The company says this will be a seven-season series, with each season focused on one of author J.K. Rowling’s seven novels. As a result, a new, younger cast will be featured, rather than the now-adult actors who starred in the Daniel Radcliffe-led films. Altogether, Warner Bros. says this will be a “decade-long series.”
News of the series surfaced earlier this month but is only now being confirmed by Warner Bros. Discovery. As that original report stated, Rowling will remain involved as an executive producer, giving her some degree of creative control, although an actual showrunner and writer have yet to be hired. Additionally, Warner Bros. is in talks with David Heyman, the producer of the eight Harry Potter films, to serve as executive producer on the series.
An estimated release window for the first season of the series was not provided. Given that the series is being produced for Max — a newly rebranded combination of HBO Max and Discovery+ — in the U.S., it’s likely that it will stream on Crave in Canada.
For years, there have been many rumblings about how Warner Bros. would continue with the mainline Harry Potter series after 2011’s The Deathly Hallows — Part 2. While there’s been speculation that the company might want to adapt the sequel The Cursed Child play with the likes of Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, nothing official was ever confirmed.
Instead, the company has released three spin-off prequel films in the Fantastic Beasts series — all of which have been written or co-written by Rowling — between 2016 and 2022. However, reception to the Fantastic Beasts series has been middling, with last year’s Secrets of Dumbledore even garnering negative reviews and becoming the lowest-grossing movie in the entire ‘Wizarding World’ franchise.
Given that this will be the first attempt to adapt Harry Potter’s story without Radcliffe and co. playing the beloved characters, it remains to be seen how audiences will receive the series. Additionally, Warner Bros. Discovery has to navigate the ongoing controversies surrounding Rowling herself.
Hogwarts Legacy is a third-person action-adventure role-playing game with several faults, but the most notable exists outside the title itself. Because of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s stance on trans people, many are justifiably backing away from the Wizarding World, including this game.
My love of the Wizarding World started later than many. I didn’t get into the franchise until my teens, as my parents forbade anything related to witchcraft. However, as a teenager, I decided I was old enough to venture into the fantastical books and movies without asking my parents’ permission.
Many of my peers were right — the story was pretty good, and my love grew for the Harry Potter series as I read each book and watched every movie. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was my favourite of the titles. But even beyond Harry and his friends, I loved the world, the dragons, the spells, the potions, and, most importantly, I wanted my own acceptance letter to Hogwarts.
Clearly, I was too old to be accepted (not to mention the fact that Hogwarts doesn’t actually exist), but I still dreamed of exploring the school’s halls, going to the magical classes, and even taking the fifth-year O.W.L. exams.
I’m almost 30 years old now, but Avalanche Software finally delivered my invitation to Hogwarts through Hogwarts Legacy, and I loved every minute of it.
Hogwarts
Hogwarts Castle is beautiful. As I’m nearing my 20th hour in the game, I still haven’t found all transportable locations in the school, and I’ve solved even fewer of its secrets. The school and its surrounding grounds are more magical than I could have ever imagined.
The castle features moving portraits, ghosts, and a massive staircase that magically moves into position when you ascend. It also has frogs that swallow you whole and spit you out in another location, books that flap their pages like wings, and bronze moths attracted to your Lumos spell. Exploring the castle was one of the most appealing parts of the game; I’ve spent hours traversing the castle’s secrets and trying to figure out its various puzzles.
Story-wise, the game takes you through unexpected twists and turns before you reach the castle, but once you do, you’re directed to head straight to the Great Hall, where you arrive at the end of the Sorting Hat ceremony. After the hat asks a couple of questions, it sorts you into either Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. You can pick your desired house if you’re not a fan of the Hogwarts Legacy’s suggestion.
The hat suggested Slytherin for me, and I was escorted to the house’s common room, which revealed itself after a bronze snake slithered through the floor onto the wall, forming the room door. We learn the most about the Gryffindor common room in the films and books, so seeing Slytherin’s hall in Hogwarts Legacy is very cool. Aside from the staircase, the entire Slytherin dorm is underwater, with windows that look out into the Black Lake beside Hogwarts. Here, in the dorm, you meet a few of the key characters that you’ll interact with frequently throughout the game.
