Following a six-month delay, it launched in 15 markets on February 11 and generated $21.5 million in its opening weekend, including $6.4 million in the UK, $4.5 million in Russia and $3.5 million in Spain, Variety reports.
The opening puts it ahead of pandemic-era Blockbusters like Eternals (up 12%), Black Widow (up 18%) and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (up 21%) based on how those films performed at similar points in their theatrical lifecycles.
The Uncharted film, which had a $120 million budget, will open on February 18 in the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico and South Korea.
Rather than following the plot of the PlayStation games, the Uncharted film tells a prequel story featuring Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) as a young treasure hunter learning from his mentor Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg).
Film director Ruben Fleischer (Venom, Zombieland) has said he “made the movie for both hardcore fans of the game and those who are not yet familiar with the franchise and believe[s] that both will be equally entertained by this incredibly fun and action-packed film”.
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While the movie has gone down well at the box office so far, it has received middling reviews. It currently has a 50% score on review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes based on 26 reviews.
And it has now been revealed the massive wands will be in Reading between March 30 and April 5.
Each one will belong to one of the film characters and they will illuminate each night to the music from the hit Blockbuster.
Polly Cochrane, country manager WarnerMedia UK and Ireland, said: “We are delighted that this stunning installation will be touring for the first time next month and the magic will be shared with even more fans.
“Following a nationwide vote, it’s exciting to know that we’re bringing the wands to the biggest Wizarding World fans across the UK as we celebrate the upcoming release of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.”
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Set in the wizarding world, Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore follows Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) as he believes the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) is making a move to seize power.
Unable to stop him alone, he entrusts Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to lead an intrepid team of wizards, witches and one brave Muggle baker on a dangerous mission, where they encounter old and new beasts and clash with Grindelwald’s growing legion of followers.
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“Show them the best parts and mislead them to create interest.” GKids US has released a teaser trailer for the Japanese anime film known as Pompo the Cinephile, which opened in Japan last summer. It’s finally getting a theatrical release in the US starting at the end of April this year. Pompo the Cinephile (originally 映画大好きポンポさん) is a rollicking, exuberant ode to the power of the movies, and the joys and heartbreak of the creative process, as a new director and his team devote their lives to the pursuit of a “masterpiece.” Fueled by the excitement from the film’s domestic release in Japan, a crowdfunding campaign to create a 35mm print of the feature achieved its fundraising goals of ¥10,000,000 in just eleven days. Featuring the voices of Konomi Kohara, Hiroya Shimizu, and Akio Ôtsuka. It is a bit of a challenge for most anime to find a bigger audience in the US (unless it’s Ghibli or Ponoc or Shinkai or Hosoda) but this kind of story about making movies is exactly the kind that can break out here. This is a very fun and clever 15-sec teaser.
Here’s the first US teaser trailer for Takayuki Hirao’s Pompo the Cinephile, direct from GKids’ YouTube:
“Pompo” (the nickname for Joelle Davidovich Pomponette) is a talented, gutsy producer in “Nyallywood,” the movie-making capital of the world. Although she’s known for B-movies, one day Pompo tells her movie-loving but apprehensive assistant Gene that he will direct her next script: a delicate drama about a tormented artistic genius, starring the legendary and Brando-esque actor Martin Braddock, and a young actress seeking her first break. But when the production heads towards chaos, can Gene rise to Pompo’s challenge, and succeed as a first-time director?Pompo the Cinephile, originally known as 映画大好きポンポさん or Eiga Daisuki Pompo-san in Japanese, is directed by the veteran animator Takayuki Hirao (The Garden of Sinners: The Hollow Shrine Paradox Spiral, Magical Sisters Yoyo and Nene, “God Eater”, “Attack on Titan”) and produced by brand-new animation studio CLAP. This already opened in Japan last summer. GKids will debut Pompo the Cinephile in select US theaters starting April 29th, 2022. There will also be preview events April 27th + 28th with a special intro. For more info, visit the film’s official US site.
The official trailer for Fantastic Beasts 3 has arrived – and the Wizarding World is about to be torn in two, based on the film series’ newest teaser.
Originally set for release on February 24, but delayed by four days (presumably in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), The Secrets of Dumbledore’s trailer teases a much darker entry in the Harry Potter spin-off film franchise than we’ve previously seen.
Check out the new Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore trailer below:
Given the content on show in the film’s final trailer, it’s understandable why Warner Bros. elected not to release it earlier this month. The Secrets of Dumbledore’s latest teaser is packed with footage of multiple wizard battles as Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) seek to prevent and destroy the world of Muggles respectively.
