MTV Movies Blog › harry potter and the deathly hallows

Arguably the biggest news of the day was Lionsgate's announcement that the studio would be premiering the "Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2" trailer in front of "The Hunger Games" in theaters on March 23. Though this is definitely a match made in young-adult heaven, it's far from the first time trailers for highly anticipated films have premiered before similarly big new releases.

We've decided to go back and pick our five favorite examples of big trailer premieres from the past couple decades. The movies haven’t always matched the hype (we're looking at you, "Phantom Menace"), but they certainly gave us good reason to get excited.

"Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace" before "Meet Joe Black"
Come with me back to a time long, long ago (1998) in a galaxy far, far away (where Brad Pitt was still playing romantic leads). "Meet Joe Black" was just hitting theaters, but fans weren't necessarily flocking to theaters opening night to catch Pitt playing the Death. Instead, many fans were anxiously awaiting the first trailer of George Lucas's highly anticipated "Star Wars" prequel, "The Phantom Menace." Considering the public's changed opinion on the movie as "The Phantom Menace" launches its 3-D rerelease today, it's hard to believe people were once so excited about the movie. But they were — seriously.

Read more...

Tags Captain America: The First Avenger, harry potter and the deathly hallows, i am legend, Meet Joe Black, Star Wars The Phantom Menace, the avengers, the dark knight, The Hunger Games, the twilight saga eclipse, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" got snubbed at the Oscars. It's something that most of us here on the MTV Movies Blog team -- and many of you fans out there -- can agree on. But apparently leading man Daniel Radcliffe agrees with us, and he's made his displeasure known.

"There's a certain amount of snobbery," Radcliffe said in an interview with the Radio Times (via The Guardian). "It's kind of disheartening. I never thought I'd care. But it would've been nice to have some recognition, just for the hours put in."

"I don't think the Oscars like commercial films, or kids' films, unless they're directed by Martin Scorsese," Radcliffe added. "I was watching Hugo the other day and going, 'Why was this nominated and we're not?' I was slightly miffed."

Read more...

Tags Alan Rickman, daniel radcliffe, david yates, Harry Potter, harry potter and the deathly hallows, Hugo, martin scorsese

If a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, a movie's cast is only great as its worst actor. This year we saw some of 2011's best films held together, not by one stand-out star, but by a group of amazing actors working together to make one great movie.

As we here at MTV News start to look back on the year of movies, we want your input for what you think are the best films of the year. Today, we kick things off for the award for Best Ensemble. Come back every day this week for a new poll and a new chance to decide which movies ruled the multiplex this year.

Read more...

Tags Best of 2011, breaking dawn, Bridesmaids, harry potter and the deathly hallows, Horrible Bosses, The Help

When J.K. Rowling first started writing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," she had a very different perception of who would survive until the end of the book.

She already admitted that she flirted with the idea of killing off Ron Weasley, but apparently he wasn't the only one she almost hit with the killing curse. If Rowling hadn't had such a clear mental image of Hagrid carrying Harry Potter's body out of the Forbidden Forest at the end of "Deathly Hallows," he likely would have been gone long ago.

Read more...

Tags Harry Potter, harry potter and the deathly hallows, J.K. Rowling

All "Harry Potter" DVDs are being pulled from store shelves at the end of the year, heading into Warner Bros.' vault for an as-yet-unknown length of time.

Fans are understandably frustrated by the news — first, no more new "Potter" movies, and now we can't even buy the old ones anymore? — but perhaps there's a silver lining to be found. If there is, there's no one better to identify it than some of the top "Potter" experts and movie commentators floating around the blogosphere. We reached out to NextMovie's Breanne Heldman, Hypable's Andrew Sims and MTV's very own Terri Schwartz for their thoughts on the latest "Potter" news.

Read more...

Tags Harry Potter, harry potter and the deathly hallows

Call me crazy, but I've got a funny feeling that if you're reading this post, chances are high that you're at least fleetingly familiar with the "Harry Potter" franchise. After seven novels and eight movies, the story of the Boy Who Lived is finally at an end, though his heart and soul lives on not just in the highly anticipated Pottermore experience, but also in the collective consciousness of "Potter" fans across the world.