While discovering the secrets of the school, you’ll also meet professors and take classes that appear in your quest log as side missions. After each lesson, you learn something new, like a spell or how to ride a broom, create potions, and make the most of mandrakes. Interestingly, some main quests required specific spells that you can only learn by completing sidequests. However, if it’s not a spell required for the main mission or a side quest, you can skip learning it. I still haven’t finished the requirements to go to my second Herbology class, as I hate using magical plants (a condition to take the class), and I could care less about the Flipendo spell.
Beyond Hogwarts, which I could spend hours talking about, you can explore Hogsmeade’s several shops, including Ollivanders, where you get your own wand, and the Three Broomsticks, a rustic tavern where the characters drink Butterbeer in the novels and movies. You can also explore the rest of the world, including various towns in the countryside, the Forbidden Forest, caves in the nearby mountains and more.
There are a couple of forms of transportation, including broomstick and Hippogriff, that make traversing the world easy and fun. I elected to fly across the fields on my Hippogriff, called Caligo, instead of transporting to different points on the map. And seeing how the world changes from season to season, I was impressed by how different and beautiful the world looked during the fall and winter months. Like in the movies, Christmas was just as magical.
Wingardium Levios
Hogwarts Legacy ensures its gameplay is exciting by using spells for everything; if a cave is too dark, the ‘Lumos’ spell can light your way. If you need to move a box to get to higher ground, you use ‘Accio’ to pull it and ‘Levioso’ to make it rise. If you see a lock, instead of a lockpick, you use ‘Alohomora’ to unlock it, and if you want to burn some shrubbery in your way, you cast ‘Incendio’ or ‘Confringo.’
The spells are easy to access, and you can efficiently utilize up to 16. Of course, there are more than 16 spells, but even if you don’t have the right one in your slots, you can easily add it in less than 20 seconds. Unfortunately, messing with your spell slots is so easy that I’ve accidentally moved some during combat, leading me to cast the wrong one when fighting a mountain troll.
Combat flowed smoothly, and I felt like a true wizard. You can pull an enemy in with ‘Accio,’ make them crash to the ground with ‘Descendo,’ and then throw them away with ‘Depulso.’ Or, you can freeze an enemy with ‘Glacio,’ then blow them up with ‘Confringo’ to deal extra damage. Spells thrown at you can be quickly blocked with a ‘Protego’ shield and followed up with ‘Stupify’ to stun them.
Ultimately, Hogwarts Legacy made me feel like a wizard. Of course, there are several issues. For example, while some fights go well, if you’re off your rhythm or have a spell slotted into the wrong spot, it can throw off the course of the battle.
Either way, Hogwarts Legacy’s combat is thrilling, and I purposefully fight any enemy I come across because stringing spell combos together is incredibly fun. You also have Ancient Magic available, which adds cool-looking finishers. Some burn enemies to dust, while another calls down lightning and blows them up. My favourite is a specific finisher for fighting spiders that makes them smaller in order to squash them.
Ancient magic
My least favourite part of the game is the main story. In Hogwarts Legacy, your goal is to stop a Goblin rebellion. The leader of the uprising, Ranrok, uses some form of evil ancient magic and a wand, which Goblins are forbidden from casting in the Wizarding World. Your character, a student in their fifth year who’s just learning magic (for an unexplained reason), encounters this evil Goblin after a surprise teleportation to Gringotts.
To defeat Ranrok, you have to unravel the secrets of this ancient magic by solving puzzles, defeat statued knights, speak to past professors through magical talking portraits and look into Pensieves to learn more about the past (a Pensieve is a unique instrument that allows you to view the memories of other wizards).
While trying to solve ancient mysteries, you’ll also need to slow down Ranrok and dark wizards before they uncover a mysterious ultimate evil power. I won’t say much more about the storyline, but you’ll forge friendships with your classmates in both primary and sidequests, and eventually start working together to take down these foes.
It feels like you’re watching a Harry Potter movie, so the tone and events in the game are on point and, like other aspects of the franchise, bring you into the Wizarding World.
