When I was growing up, Jupiter Jones, Peter Crenshaw and Bob Andrews were my Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. And I guess that would make Alfred Hitchcock my Dumbledore. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you probably never read Robert Arthur's "Three Investigators" series of books. The young adult novels followed three boy detectives and originally featured Hitch as a supporting character (he's since been written out of all the books due to a lack of participation by his estate). After finishing all the "Encyclopedia Brown" books, and before I began my Agatha Christie phase, I spent a few years attempting to read all of the "Three Investigators" books, which was difficult since they weren't as popular as some other youth detective novels, and there was no such thing as Barnes & Noble (as it exists today, at least) or Amazon. I wonder if any kids appreciate the library today as much as I did back then.

Come Easter, Disney will be releasing the first in a planned franchise, The Three Investigators and the Secret of Skeleton Island, which was the sixth book of the series (they weren't as chronological as the Harry Potter books). The movie was supposedly announced a few years ago, but it completely slipped under my radar. I guess this was because the movie isn't being made in Hollywood. In fact, despite taking place in California, it is being shot in South Africa and is being produced by a German studio. The fact that I'm so unfamiliar with the director, Florian Baxmeyer, as well as the three screenwriters, makes it hard for me to worry too much about the movie's quality. So far my only obvious problem will be with the lack of Hitch as a character (maybe they could at least have Dan Fogler play the Hitch replacement, Hector Sebastian, as a subtle hint?).

I think it's safe to say that I'm already sick of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, even though the film won't be released for another seven months. In the past few days, the pic's first teaser trailer has been hyped up -- so much so that we reported clips of it in a commercial, as well as the bogus ten seconds Warner Bros. released over the weekend. Seriously, I'll take ten seconds of a full-length two minute trailer, but don't give us 10 seconds when the actual teaser is, like, 20 seconds long. It's just not cool.

With that said, the teaser is now online over at the official website for Happy Feet -- which, as we've already noted, has nothing to do with Potter, except that both are Warner Bros. films. Hmm, cross-marketing are we? As far as the teaser itself goes, it's not too bad. In fact, based on the little footage included (with the exception of that lame shot of Harry sailing over London on a broomstick), I bet the full-length effort will blow us away. And check out that brief glimpse of Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange -- pretty hot, huh? Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix rides into theaters on July 13, 2007.

We like to give celebrities a lot of crap about their baby naming practices. Of course, names like Apple and Suri and Banjo and Rumor and Moon Unit seem ridiculous to most of us normal folk who prefer common names like Michael and Elizabeth, but a lot of non-celebrities are just as guilty with their name choices. I'm talking about movie fans and other celebrity-obsessed parents. A recent survey in the UK has revealed a lot of interesting names given to newborns, including Gandalf, Superman and Harry Potter. None of these are exactly movie-related, and they could be the result of fans of literature or comic books, but I'm willing to bet they have more to do with the recent film versions of the works in which these characters appear.

Other baby names that should lead to future torment include Addidas, Reebok, Tiger, Snoop, Gazza, Arsenal and Apple (after Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter). Some popular names associated with famous people, though less likely to garner ridicule, are Madonna, Kylie, David Beckham, Peaches, Keanu and Britney. This isn't that strange, though. Many of the people I know were named after someone famous, whether an actor, musician or writer.

I have to admit honestly that I can relate to parents wanting to reflect their fandom at the expense of their poor children. For most of my life, I claimed that I would name my first son Atticus. Then, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore had to name their daughter Scout, and I didn't want to seem like a copycat. The final blow to my idea, however, came when I heard that Atticus was the name of one of Jake Gyllenhaal's dogs (the other is named Boo).

Well folks, the time has finally arrived: Actual footage from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is now online! It goes by pretty fast, though, so quick even I had to watch it again to pinpoint exactly which footage was from Phoenix. Now, I already told you how the brand spanking new Potter trailer will play before prints of Happy Feet this weekend, and we were hoping said trailer would leak online before then. However, it appears this is all we are going to get for now -- supposedly, the trailer will debut online at some point next week.

The footage was posted onto YouTube and it looks like it's part of some sort of promo ABC Family is running where they'll be airing the first three Potter films, as well as giving us a sneak peak at the new flick. The clips they do show will also be included in the new trailer, and HPANA has described the snippets in detail for those of you who (like me) missed them entirely. Also, Coming Soon has provided us with satellite coordinates for the teaser trailer -- call me a moron, but I have no idea what we're supposed to do with that information. Check it out up top, then come back here and tell us what you think.