Indeed, it's that shared "Potter" experience that keeps series lead Daniel Radcliffe so interested in the character and the world he inhabits, even now that his work with Harry is finally over. MTV News has an exclusive sneak peek at a special feature from the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Blu-ray and DVD, out on November 11, where Radcliffe engages author J.K. Rowling in a conversation about the state of "Potter" fandom and how the story has influenced a generation of viewers and readers.

Read more...

Tags daniel radcliffe, Harry Potter, harry potter and the deathly hallows, J.K. Rowling

It all ended with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," but at least it ended on top.

The last installment of the "Harry Potter" franchise was the most well-received of the eight-film-long series, but this weekend it became the highest grossing as well. After cresting the $1 billion mark over the weekend -- the first movie in the series to do so! -- it also hit a domestic gross of $318 million, making it the biggest "Potter" flick of all time.

Fittingly, the movie it bested for that title was the first flick in the series, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

Read more...

Tags Harry Potter, harry potter and the deathly hallows

FROM MTV MOVIES: Captain America has beaten back the Red Skull, HYRDA, Nazis and various nefarious forces before, and now the shield-slinging star-spangled hero has conquered the box office, as well.

"Captain America: The First Avenger" debuted with an estimated $65.8 million over the weekend to become the #1 movie in North America, according to studio estimates. With Chris Evans in the title role and Hugo Weaving as his arch-nemesis, the Red Skull, the Marvel movie was the latest chapter in a series of films that began with "Iron Man" and will lead up to next year's "The Avengers."

Cap's debut bested that of his fellow Avenger "Thor" (which opened with $65.7 million) as well as the debuts of previous 2011 superhero movies "Green Lantern" and "X-Men: First Class." Only 40 percent of the Cap audience chose to see it in 3-D versus the 60 percent who saw "Thor" that way back in May.

Meanwhile the latest "Harry Potter" — which broke several records on its opening weekend — suffered a huge decline during its second weekend of release. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" took in $48 million (for a $274.1 million total), which was a 72 percent second-weekend fall, much steeper than that of "The Dark Knight," "Spider-Man 3" and the third "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Read the full story at MTV Movies!

Tags Captain America: The First Avenger, harry potter and the deathly hallows

by Matt Adler

The saga of Harry Potter has come to a close on the big-screen with the release of "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2." As a wizard, Harry’s primary tool of the trade is magic, and there is magic aplenty in this final film, particularly in the form of items which have been enchanted with magical powers, and are utilized by heroes and villains alike in the war for wizardly supremacy.

After the jump, we’re taking a look at some of these key arcane objects that drive the film’s story, and breaking down for you just what they can do in the right hands… or the wrong ones.

Read more...

Tags Harry Potter, harry potter and the deathly hallows

FROM MTV MOVIES: There was little doubt that when the "Harry Potter" franchise finally came to a close after a decade-long presence at the multiplex, it would do so in epically lucrative fashion. But only when "Deathly Hallows, Part 2" actually began lighting up screens last Thursday at midnight did the true extent of its box-office power become clear: The film raked in a record $43.5 million at those early screenings and ended up shattering the three-day opening record of "The Dark Knight."

"While I assumed it would have the best 'Harry Potter' debut of all time, I wasn't quite sold on the fact that it could eclipse the 'Dark Knight' record, as none of the previous films, although highly successful, have ever approached that staggering number, despite having one of the most rabid fanbases filmdom has ever seen," said Jeff Bock, box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "This was monumental, as it seems everyone wanted to be a part of the discussion, everyone wanted to say goodbye to dear friends, and everyone wanted to experience the magic on the big screen one more time."

But not everyone wanted that magical experience in 3-D. While "Deathly Hallows, Part 2" benefited from the largest 3-D launch ever, according to Box Office Mojo, a majority of ticket buyers choose 2-D screenings, with just 43 percent of its total gross coming from 3-D screenings ("Transformers: Dark of the Moon," by comparison, earned 60 percent of its opening gross from 3-D showings). So, although "Deathly Hallows, Part 2" opening marks the second-biggest 3-D opening after "Alice in Wonderland," the last "Potter" film wasn't a 3-D must-see — it was a pop-culture must-see.

Read the full story at MTV Movies!

Tags Harry Potter, harry potter and the deathly hallows