However overall, I didn’t find the story very compelling, but at the same time, it’s the type of tale I probably would have enjoyed when I was younger. 10-year-old Dean would have dreamed of participating in this story and fighting against leagues of villainous wizards.
Polyjuice Potion
You get to create your own character at the start of the game, and as a Black person, I’m impressed by the character customization options. There are a variety of skin tones and hairstyles — about five different hairstyles typically seen on Black men, which is more than many of the games I’ve played in the past.
While you can adjust aspects of your face or skin tone with a slider, several other settings allow you to customize your character, including a face option featuring varying sizes of ears, noses, lips and more. You can also select your voice and decide if you’re a witch or a wizard, whether you choose feminine or masculine features. I think it’s important to mention that choosing between a witch and a wizard is too limiting because there are a variety of genders in the world.
In terms of Hogwarts Legacy’s characters, however, there is a lot of diversity.
Teachers are of varying skin tones, and so are classmates — even though most of my Slytherin classmates are white. The bartender of the Three Broomsticks is also trans and reportedly voiced by a trans voice actor, though some argue this character was only added to Hogwarts Legacy to fight against the Rowling backlash.
I tried to make my character look just like me, but unfortunately, I couldn’t get my wizard exactly how I wanted. There also aren’t options for how slender or large you can make your character. However, oddly, my hair can be recreated precisely — blonde hair with a fade, and you can see my roots almost perfectly.
Aside from my actual appearance, players can also decide what they want to wear. You’ll find different gear, scarves, robes, uniforms, hats and more throughout the game. Each piece of equipment has defence and offence stats and traits or trait slots that offer a bit of an edge in battle, like a more powerful ‘Crucio’ curse. You can create new traits to slot into gear if it has the required slots. You can also change the appearance of any outfit, which is a nice touch. This means that if one robe has higher stats than the stylish robe you were rocking, you can easily adjust its appearance, so the higher stats match the one you grew fond of.
In Hogwarts, you can also access a fully customizable Room of Requirement. You can add decorations like paintings, mirrors, statues and more. You can also change the room’s appearance, the style of the floors and walls, grow plants for Herbology, make potions and tame beasts.
The forests around Hogwarts are also filled with poachers, so part of the story has the player saving beasts like griffins, Thestrals, Kneazles, unicorns and more. Once you’ve saved several creatures, you can store them in your vivariums, and play, feed, groom and breed them. For me, catching and taming these beasts is one of the most fun parts of Hogwarts Legacy, and they give you access to magical items you can use to create traits that attach to your gear. I loved the struggle of catching a unicorn, breading them and then raising and caring for a baby unicorn.
Sorting Hat
Hogwarts Legacy’s user interface is far from perfect. The menu isn’t the best and can be confusing at times, but it’s easy enough to navigate once you get the hang of it. Further, levelling up is a bit different than other role-playing games. Every time you level up, you’re awarded ‘Talent Points,’ which you use to get new perks, including being more difficult to discover when using the Disillusionment charm or giving your ‘Bombarda’ incantation a larger blast radius. There are core talents that increase the benefit of health potions and the range of the ‘Revelio’ spell.
I’ve been playing the game with increased fidelity and ray tracing, and it looks stunning on PS5. Of course, there are prettier titles — Demon’s Souls and Ratchet and Clank, for example — but Hogwarts Legacy isn’t a current-gen exclusive title, so it’s expected not to look as good as titles built from the ground up for Sony’s latest console. The game can run at 4K or 60fps, depending on which graphics mode you select.
It’s worth noting that I had a few issues with an NPC cutting through an elevator and another situation where I got stuck swimming; with the latter glitch, I had to quit the game. You’ll notice bugs occasionally, but for the most part, they aren’t game-breaking.
Avada Kavadra
Hogwarts Legacy is slow to start, but once it starts ramping up, it becomes stellar.
The game isn’t as narrative-heavy as titles like God of War, but it reminds me of Insomniac’s Spider-Man. To be clear, I’m not saying that these two games have a lot in common, but they both feature great exploration, an easy way to get around their large maps, enemies to fight, and sidequests that have you looking everywhere.