Related Potter:

Full Harry Potter Teaser Now Online!

You Won't Believe Who Wants Harry Dead

Latest Harry Potter Director: Michael Who?

Time to begin the countdown Potter fans, because your beloved hero is heading back to the big screen in a huge way this July. Usually, nothing feels official until the movie poster is released, and thanks to Warner Bros. we finally have a chance to check out the first one-sheet for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Yup, that's it to the right of your screen -- and for a larger version, head on over to IMDb where they also have a couple stills available too.

Not for nothing, but Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort is already freaking me out -- I'd expect this one to be hella dark. Also, in case the poster just doesn't do it for you, the first trailer for Phoenix will debut in front of Happy Feet this weekend ... but hopefully the sucker will leak online before then. In his latest adventure, Harry gets all wrapped up in the mysterious Order of the Phoenix, a group of wizards dedicated to fighting Lord Voldemort ... who has returned to wreak havoc. Of course, a lot of other stuff happens and it all culminates in the death of someone who's very close to Harry. Who will it be? How will it go down? You'll have to wait until July 13 to find out ... or you could just read the book.

So, what do you hardcore Potter fans think about the new poster?

[via JoBlo]

OK, I'm not above using a sensationalistic headline to grab people's attention. It's not so much that actor Daniel Radcliffe wants to kill off the character he's played in four (soon to be five) films based on the books of J.K. Rowling, but he seems to think that's the logical place for the story to end. According to Sci Fi Wire, Radcliffe spoke to a group of journalists on November 6 via conference call from London, and had this to say when asked if he thought he would one day be playing a death scene for Harry. "That's a very good question," he said. "I like to think that I will. I think, personally, that's the only way [Rowling] could ever halt any call for her to keep writing [Harry Potter books], because, I mean, if Harry survives, she'll just be getting plagued by requests to write an eighth book for the rest of her life." Rowling has, in fact, stated that two characters will die in the final novel, and who's to say one of them won't be Harry himself?

Radcliffe went on to say that he sees a parallel between how Harry might die, and the death of another famous literary character. "I think it will be something to do with the fact that, maybe the only way Voldemort can be killed is if Harry is killed as well. "My friend sort of compared it to both [Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty] dying at the same time. But, obviously, he hasn't read the sequel [in which Holmes was revived]. So, yes, but that's the thing that I would sort of like to see coming." This seems to play into something Radcliffe said in an interview back in August, where he supposed that the mystical and personal connection between Harry and Voldemort might require both of them to die.

This certainly isn't the first (or even the second) time Radcliffe has suggested that Harry might be taking the old dirt nap by the end of the series. It was almost precisely a year ago that he voiced a similar opinion (as reported here on Cinematical). Maybe the Halloween season stirs up morbid thoughts for the young actor, though I suspect it has more to do with him not wanting to be stereotyped as Harry Potter for the rest of his career, and who can blame him. Radcliffe's decision to appear in a London stage production of Equus (again, you read it here on Cinematical) in a role that will require him to be nude on stage, reminded me of Christopher Reeve's decision to star in Monsignor. In that film, the star of the Superman series played a priest who, among other things, carried on an affair with a nun. It seemed like a calculated maneuver to distance himself somewhat from the role that had made him famous, and to prove that he was capable of other things as an actor.

As far as Rowling being "plagued" with demands from irate fans for the series to continue beyond the proposed seven novels, that's going to happen whether Harry survives or not. In the Harry Potter universe, death is only permanent when it is dramatically convenient. There's no reason to believe Harry couldn't die in one book, but get better in time for the next.

After all the rumors of the sixth Harry Potter film being directed by someone with track record, or even a returning Chris Columbus, SlashFilm is reporting that Michael Hoffman is in final talks to become the director of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. For who that don't know him by name (which is probably the majority of you out there), he is the guy who directed Kevin Kline in The Emperor's Club and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He also made some other films that weren't that interesting, at least the imaginative sort of way that is needed for the Potter series.

