David Yates talks HRH final scene, J.K. Rowling in new interview
Potter director David Yates recently spoke with Manila Bulletin about his experience making four of the HP movies, about Dan, Rupert and Emma's final scene together, J.K. Rowling, and his future plans. Here are some excerpts (he gives a bit of a spoiler about the end of Deathly Hallows Part 2):
You came into the series at sort of that middle point. When did you realize the magnitude of the fan base. And what did you think about it? It was probably a phase in the cycle around about this stage when you do your interviews and you meet the press and walk up the red carpet. Obviously, you notice the fact that it’s globally popular, but it’s just when the fans come from Mexico or Argentina and camp out all night, you realize what it means to them. And it’s a huge responsibility, actually. Also, there are massive expectations on every movie, and in a curious way, you do your very best with the film. And I’m very proud of this film.
On the last day with Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, when they were on set together and filmed their final scene, what was that like? We shot the scene on the viaduct, outside Hogwarts, and it was really peaceful. It was a really sunny day. It was all backlit. And it’s a very tender scene where they sort of reflect on everything that’s happened, all the battles and everything, and they hold hands, and the camera falls away. It’s a really tender, lovely scene. I said to them, ‘Look, guys, this is the last scene we’re all going to do with you three together in front of the camera. So, it’s not just the last scene of these three characters in the movie, this is your last scene in this series of films. That’s what today is about.’ And it infused it with a kind of emotion which was really moving actually.
Did you ever talk to Jo Rowling about adapting these books and the choices you made, particularly in terms of its contemporary feel? We never had a big conversation about that because it was very present in the book. She read the script and she was totally cool about the way we’d adapted it. She was always just very enthusiastic about the whole first script, generally. But she’s been really helpful and we had a good chat about a couple of scenes in Part 2. I asked her, ‘What were you thinking when you wrote these scenes?’ And she was really helpful.
Jo was a producer on this film, so how was that? How was her expanded role on it? You know, it hasn’t really changed from the other movies, honestly. She’s just always our biggest supporter. And always very graceful and kind and I think, because she’s been there throughout, it was time her name was up there. She wants to be up there with us; it’s a real privilege.
Do you have another movie brewing after all this? I’ve got so many scripts coming in, I can’t tell you. In fact, I told them to stop sending them. [Laughs] Because I haven’t read any of them. They’re just all piled up. But I’m so ambitious, I can’t tell you. It’s a strange thing about Harry Potter because I don’t feel any sense of ownership, in a way. I don’t feel territorial about it. I feel it’s a bit of a national treasure that I’m curating. For everything I can enter, I try and do my very best. And I’m very proud of the work I’ve done. But post-Potter, my career sort of starts again really. And I won’t feel like I’ve made four of the biggest films in the world. I’ll feel like, ‘Well, that’s it. I’ve done Potter now.’ And I’ll have all these beautiful scripts and I can begin in a way. That’s my plan. And I’m going to do big things and tiny little things. And they won’t have wizards in them.
No wizards? No wizards. You can read the whole interview
here. Thanks to Snitchseeker for the tip.
Apr
08
March 27th was a wonderful day. The Harry Potter e-books were finally for sale! After some trepidation about whether or not people would be able to calculate the revenue that the e-books were bringing in, Pottermore CEO Charlie Redmayne had released some amazing news. The e-book sales were worth “over $1M” in the first three days following the March 27 publication. Redmayne said that “sales were ahead of the firm’s expectations prior to launch date”.
Courtesy of TheBookSeller, Redmayne calculated some total figures surrounding the e-book sales:
The number means that the digital versions of the Harry Potter titles may have out-sold their print equivalents during that launch week. According to Nielsen BookScan, the seven Harry Potter print books brought in £36,000 in sales across bookshops that week, with total spending on the books so far this year at £588,000, but the worldwide figure would be much bigger. In the UK in 2011 the backlist titles brought in sales of £4m, from sales of 530,000 individual books sold. In the US Nielsen BookScan measured 1.6m units of the Potter books sold in 2011. Redmayne said: “We had budgeted for a much lower figure, I had looked at the physical sales of the books, and tried to anticipate what proportion of sales would be digital, and that there was a certain amount of pent-up demand, but it surpassed anything we anticipated.” He said post-launch the figure had “settled down” but continued to exceed predictions. “It is still running at a much higher rate than I was anticipating, even for the launch. It is still surpassing anything I’ve ever seen for e-book sales.”
Redmayne did not reveal the most popular selling single story, but rather the top selling feature was the “bundle” package, which includes the entire HP set at a discounted price. If you have not already purchased your Harry Potter e-books, you can do so here. We will continue to bring updates as we receive them regarding the e-books. I already purchased mine, have you? Happy Easter to all who celebrate, and if you don’t then Happy Sunday!
Apr
04
Over the last week or so, during publicity events for the WB Studio Tour, Harry Potter cast and crew have been giving all sorts of interviews, and many of these have sprung up around the web. We’ve picked out a selection of interesting ones for you to read, watch or listen to below.
Firstly Dan Dark, Managing Director of Leavesden Studios, was at a roundtable interview attended by Hypable.com, who of course discussed the Tour, including when they began planning it and protecting the old sets in anticipation of it, the quality of the staff, and return value for fans. Get the whole story »
Apr
03
Harry Potter star Jessie Cave, who played Lavender Brown, is in the DogOrange theatre company’s production of Mary Rose. New promotional stills, courtesy of Snitchseeker.com, and a trailer can be seen below.
The play, which is adapted from the novel written by Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie, is a supernatural story of love, lost innocence and the parallel world of the dead. Time Out had this to say about the play.
A scrupulously detailed, gripping, genuinely goose-bump inducing vision of this high Victorian ghost story … director Matthew Parker’s sterling cast, and his sure, hugely inventive dramatic touch generate an impressive, lingering impression of real loss and longing.
The play runs from now until April 28, 2012 at Riverside Studios in the UK. If you reside in London or will be there during this time, you can purchase tickets for the show here.
Get the whole story »