I wish the game featured little things like Quidditch or romance options — of course, no snogging, as they’re children. However, there could have been a cute dance like in The Goblet of Fire. I would also like a morality system for when I cast the ‘Crucio’ Unforgivable Curse on enemies, as well as a way to use the beasts you catch in combat, like some sort of magical Pokémon game.
Hogwarts Legacy is a fantastic title that has, unfortunately, been muddled by very justified controversy — Rowling definitely ruined a video game that could have been great for many. I loved being a wizard soaring through the air on my broomstick, casting spells, and taming beasts, and I smile every time I pick up the controller to play more.
Hogwarts Legacy is available on PC, Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has repeatedly stated her anti-trans position. Dean Daley and MobileSyrup do not endorse Rowling’s anti-trans stance. This story includes several resources explaining how trans and LGBTQ2S+ people feel about Rowling and why many have opted not to play Hogwarts Legacy. MobileSyrup hopes to use this review as an opportunity to educate those who are not familiar with these important issues.
On March 17th, Warner Bros. gave us our first extensive look at gameplay from Hogwarts Legacy, and it’s honestly looking like the Harry Potter game I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid.
Until now, pretty much every “Wizarding World” game has been a retelling of the same stories featured in the seven Potter books/eight Potter films. While there’s a certain novelty to that, especially for kids, what was always most tantalizing was a game that let you live out your own Hogwarts adventure, not a version of Harry’s.
With that in mind, Hogwarts Legacy ticks pretty much every box I could have hoped for. The ability to create your own witch or wizard and get sorted into one of Hogwarts’ four houses? An original story set many years before Harry was even born? An expansive open-world to explore with a broom or Hippogriff? A slew of flashy spells for dynamic combat? It really seems like developer Avalanche Software has understood the assignment.
If only it were that simple.
At this point, you’ve probably heard about the controversy surrounding the game. It’s one that, rather unfortunately, actually has nothing to do with Avalanche itself. Instead, it pertains to Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling, who’s come under fire in recent years for repeatedly making transphobic remarks. To reiterate: this is recurring behaviour, not a one-off tweet from years ago. Now, I personally know some people, either social media acquaintances or actual friends and family, who don’t see why this is a problem. Many others certainly don’t, either, and this can come down to people being genuinely unaware, deliberately ignorant or just plain bigoted.
As a straight, (half) white cis-gendered male, I originally didn’t understand either; admittedly, I’ve benefited from living in my own relatively hate-free bubble. But what I’ve done over the past year, and what I’d encourage others to do, is simply listen to what Rowling’s critics are saying.
With that in mind, I’d like to share just a few resources to better explain how Rowling is actively harming an already extremely marginalized and vulnerable community. These are people who know far more about the subject than me and can maybe help inform just a bit.
Those articles all cover Rowling’s transphobia in general, but there have also been some good pieces to relate it to back to Hogwarts Legacy. For one, trans woman Jessie Earl, a video producer at GameSpot, penned an incredibly detailed and nuanced piece about Rowling and Hogwarts Legacy. The majority of her piece unpacks Rowling’s falsehoods and dangerous rhetoric, before explaining how that all relates to the game.
Then there are organizations you can learn from and support, including:
Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health (CPATH) — the largest national multidisciplinary, professional organization in the world, which aims to support trans and gender diverse people GLAAD — an organization aiming to support the LGBTQ+ community in general
Trans Lifeline — a grassroots organization offering direct emotional and financial support to trans people (Canadians can dial 1-877-330-6366)
Trans Pulse Canada — a community-based survey of the health and well-being of trans/non-binary people in Canada
A more comprehensive list of Canadian trans-supporting charitable groups can be found here.
Ultimately, you should make your own choice about buying Hogwarts Legacy. As some of the pieces above state, you’re not a bad person for doing that. If you feel complicated about it, that’s certainly reasonable, too. But hopefully, you can at least read a bit more about Rowling’s actions from those being negatively impacted by them and keep that all in mind, regardless of whether you end up playing the game.
