Harry Potter Moves Into The Movies
01/09/2000 . Source: Jessica Martin 
Harry Potter madness continues unabated as software company Electronic Arts announced it had won the hot bidding war for video games rights based on the Harry Potter books and the forthcoming Warner movie. Buy Harry Potter in the USA - or Buy Harry Potter in the UK  Electronic Arts said it will be working closely with J. K. Rowling, the author of the best-selling Potter fantasy novels. With Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone about to become both a major movie and computer game, we have to wonder is someone hasn't quite missed the plot. How refreshing it was to actually see children reading a book - indeed queuing up around bookshops to pick up new instalments with all the passion normally reserved for Pop Concerts. When this hits both the big screen and the VDU screen, we just wonder here at the Nest if the fact Harry Potter first made it into the world via the magic of the printed page is going to be quickly forgotten as children cluster around the old Dreamcast. And how ironic that the entire thrust of the novels was towards the sleepy world where books and magic are the path to wisdom, while the bad pupils at Potter's school can be identified by their predilection towards 24x7 twitch gaming, pasty faces and unfit bodies. Oh well. At least the film is lining up some key names for the film. Richard Harris (Cromwell, Braveheart, Unforgiven, et al) is nearly signed to play the role of the Hogwarts School of Wizardry's headmaster Dumbledore. Alan Rickman (Robin Hood, Galaxy Quest etc) is up for the role of Professor Snape. Evil Lord Voldemort's plum part is now being lined up for actor Ian McKellen … as long, that is, as his recent success as Magneto in the X-Men movie doesn't get in the way; both in terms of being available for the X-sequels or a sudden inflation in the old pay packet area. He is said to be examining his Lord of the Rings filming schedule to see if he can make the time (our Ian is playing Gandalf in the LOTR movies). 
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