the article from LAtimes.com:

"For those, they'll have to wait for a second DVD issue, release date unknown.
Director Chris Columbus, already busy on the second film in the series, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," due for release this fall, "has expressed a desire at some point to go back and do commentary," Hemstreet says, and Warner Home Video has massive amounts of behind-the-scenes footage shot during the production of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" last year in England.
"Every day was documented," Hemstreet says. "We had crew there. There is a tremendous amount of information that could be used, but we didn't want to cross that line at this point and show the wires."

Evidently you have to register with the site, so I won't post the link, but doing a search on their site will bring up the article.

 

[Michael Reuben]

If the series continues at this pace, and Columbus continues as the director, it could be a long time before he has room in his schedule.

M.

 

[Andrew Chong]

Yahoooooo!

(i can wait)

 

[TheLongshot]

Actually, in the Movies forum, there is a story that Chris has announced that he will not be filming the third Harry Potter film, so he might actually have the time.

Jason

 

[Chris Bardon]

Yeah, I'd actually heard something about Spielberg actually being interested in the third one...

As for a second release, I might be interested depending on the price (only paid $20 for this one, so wouldn't be THAT big a deal). As for extras though, a commentary and new doc. would be great, but I'd also like to see some participation from Jo Rowling (who is notably absent from all of the interviews etc). I think that a commentary track from her could be interesting.

 

[SteveGon]

Now I might just buy a Harry Potter release that is aimed at adults.

BTW, has anyone read Artemis Fowl? This is another series of books with a young boy as the protagonist. Artemis Fowl, from what I gather, is sort of an antithesis to Harry Potter. I've ordered the first book in the series from my book club but have yet to receive it. Anyway, I was just curious to see if anyone has read any of these books...

 

[Joshua Moran]

I've heard the same thing the Speilsberg is interested in the 3rd film because it seems to be darker. He quoted something like that when Warner was asked him to do the first one. But I'm not sure whats happening in that department now. Especailly after the success of the first film.

 

[Brook K]

It was reported yesterday in the NY and London Times that Alfonso Cuaron (Great Expectations, Y Tu Mama Tambien) would be directing Harry Potter 3.

 

[Joshua Moran]

This story just showed up on CNN
No Director set for Potter 3

 

[Joel C]

The Artemis Fowl books (I have read both the first and the sequel, THe Arctic Incident) are very enjoyable and imaginative, but not quite as captivating as Harry Potter.

I do love them, though, and the second one in particular was a fun read. It seems they are aimed at a slightly older audience than Rowling's books (which appeal to all ages but seem targeted at kids all the same) in that a lot of the elements seem designed to appeal to boys in their early teens. Good books, anyway.

 

[oscar_merkx]

There is also a report that Kenneth Branagh would be up for the Director seat, interesting as he is the Dark Teacher in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

 

[John Berggren]

Regarding Kenneth Branagh:

Chamber/Azkaban Spoiler:
Kenneth Branagh is the Dark Arts teacher in Chamber, not Azkaban.

I hope that Chris Columbus will start work on SE editions of Harry Potter Stone & Chamber soon after finishing Chamber. He will not continue with the series as he doesn't want to live in England any longer. I'm sure he can create great supplementary material from home in California.

The current director in the top slot is Alfonso Cuaron. I had heard Speilberg was interested in book 3 before 1 came out. I haven't heard anything since. This is the first time I've heard Kenneth Branagh's name. It would certainly be a departure for him as a director.

 

[Chad R]

Spielberg expressed interest in book 4, not 3. But, honestly I think that was smokescreen. I think that J.K. Rowling wasn't happy with his intentions to change things (and she has tight control on the books) and turned him down, so to save face he said he was only interested in the 4th book.