A teaser trailer for Fantastic Beasts 3 was released in early January, giving us our first proper look at Mikkelsen’s Grindelwald after he replaced Johnny Depp on chief villain duties. Depp departed the project following an unrelated legal case against him in November 2020, with Mikkelsen announced as his replacement that same month.
As the film’s trailers have revealed, other key cast members will reprise their roles from previous Fantastic Beasts movies. Law, Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander), Ezra Miller (Credence Barebone/Aurelius Dumbledore), Dan Fogler (Jacob Kowalski), and Alison Sudol (Queenie Goldstein) are among those returning.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore will launch exclusively in theaters worldwide on Friday, April 8.
Analysis: is 2022 the year of the Harry Potter renaissance?
The Harry Potter film cast reunited on HBO Max earlier this year. (Image credit: HBO Max)
It’s been something of a sticky spell for the Harry Potter franchise in the last few years. With series creator J.K. Rowling becoming embroiled in a number of controversies in recent times, it’s understandable that some long-time fans have turned their backs on the Wizarding World’s multimedia empire.
Despite those former Potterheads ending their support for Rowling’s works and the spin-offs spawned from it, though, Harry Potter is still a hugely popular series. Fans continue to flock to the Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London each year, as well as the Cursed Child West End stage play – proof that the franchise is still beloved by many. Meanwhile, a first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone sold for $471,000 (£356,000) in December 2021 (per Reuters).
But it’s 2022 where the real Harry Potter renaissance could occur. Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, an HBO Max unscripted cast reunion special, already drew huge numbers upon release on New Year’s Day. And, with Fantastic Beasts 3 releasing soon and a new Harry Potter videogame – Hogwarts Legacy – rumored to launch later this year, 2022 could be the best 12-month period (from a cash generating perspective, at least) in the series’ history.
Why Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings are still casting a spell over us 20 years on
When Jessica Brockway saw CODA, it brought her to tears. It marked the first time she’d ever seen her life — something she thought was uniquely hers — portrayed in mass media.
“It’s the first time ever we’ve had a CODA culture on screen,” said Brockway of London, Ont. “All of us CODAs ended up calling each other: ‘Have you seen this movie?’ Because it brought me to tears.'”
CODA follows teenage singer Ruby Rossi (played by Emilia Jones), the only hearing person in a tight-knit family of four, as she develops a passion for music and plans to attend university to study it. Jones’s family is played by deaf actors Marlee Matlin, a previous Oscar winner, Troy Kotsur, who ended up winning the best-actor Academy Award, and Daniel Durant.
There’s also a Canadian connection to the film: Toronto-based Anselmo DeSousa, an American Sign Language (ASL) tutor who worked with Jones to prepare her for her role.
Brockway, 29, learned sign language before English. It may be a Baby Einstein trend now, she said, but in her family, American Sign Language (ASL) was their mother tongue.
WATCH | Jessica Brockway of London, Ont., on growing up with two deaf parents
Note: This video is closed captioned with simultaneous ASL interpretation by Billie-Anne Lecky.
Jessica Brockway is a child of deaf adults or a CODA. She shared her experience of being a CODA during a discussion about the film by the same name winning Best Picture at the Oscars, interpreted to ASL by Billie-Ann Lecky. 0:40
“I kind of grew up with one foot in the deaf culture and one foot in the hearing culture,” Brockway told CBC’s London Morning.
“Society — whether it’s right or wrong — pities deaf people, generally. And growing up, I got pitied,” she said. “[CODA] never get to talk about it, or get to complain — because of course, when it comes to our parents, they have it ‘worse off.’ They have to access the world in a much more difficult way. They’re much more misunderstood.
“We’re over here, kind of as this tool that gets used. We’re never asked how we feel about the situation.”
Jessica Brockway is shown wearing her mother’s shoes while signing ‘I love you’ to her parents, and signing with her father, Ken. Jessica says her first language was sign language. (Submitted by: Jessica Brockway)
Brockway doesn’t resent her role. She said growing up a CODA isn’t so different from the experiences she’s heard from children of first-generation Canadians. In both cases, children often end up a vital link between their parents and the rest of the world; translating everything from interactions at the grocery store to medical appointments.
The pull between duty to one’s family and following your own passions is a central plot point in CODA, as Ruby is torn between being an interpreter between her family and the people in her small fishing village, and her dreams of going to school for music.
CODA careers: interpreter or teacher
Brockway said CODA often end up in one of two professions: ASL interpreter or teaching; that’s where she landed — at the Robarts School for the Deaf in London, Ont.