This is some pretty disappointing news. I don't care if Hoffman is a former Rhodes Scholar or that he's directed Shakespeare (with Calista Flockhart, mind you) -- he just doesn't seem appropriate. Let's recap the rumored contenders to see what might have been better, shall we? In March, Alfonso Cuaron said he could be interested in doing another Potter. In May, there was an idea that Terry Gilliam might get the gig. In July, there was mention of M. Night Shyamalan, which would be interesting to see, but horrible to accept. I even heard somewhere that Columbus might be back. As for the current IMDb listing, David Yates is credited to stick around after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The thing is, it might not matter too much who the director of #6 is since some of the original players may be gone by the time someone is hired. And who could blame them when Warners is pulling out names like Michael Hoffman? I imagine being one of the Potter kids is like having a new stepfather every other year. And the latest one is into faeries.

We have always had a love affair with gadgets, whether a Dick Tracy decoder ring or a watch that can shoot out a grappling hook. If it's cool and useful, chances are everyone wants one. Who didn't want to be the first kid on the block with an iPod, the coolest new cell phone or a Segway? Okay, scratch that last one, but you catch our drift. Who hasn't seen a gadget in the movies at one time or another and thought, "Wow, I want one of those!"

While we still don't have robots that clean the house and the flying cars that the 1950s promised us by this time, our lives have become pretty overtaken by gadgets. You're reading this right now on a computer (or even a cell phone), which used to be a room-sized device. You probably have an iPod or some other type of music player that holds hundreds of songs, and you might be zapping your next meal in a microwave. If you travelled back in time to the 50s (or even the 1970s), with all that stuff, you'd be a human sci-fi movie.

These are some movie gadgets that would make life a bit easier, or at least a lot more enjoyable. James Bond could have monopolized this list, because gadgets really are his "thing," but we tried to spead the love around. It was tough to keep things that were magical off the list, like Harry Potter's invisibility cloak (honestly, who wouldn't want anything from the Harry Potter universe?) or the lamp from Aladdin, but we tried to keep them fairly practical as well.

Check out our ideas after the jump.

Yes Harry Potter fans, its really true. Apparently, you're going to get a chance to see another, ah, side of your favorite wizard-in-training after all -- or at least the actor who plays him, Daniel Radcliffe. We reported this awhile ago when the rumors first surfaced and now it looks like those rumors are confirmed -- and by no less a source than the boy-wizard himself. According to a recent, and exclusive, interview with Newsweek magazine (via Yahoo news), where he speaks for the first time about his upcoming role in the play, Radcliffe is looking to shed the squeaky-clean teenage image acquired during his tenure as Harry Potter, by taking a role on London's stage next summer in a production of the Tony-Award winning drama Equis Equus.

In the interview, Radcliffe said "Part of me wants to shake up people's perception of me, just shove me in a blender -- I hope people will stop and think, 'Maybe he can do something other than Harry." Also according to the article, Radcliffe will play "a troubled young man with a religious-erotic obsession with horses" in the drama and will also perform nude during one scene. Ok, a little creepy, but I'll press on.

I guess one way to prove you can do something else and shatter people's perceptions of you could be to perform nude on stage. It's either going to work out great for him or go down in history as another huge mistake like the Pam and Tommy video or Paris Hilton's acting career. How about it Harry Potter fans, is this a good move for young Mister Radcliffe?

Todd Field's adaptation of the novel Little Children by Tom Perrotta posed a lot of problems as he tried to cram the entire novel into a feature film ... so he rewrote it, literally. He hated the ending, and made some major changes, collaborating with Perrotta, who also shares a screenwriting credit on the film. They both worked together to make significant changes in order to adapt the book for into a film.

This isn't the first adaptation for either. Field wrote and directed Oscar-nominated In The Bedroom , which was based on an Andre Dubus short story. However, Dubus died two years before the film came out, which made it impossible for Field to colloborate with him. Perrotta's novel Election was adapted into a movie written by director Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. Perrotta didn't work on that script, however, since it was the first one of his novels to be optioned, and the movie development went into high gear and was in theaters only a few months after the book came out.

It didn't take very long for Warner Bros. to spoil us with more Harry Potter stills. Just yesterday ComingSoon.net had the links to some exclusive photos The Scotsman had acquired. Now they've got their own crop care of the studio, and they're hi-res images to boot. Two of the pictures are the same as we'd seen this morning, though we now have a much better look at Dolores Umbridge and Sybil Trelawney. The entertainment site has three others, though. One is a solo shot of Umbridge in her overly pink office, another has Harry, Hermione and Ron looking quite unwizardly and the last features a group shot of the (I think) entire Gryffindor house.