Image credit: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
J.K. Rowling could’ve used the help of a delivery owl after being unable to send the final draft of her book ‘The Casual Vacancy’ to her editor due to a hungry aardvark.
The ‘Harry Potter’ author revealed when she was attempting to send the final draft of her 2012 tome from South Africa when the nocturnal mammal chewed through power lines leaving her unable to get the copy sent over.
Writing on Twitter, she revealed: "I couldn’t email my editor final changes on ‘The Casual Vacancy’ from South Africa because an aardvark had chewed through the power line. Nobody ever believes this. I think he struggled, too (the editor, not the aardvark). [sic]"
Although becoming an international success with the seven critically acclaimed ‘Harry Potter’ novels, ‘The Casual Vacancy’ was a step away from fantasy fiction and her first novel specifically aimed at adults.
It begins with the death of beloved Parish Councillor Barry Fairbrother and following his death a seat on the council is vacant and a conflict ensues before the election for his successor.
Factions develop, particularly concerning whether to dissociate with a local council estate with which Barry supported an alliance.
However, those running for the seat soon find their darkest secrets revealed on the Parish Council online forum, ruining their campaign and leaving the election in turmoil.
The book was adapted for a TV drama back in 2015.
Rowling has since returned to the wizarding world she created for Harry Potter by penning the ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ movie – based on her 2001 fictional magic textbook – which is the start of a five film series.
The sequel ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ – which sees Eddie Redmayne reprising his role as Newt Scamander – is slated for release this year and will also star Jude Law and Johnny Depp as Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald respectively.
Drake is considering buying a $160,000 ‘Harry Potter’ book as a birthday treat to himself.
The ‘Hotline Bling’ rapper is a huge fan of J.K. Rowling’s fictional wizard series, so much so he really wants to purchase a first edition of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ and is thinking about doing so as a late present after he turned 31 on October 24.
He said: "I should get it. My birthday’s coming up. Maybe I’ll buy it for myself as a treat."
Drake admitted he is a big fan of the books after reading all seven of the tomes in the fantasy series.
He added to The Hollywood Reporter: "Yeah, I read them all."
But Drake is not the only big-name ‘Harry Potter’ fan in showbusiness as several stars have previously spoken about how much they love The Boy Who Lived, including One Direction stars Niall Horan and Liam Payne.
Liam once tweeted: "I wish I was Harry potter (sic)"
In 2014, Niall tweeted: "Not gona lie, I’m obsessed with Harry potter now, I’ve watched 5 movies in 3 days since I’ve been to the studio tour! (sic)"
Camila Cabello also joined the huge legion of Potter fans in 2015.
She wrote on Twitter: "IS IT TOO LATE TO JOIN THE HARRY POTTER FANDOM (sic)"
Keira Knightley once said: "I’ve read all the books. Harry, he’s pretty cool. He’s got a good scar."
What’s more, Ariana Grande went one step further by naming her dog Sirius Black, after Harry’s godfather, who was played by Gary Oldman in the film franchise.
Korn frontman Jonathan Davis loves the character because he’s an "underdog", but he also enjoyed the books because they "p***ed off a bunch of Christian people".
He said: "I just like the whole ‘Harry Potter’ vibe — about a kid becoming a magician, going to wizarding school.
"I think the movies and the books, everything I’ve seen, is really cool.
"I definitely like Harry, because he’s the underdog. He’s always getting picked on.
"He’s always down and out, but he just comes back, and I think that’s cool. And it’s p***ed off a bunch of Christian people, and that made it even better for me."
J.K. Rowling has been named the highest-paid European celebrity after earning £71 million.
The ‘Harry Potter’ author amassed the huge sum over 12 months before taxes and management fees, according to an estimate by Forbes, which also named the writer third highest-paid on its list of world celebs.
Nearly half of the 52-year-old star’s earnings come from her writing about the fictional wizard, with her latest book about the character, co-written play ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’, selling more than 1.3 million copies in Britain alone making it the nation’s bestselling book in 2016.
J.K. topped the Forbes list just ahead of former Manchester United footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who amassed £70 million thanks to his bumper Real Madrid contract and various endorsement deals.