“I remember when I was younger, wanting to be a singer or a dancer, and immediately dismissing it. My parents would have been absolutely supportive, but I just dismissed it because it was something my parents wouldn’t have been able to participate in.”
WATCH | Anselmo DeSousa talks about the signicance of CODA winning at the Oscars:
Note: This video is closed captioned with simultaneously ASL interpretation by Laura Henry:
Anselmo DeSousa, ASL coach to Emilia Jones, talks about what the Oscar win for CODA means for the deaf community. ASL interpretation is by Laura Henry from CHS Learning Exchange. 0:54
Having a film address the realities of being a CODA while also sharing the joy of deaf culture is thrilling, said Brockway.
“To showcase deaf people just being deaf people, and being proud, and being in their culture and in their environment is really — in my mind — what’s always been normal for me. So it’s exciting to see that on the big screen.”
DeSousa, who worked with Jones for four months, said the actor was shooting Locke Key in Toronto when CODA producers went searching for an ASL tutor based in the city.
Influx in interest in ASL
“I’ve worked with many actors, young to older, and I’ve been in this industry for over 30 years. I’ve never seen someone who really wanted it [like Jones],” DeSousa said through interpreter Laura Henry, referring to Jones’s hunger to learn sign language.
At the time, he said, Jones was just 17, but her dedication showed a maturity beyond her years.
Anselmo DeSousa, a Toronto-based ASL tutor, taught actor Emilia Jones sign language to prepare her for her role of Ruby Rossi in the Academy Award-winning film CODA. (Anselmo.desousaofficial/Instagram)
“Her level of motivation! During the week, she was filming with Locke Key. How can you not be exhausted? You’re on the set for 14 hours a day, and she was looking forward to meeting me every week,” DeSousa said.
Troy Kotsur, who plays Jones’s father, took home the Oscar for best supporting actor, and the film also won for best adapted screenplay.
DeSousa said it was hard to believe Jones wasn’t nominated, but noted she did earn a nomination for a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award, and won the breakthrough-performer honour at the Gotham Independent Film Awards.
But the big win, say DeSousa and Brockway, is deaf culture finally has its place in the spotlight.
“Hearing people are looking at this and they’re wanting to learn sign language — we’re having an influx of people wanting to learn sign language,” said DeSousa.
“They want to communicate with deaf people. And that’s another impact from this film: it’s going to build even bigger bridges as people learn to communicate and come together through hearing, deaf, disability and CODA worlds.”
WATCH | Full-length interviews with closed captioning and simultaneous ASL interpretation:
Jessica Brockway is a child of deaf adults, also known as a CODA. She’s also a teacher at the Robart’s School for the Deaf in London, Ont. Jessica joined the CBC’s Jackie Sharkey to talk about the significance of the film CODA winning Best Picture at the Oscars, along with ASL interpreter Billie-Ann Lecky. 8:53Anselmo DeSousa, ASL coach to Emilia Jones, talks about his experience working with the CODA star and why the deaf community is so excited to see their culture in the spotlight. ASL interpretation is by Laura Henry from CHS Learning Exchange. 20:28
Last year we got four new Harry Potter books to add to our shelves celebrating the subjects taught at Hogwarts School. In addition to the initial Transfiguration and Potions classes, we were also given the Charms and Herbology lessons. These clever little sets expanded on previous Disney storybook playsets that provided younger LEGO fans with portable scenes and characters, and the translation to the Wizarding World has been fantastic. Back at again this year, LEGO is giving us two more lessons Tetris-ed in between custom printed covers. The first new lesson is 76396 Hogwarts Moment: Divination Class which has 297 pieces and comes with Professor Trelawney, Harry Potter, and Parvati Patil minifigures for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99. The next is 76396 Hogwarts Moment: Defence Against the Dark Arts Class with 257 pieces and Professor Moody, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom minifigures for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99. Both are available on the LEGO Shop starting March 1st.
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Unboxing the sets and contents
Since this is no longer a brand new theme, we’ll be reviewing both sets together. Comparing both can show just how different these sets can be. The art on the boxes does a great job showing off the different features while teasing new prints and pieces.
Following the fronts, the back art provides an extra setting specific to each class. These are eye-catching and mood-setting if nothing else. At least the Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA) box changes things up with insets showing the alternate, Barty Crouch, Jr., and terrifyingly printed trophy-figure version of Moody. I would never disparage a disabled veteran for their appearance but I have mixed feelings about LEGO’s execution of the trophy figure print for the one-eyed, one-legged imprisoned ex-Auror (or at least the print on mine). It does bring up some questions about Polyjuice potion, that’s for sure.