Again, and still, no Helena Bonham Carter, which I don't mind at all. But surely the other fans are curious about the appearance of Bellatrix Lestrange. At the rate these stills are coming, maybe they'll get to see her in another hour or so?

There have been so many of these Harry Potter movies that I could have sworn we already saw some stills from the new installment, but I must be thinking of the previous one. I guess the last thing we saw for Order of the Phoenix was just some set photos. Now this addition, brought to us by The Scotsman, isn't much, but one of two pictures present us with a glimpse of Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge and Emma Thompson as Sybil Trelawney. That photo also features Maggie Smith (McGonagall) and David Bradley (Fitch). As for the other still, it's not spectacular, but we do get Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) backed onto the floor, looking old and clean-cut, aiming his wand at the unseen Dementors. I'm not sure, but he appears to have been caught off guard while tagging the wall with some graffiti.

As for non-official photos, Mugglenet.com has some more set pics, this time of the Hogsmeade train station. And in case all these photos aren't enough to satisfy your Potter craving, you should also check out the two-part Newsweek interview with Emma Watson (Hermione) here and here.

[Thanks to Comingsoon.net for all the updates]

I guess it isn't enough that Daniel Radcliffe (aka The kid who will forever be known as Harry Potter), is appearing naked in an upcoming London play. Now, he's appearing on television acting like a sex-crazed ... human teenager (dare we call him a muggle?). In an upcoming episode of Ricky Gervais' BBC/HBO series Extras, Radcliffe distances himself from the family-friendly boy wizard by making an obscene gesture, cursing, brandishing a condom and, put plainly, trying to get laid. The best part about it is that he does all this while still looking like Harry Potter in a boy scout uniform.

After seeing this short clip of his guest spot, I may have trouble watching him play Potter again. Nah, just kidding. I could never let a little horny cameo alter my perception of Harry, and I still look forward to the next installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Although, I will wonder what Radcliffe, the actor, is thinking the next time I see him waving his wand about.

OK, Harry Potter fans, get ready to vent. According to a Warner Bros. spokesperson, there will be no quidditch sequence, I repeat, no quidditch sequence in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. As the spokesperson told England's The Sun, "It would be wonderful to include every single page of the book. But as with [all] Harry Potter films, elements have had to be omitted."

The spokesperson is also reported to have declared the reason for the omission to be time constraints. Really? It isn't because of redundancy? Sure, I can appreciate watching Daniel Radcliffe ride around on his broomstick -- the special effects in the quidditch scenes always look great -- but it is one element that hasn't really offered anything new to the series since the first film. Anyway, I may not remember the fifth book too well, but doesn't it take place outside of Hogwarts? I don't even recall a quidditch part in the book (I know, you fans will remind me), so it couldn't have been too integral (and I know, you will correct me here, too) to the plot, right? As for any whiners out there, let's see you try to make a good movie out of such a gigantic book. Is it not enough that the producers have been hard at work casting every actor in the U.K. in every little role, so as to please you? What is worse? Omitting quidditch, or not casting a famliar name as your favorite new character introduced in Order of the Phoenix?

In a clear (and very wise) effort to prove he can play things other than a boy wizard, Daniel Radcliffe has revealed plans to follow up his on-stage, "HOLY CRAP, HARRY POTTER'S NAKED!" star turn in Equus next year with a starring role in a World War I-themed television movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Radcliffe will play Jack Kipling in My Boy Jack, an ITV film based on a play by David Haig (who will also appear in the movie, playing Rudyard Kipling). The play is based on a real event in Kipling's life: he used his connections to get his 17-year-old son into the Irish Guards, "even though his son had been turned down for health reasons by the military many times before." You can see where this is going, can't you? Yep, Jack goes missing, and his body is never found. My Lord that's depressing -- I'm guessing this one is going to be a hardcore, stiff-upper-lip tear-jerker.

Though it's unlikely the movie will ever air here in the U.S., I'm sure if it does well you American Potterites will at least be able to pick up a U.K. DVD of the thing (assuming you've already got that region-free player, of course).