 

[Norm]

Harry Potter DVD Extras Hard To Access
Thursday, May 30, 2002 9:11 CDT
The Houston Chronicle reports the following:
For a film that made magic in theaters, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone has laid a rotten egg on video -- at least in terms of extra features.
Not everyone will feel that way. Kids may enjoy the maze of puzzles and tests on the two-disc DVD ($26.99).
The trouble is, that's the only way to access an important attraction: seven new scenes.
On a normal DVD, you can call up a menu, click on "Special Features," choose an option and get it instantly.
Not with Harry Potter, where nothing on its menu indicates deleted scenes. Rather, you're offered options such as "Diagon Alley," "Classrooms" and "Extra Credit," whose names tell nothing about the features they hide.
Even before wending laboriously through such vague features toward murky rewards, you must arrange bricks, acquire money and be "chosen" by a wand to explore further.
But you still won't know where to look for new scenes, since the route isn't marked and it includes hidden "Easter eggs."
(In this case, VHS is an improvement; the $24.99 tapes simply show deleted scenes after the film.)
Exasperated, we called Warner Bros. for help and got DVD directions. Even then, it took 10 minutes to access the added footage.http://www.comingsoon.net/cgi-bin/ar...2767875,17522,

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Tell me about it. Only 2 of the scenes were really even good

Not worth the hassle. They shouldn't have disabled title search, that way those of us who don't want to jump through hoops to view the scenes don't have to

New Line did that with the Nightmare on Elm Street set You don't have to play the game if you don't want to.

 

[Conroy Tesa]

Are the Artemis Fowl books the ones written before the Harry Potter books?

My wife worked on the POP for the Harry Potter movie and ties ins and said that there were some books written years before Harry Potter that were errily similar but didn't sell very well. When Rowlings released her books, the similarities were found by the other author, sued and Rowlings publisher paid a settlement.

 

[Sean Bryan]

The extended potions class should NOT have been trimmed like it was. The scene plays MUCH better the way it appears in the deleted scenes section.

The scene with Harry thinking about the mirror and Ron trying to get him to give it up should NOT have been removed. I think the way it was done theatrically was fine but it would have played better with this scene left in. There would have been more of a sense of how he kept thinking about it and going back for days before Dumbeldore speaks to Harry about it. It also showed Ron's concern for Harry over the issue.

I also think the scene where they were studying for finals should not have been removed. One aspect of the book that I felt the film didn't capture was the fact that they aren't just having adventures at Hogwarts, but they are in classes and have to study all the time. Obviously we know they go to classes and we see Charms class, Transfiguration, and the one abbreviated potions class scene, but I thought the film could have shown more things happening (or discussions) while they were in various classes and made more of an effort to show them studying (just a bit more, mind you). While watching the theatrical version, it's easy to miss that the even had FINAL EXAMINATIONS. This one scene would have helped alot with that. Also, it set up Neville's "stand" later on, AND it fleshed out the "Nicholas Flammel" thing better. It should have been in the film.

The rest of the deleted scenes were fine. It would be nice to see them in an extended cut, but I wouldn't go so far as to say they should NOT have been cut from the theatrical version like I did about the three scenes above. The only one I felt didn't work was the short one with the letters in the eggs. I think it was best to leave that out.

 

[John Berggren]

I don't think a settlement was ever paid. I think it's either still tied up or they've decided that the similarities are cooincidental, and not core aspects of either book series. I think we would have heard more on this if there was a judgement in favor of the other author. I imagine this was more of a bid to get the old books back in print.

 

[ChrisV]

For $20 CAD I'm not going to bitch about disc 2. For that price I would've been happy with just the first disc. That there's a second disc at all is a bonus.

 

[Joel C]

It was NOT the Artemis Fowl books that were supposed to have been "ripped-off" by Rowling (AF was first published in 2001).
The books in question are the little known and very little read (published only in a certain part of the US, I believe) series by Nancy Stouffer entitled "The Legend Of RAH And The Muggles." Similarities included the word "muggle" (in a different context) and characters named Larry and Lily Potter. Read more here:
http://www.harrypotterfans.net/lawsuit/index.html
Stouffer never got any money, and rightly so, as her claims are total BS, IMHO.