Musicians also had a big part to play in the top 20 with British band Coldplay (£66 million), and singers Adele (£51 million), Sir Elton John (£45 million) and Sir Paul McCartney (£40 million) all making the top 10.
J.K. and Adele are the only women in the top 20, half of which is made up of professional athletes, including tennis superstar Roger Federer (£48 million), golfer Rory McIlroy (£37 million) and Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton (£34 million), who all made the top 10.
Other big names from the UK who made the list include ‘X Factor’ boss Simon Cowell, who earned £34 million, and singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran, who was 15th after amassing £28 million.
The top 20 highest-paid European celebs earned more than $1 billion before taxes and management fees.
Forbes’ Highest-Paid European Celebrities 2017 List:
Two new Harry Potter books are to be released this October.
As part of the British Library’s ‘Harry Potter’ exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of the franchise – which started with ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ back in 1997 – the two new books will be published in connection with the event, the Independent reports.
The first book, ‘Harry Potter: A History of Magic – The Book of the Exhibition’, was written by publishing house Bloomsbury, Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling and curators of the British Library and takes readers through subjects studied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The second book, ‘Harry Potter – A Journey Through A History of Magic’, will look at mystical things such as alchemy, unicorns and ancient witchcraft.
It will include unseen sketches and manuscript pages from J.K. Rowling, illustrations from Jim Kay and artefacts that have been magically released from the archives at the British Library.
Earlier this year, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first novel, the publishing house released four new editions of the book, one for each of the houses featured at Hogwarts – Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.
The seven-book Harry Potter franchise is one of the most successful in the world and spawn eight movie adaptations, a stage play and a spin-off novel and movie, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ starring Eddie Redmayne – of which a sequel is in the works.
J. K. Rowling has helped penned the screenplay for the spin-off movie and an official statement from Warner Bros. Pictures revealed the next film will have direct links to the world of the young boy wizard.
An official statement revealed: "The film expands the wizarding world, moving from New York to London and on to Paris.
"There are also some surprising nods to the ‘Harry Potter’ stories that will delight fans of the books and film series."
The exhibition will run from November to February next year.
J.K. Rowling was "delighted" by the success of ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ at the Olivier Awards on Sunday (04.09.17).
The two-part play – a follow-up to Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ books – won in nine of the 11 categories it was nominated in at the ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall, and the author is understandably thrilled by the success of the production.
Rowling, who wasn’t able to attend the awards in person, wrote on Twitter: "I couldn’t be more delighted for our immensely talented cast and creative team. Wish I could have been there. Thank you."
‘Cursed Child’ won Best New Play, Best Actor (Jamie Parker), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Anthony Boyle), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Noma Dumezweni) and Best Director (John Tiffany) at the annual awards ceremony in London.
The widely acclaimed production also won in the Best Lighting Design, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Design and Best Set Design categories.
But despite the success of the production, J.K. previously ruled out a ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ movie trilogy.
Amid rumours she was planning to turn her London stage show – which is set 19 years after the events of the final ‘Harry Potter’ film – into a movie franchise, J.K. took to Twitter in January to insist it will not happen.
The author wrote: "I know a lot of people are looking for reasons to be cheerful today, but there is NO TRUTH to the rumour about a #CursedChild movie trilogy (sic)."
But Jim Hill, who first speculated about the trilogy, said his sources at Warner Bros suggested the studio is considering making the movies.
In a series of tweets, he wrote: "I have great respect for J.K. Rowling. So I’m not going to dispute what she posted earlier today. But my source on his story is on the Warner Bros. side of the fence. And (though I’m not looking to stir up a hornet’s nest here) WB doesn’t always keep JK in the loop when it comes to things that it’s thinking of doing with the Harry Potter franchise. (sic)"
‘Harry Potter And The Cursed Child’ has become the most nominated new play in the history of the Olivier Awards.
The two-part theatre production – penned by J. K. Rowling – which imagines Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley as adults waving their children off to the famous wizarding school Hogwarts, has smashed the record for the annual ceremony after it pulled in an impressive 11 nominations – including Best New Play – on Monday (06.03.17).