You can see my print below amongst the other characters and pieces of note with each set. New book page prints of The Grim and The Dark Mark make for great finds. Meanwhile, Trelawney doesn’t seem to be the only one with a new outfit, as it looks like this Moody/Barty is a recolored version of the series one dark blue, grey, and tan Collectible Minifigure.
I’m sad they abandoned the little flask piece that came with the Harry Potter Series 1 Minifigures but I was stoked to see Barty, Jr was licking his lips just like David Tennant did in the role. The new chest piece holding the tiny Moody also seems purpose-made for this set (and the Magical Trunk) since the old rounded treasure chest top probably took up too much room in the compact design.
The builds
The first bag of each set ends with very different results. The DADA class focuses on the folding class structure (with a place for the book to be stored on the shelf in the spine) and a few pieces of furniture. Meanwhile, the Divination class focuses on building up the furniture pieces that will later fit together and stack inside the negative space created by the folding setting. That owl fixture and diamond display are both great scene elements for this class, as are the crystal ball table and cushy red chair. Both sets knock out the big stickers early, all of which can be tricky to properly place. My only gripe is that there really isn’t a way to delicately peel off and reset these large sticker pieces without ruining them.
The second bag fills out each scene with the remaining architectural and furniture elements. Trelawney’s class gets folding curtains that obscure the lower anti-stud portions of the covers and help complete the images in the stickers.
Moody’s classroom glows up the most in the second bag, finishing the class setting and making a raised desk and tall chalkboard. The majority of the stickers are applied to that central portion in the first half of the build, complimenting the fireplace and display case. I couldn’t identify them all but it was cool seeing such a plethora of bottles and tools in sticker and piece form.
And there you have it. Both finished builds are ready to be populated and played with. Each book comes with pieces to connect it to the cover of another book, allowing you to create a round mega-playset with all six sets fanned out in a circle. When you’re done playing, you can take the furniture from each, fold in the scene elements, and stack them all securely together between the covers, like so.
Put these and their minifigures on a shelf with your Harry Potter collection for a great display or check them out of your library one at a time while you’re re-watching the series.
Conclusion and recommendation
Between the two sets, there’s a good balance of decorating and furniture building. The curtains in the Divination class may be relatively simplistic but the owl fixture and inset gem kept me from feeling disappointed with the details. The big chair and table are the real stars among the brick-built elements while that Grimm print is certainly a score. Trelawney’s pants outfit looks great and much more detailed than the dress from before but it would’ve been great to get more of the printed plates that were introduced in Trelawney’s Collectible Minifigure.
Moody’s Defence Against the Dark Arts class was full of delightful pieces and prints that had me wishing that LEGO would start labeling the stickers or instructions. The Foe-Glass on the swingout shelf is an obvious reference for fans of the series but some of the knick-knacks in the stickers are tantamount to T.G.I. Friday’s decorations. The new Moody/Barty Crouch, Jr. figure and the trophy-figure Moody in the trunk are a great pairing, even if the print for the trophy-fig leaves a little to be desired. Given the details they were able to put on the trophy figures for the giant Hogwarts castle, you’d think LEGO would be able to provide a little more contrast and detail on a basically plain figure. Still, while limited, the furniture in this set was pretty nice. I mean, that clawfooted chalkboard is well executed for the scale and functionality of this set.
The price point hasn’t changed from last year’s Moments sets, which means if you found those affordable and worth it, you’ll probably be prone to pick these up too. These really do make fun, durable playsets for kids, though I wish they had been designed with space for the minifigures. I was a kid once and I know I wouldn’t enjoy a pocket full of loose pieces that I was prone to lose. All that being said, these are definitely affordable parts packs for Harry Potter builders. There’s potential here for harvesting the parts and stickers to build your own modular version to fit in with the castle sets. Beyond that, these provide a wealth of different minifigures and expressions.
Six books seem like a small number for these sets so I hope that means we’ll have more in the future. Each of the current ones focuses on a particular iconic lesson from the series, of which there are quite a few worth remembering. Even the mind-numbing Professor Binns stands out from the series and I’m sure Harry Potter fans would love having a minifigure for him. Whether they’ll continue this series or not remains to be seen but it’s certainly a great excuse to pump out new collectible prints and pieces along with new versions of characters.
LEGO Harry Potter 76396 Hogwarts Moment: Divination Class includes 297 pieces, comes with three minifigures, and will be available starting March 1st, 2022 from the LEGO Shop for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99.