Jamie Parker – who portrays the grown up version of the titular wand-waving wizard – could be in with the chance of walking away with the trophy for Best Actor at the event next month, but he will need to beat off stiff competition from ‘Buried Child’ star Ed Harris, Travesties’ Tom Hollander and six-time winner Sir Ian McKellen.
Although no one from the play managed to creep into the Best Actress category this time around, Hadyn Gweynne, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, Rebecca Trehearn and Emma Williams will go head-to-head for their portrayals in ‘The Threepenny Opera’, ‘Murder Ballad’, ‘Show Boat’ and ‘Half a Sixpence’, respectively.
‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ has also managed to worm its way into the Outstanding Achievement in Music category alongside ‘Dreamgirls’, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and ‘School Of Rock The Musical’.
Sheridan Smith – who hasn’t had the easiest of times recently after tragically losing her father to cancer earlier this year – will be pleased to learn that she’s in with the chance of bagging the gong for Best Actress in a Musical for her impressive portrayal of Fanny Brice in The Savoy’s ‘Funny Girl’.
‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ has also secured a nomination for Best Theatre Choreographer thanks to Steven Hoggett, Best Lighting Design due to Neil Austin’s hard work and Best Set Design because of Christine Jones, while Anthony Boyle and Noma Dumezweni bagged nods for Best Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role.
Sir Kenneth Branagh will also be honoured for his contribution to theatre at this year’s awards.
Julian Bird, executive producer of the Olivier Awards, said: "In a year of global change, the nominees for this year’s awards demonstrate London theatre’s ability to challenge our perceptions, stir our emotions, and entertain us.
The Olivier Awards will take place at the Royal Albert Hall in west London on April 9.
Olivier Awards nominations 2017 are as follows:
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical:
Ian Bartholomew for ‘Half a Sixpence’ at Noël Coward Theatre
Adam J Bernard for ‘Dreamgirls’ at Savoy Theatre
Ben Hunter for ‘The Girls’ at Phoenix Theatre
Andrew Langtree for ‘Groundhog Day’ at The Old Vic
Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical:
Haydn Gwynne for ‘The Threepenny Opera’ at National Theatre – Olivier
Victoria Hamilton-Barritt for ‘Murder Ballad’ at Arts Theatre
Rebecca Trehearn for ‘Show Boat’ at New London Theatre
Emma Williams for ‘Half a Sixpence’ at Noël Coward Theatre
Outstanding Achievement in Music:
‘Dreamgirls’ – music by Henry Krieger at Savoy Theatre
‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ – composer and arranger Imogen Heap at Palace Theatre
‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ – The band and company creating the gig-like rock vibe of the original concept album of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
‘School Of Rock the Musical’ – Three children’s bands who play instruments live every night at New London Theatre
Best Theatre Choreographer:
Matthew Bourne for ‘The Red Shoes’ at Sadler’s Wells
Peter Darling and Ellen Kane for ‘Groundhog Day’ at The Old Vic
Steven Hoggett for ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ at Palace Theatre
Drew McOnie for ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Best Musical Revival:
‘Funny Girl’ at Savoy Theatre
‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
‘Show Boat’ at New London Theatre
‘Sunset Boulevard’ at London Coliseum
Best Actor in a Musical
David Fynn for ‘School Of Rock The Musical’ at New London Theatre
Tyrone Huntley for ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Andy Karl for ‘Groundhog Day’ at The Old Vic
Charlie Stemp for ‘Half A Sixpence’ at Noël Coward Theatre
Best Actress in a Musical
Glenn Close for ‘Sunset Boulevard’ at London Coliseum
‘The Girls’ – Debbie Chazen, Sophie-Louise Dann, Michele Dotrice, Claire Machin, Claire Moore and Joanna Riding – for ‘The Girls’ at Phoenix Theatre
Amber Riley for ‘Dreamgirls’ at Savoy Theatre
Sheridan Smith for ‘Funny Girl’ at Savoy Theatre
Best Lighting Design
Neil Austin for ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ at Palace Theatre
Lee Curran for ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Natasha Katz for ‘The Glass Menagerie’ at Duke of York’s Theatre
Hugh Vanstone for ‘Groundhog Day’ at The Old Vic
Best Sound Design
Paul Arditti for ‘Amadeus’ at National Theatre – Olivier
Adam Cork for ‘Travesties’ at Apollo Theatre
Gareth Fry for ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ at Palace Theatre
Nick Lidster for Autograph for ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Best Costume Design
Gregg Barnes for ‘Dreamgirls’ at Savoy Theatre
Hugh Durrant for ‘Cinderella’ at London Palladium
Rob Howell for ‘Groundhog Day’ at The Old Vic
Katrina Lindsay for ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ at Palace Theatre
Best Set Design
Bob Crowley for Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ at Prince Edward Theatre
Bob Crowley for ‘The Glass Menagerie’ at Duke of York’s Theatre
Rob Howell for ‘Groundhog Day’ at The Old Vic
Christine Jones for ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ at Palace Theatre
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Anthony Boyle for ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ at Palace Theatre
Freddie Fox for ‘Travesties’ at Apollo Theatre
Brian J Smith for ‘The Glass Menagerie’ at Duke of York’s Theatre
Rafe Spall for ‘Hedda Gabler’ at National Theatre – Lyttelton
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Melissa Allan, Caroline Deyga, Kirsty Findlay, Karen Fishwick, Kirsty MacLaren, Frances Mayli McCann, Joanne McGuinness and Dawn Sievewright for ‘Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour’ at National Theatre – Dorfman
Noma Dumezweni for ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ at Palace Theatre
Clare Foster for ‘Travesties’ at Apollo Theatre
Kate O’Flynn for ‘The Glass Menagerie’ at Duke of York’s Theatre
Best Actor
Ed Harris for ‘Buried Child’ at Trafalgar Studios 1
Tom Hollander for ‘Travesties’ at Apollo Theatre
Ian McKellen for ‘No Man’s Land’ at Wyndham’s Theatre
Jamie Parker for ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ at Palace Theatre
Best Actress
Glenda Jackson for ‘King Lear’ at The Old Vic
Cherry Jones for ‘The Glass Menagerie’ at Duke of York’s Theatre
Billie Piper for ‘Yerma’ at Young Vic
Ruth Wilson for ‘Hedda Gabler’ at National Theatre – Lyttelton
Best Director
Simon Stone for ‘Yerma’ at Young Vic
John Tiffany for ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ at Palace Theatre
John Tiffany for ‘The Glass Menagerie’ at Duke of York’s Theatre
Matthew Warchus for ‘Groundhog Day’ at The Old Vic
Best New Play
‘Elegy’ at Donmar Warehouse
‘The Flick’ at National Theatre – Dorfman
‘Harry Potter And The Cursed Child’ at Palace Theatre
J.K. Rowling put her work over her own health on Thursday (01.19.17) when she an hour lying on the floor typing out her new story idea, despite having a bad back.
The ‘Harry Potter’ writer had been trying to working on fresh material but was suffering with severe muscular pain and so decided to try and ease her discomfort by having a relaxing bath.
However, while she was soaking her aching body in the hot water, Rowling was struck by a moment of fictional inspiration and decided to jump out of the bath, take the pain and get writing.
The 51-year-old novelist-and-screenwriter said: "Pro tip: an hour spent typing while sitting on the bathroom floor will not help your bad back. Rather the reverse … I started work early, back hurt, thought I’d have a bath, had idea in bath, got out of bath and started typing, stayed on floor for an hour. (sic)"
Some of Rowling’s 9.05 million followers then tweeted her exercise advice to strengthen her weak back, with some recommending "pole dancing" and others detailing exercise combinations which could help.
Many mentioned Pilates as a good fitness tool to strengthen her core, and it seems the social media users proclaiming Pilates is the answer to Rowling’s problems are echoing her husband Neil Murray’s advice to her.
Referring to one follower named Megan who advocated Pilates, Rowling replied: "My husband appears to have set up an account in the name of Megan in a last ditch attempt to make me take his advice."
Rowling’s most recent project was the ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ film which saw her pen the screenplay for Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell and Ezra Miller and the rest of the cast to bring to life on the big screen.