LEGO Harry Potter 76397 Hogwarts Moment: Defence Against the Dark Arts Class includes 257 pieces, comes with three minifigures, and will be available starting March 1st, 2022 from the LEGO Shop for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99.
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Jammu, Apr 2 (PTI) RSS leader Indresh Kumar on Saturday said that political parties that criticised ‘The Kashmir Files’, a movie based on the exodus of Kashmiri pandits, should have instead condemned Pakistan-sponsored terrorism which brought death and destruction to the Kashmir valley.He also appealed to the people to maintain age-old communal harmony and brotherhood. “The National Conference, PDP, Congress and (Delhi Chief Minister Arvind) Kejriwal should have unequivocally condemned the terror which was responsible for death and destruction in the valley and displacement of Kashmiri pandits,” Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of a function organised by Muslim Rashtriya Manch here.Responding to a question about the ‘Kashmir Files’ movie, he said the film was not made by any government but by some “non-political people” and is based on reality.“When nearly 80,000 people have lost their lives, there are a lot of tragic stories…a few Kashmiri Muslims at the behest of Pakistan unleashed the reign of terror and defamed Kashmiriyat and Islam. The Kashmiris should come forward and condemn those involved in the terror instead of maintaining silence,” he said.The RSS leader said he is personally against the displacement of anyone, whether in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. “There should be no oppression on anyone and everyone should live in peace everywhere.” Kumar said he had set up the J K Sahara Samiti for the welfare of the displaced people, irrespective of their religion. Referring to the conference organised by Muslim Rashtriya Manch, an RSS-linked outfit, he said members of various communities, including Gujjars, Bakerwals, Pahari-speaking people, Dogras and Kashmiris, attended the function. “It was organised to send a message across the country that we are all Indians, irrespective of our religion, region, caste, creed and language. The specialty of our country is that it connects people of all faiths and everyone lives respectfully,” he said. Greeting the people on the commencement of the Navratri festival and the fasting month of Ramzan, Kumar said, “We have to join hands and stay away from rioting and hooliganism to make India and Jammu and Kashmir an abode of peace and progress.” He lauded the Modi government for its successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and for helping other nations. PTI TAS TAS RT RT
The goblins who run the underground Gringotts Bank are a continuation of centuries-long antisemitic tropes. That’s the word from comedian Jon Stewart, who discussed the depiction on his Apple TV+ show, “The Problem with Jon Stewart” in December.
“It was one of those things where I saw it on the screen and I was expecting the crowd to be like ‘Holy (crap), she did not in a wizarding world just throw Jews in there to run the … underground bank.’ And everyone was like, ‘wizards,’ ” Stewart said.
More:How trans ‘Harry Potter’ fans are grappling with J.K. Rowling’s legacy after her transphobic comments
The goblin bankers in the movies have long noses and ears, sharp teeth and they love gold. Stewart said that’s in line with the anti-Semitic portrayal of Jewish people in “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”
“(People say) ‘Oh that’s a character from ‘Harry Potter,’ (and) you’re like, ‘No that’s a caricature of a Jew from an antisemitic piece of literature.’ J.K. Rowling was like, ‘Can we get these guys to run our bank?’ ” Stewart said. “It’s a wizarding world. We can ride dragons. You can have a pet owl. But who should run the bank? Jews. But what if the teeth were sharper?”
How the ‘Harry Potter’ reunion addresses author J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans controversy
“No I didn’t,” Stewart said in a tweet that linked to a Newsweek headline stating that he did.
“I do not think J.K. Rowling is antisemitic,” said Stewart in a video posted Wednesday on Twitter. “I did not accuse her of being antisemitic, I do not think the ‘Harry Potter’ movies are antisemitic. I really love the ‘Harry Potter’ movies, probably a little too much for a gentleman of my considerable age.
“Not a reasonable person would not have looked at that conversation (from ‘The Problem with Jon Stewart’) and not found it light-hearted.”
How did childhood fame treat Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint?
“Those who continue to use such representations are often not thinking of Jews at all, but simply of how readers or viewers will imagine goblins to look, which is a testament more to centuries of Christendom’s antisemitism than it is to malice by contemporary artists. So it is with J.K. Rowling, who has proven herself over recent years to be a tireless defender of the Jewish community in its fight against antisemitism, for which we are immensely grateful.”
Rowling’s previous comments on transgender issues have drawn heat, which included condemnation by Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe in 2020.
‘Dumbledore’s Army’: How ‘Harry Potter’ inspired a generation of young activists
