Director David Yates recently spoke with Vanity Fair, where he discusses the decision to split Deathly Hallows, the challenge of adding an additional scene in Half-Blood Prince, as well as the series in general. When asked about the task of having to please millions of fans:

"It’s a very difficult juggling act but you just do your very best to make the film as in-the-moment as possible and you have to make certain choices, which are difficult at times, which just make that adaptation fit more into that cinematic experience in the theater."

On knowing he will have directed the majority of Potter films:

"I’m really cool about that. It sort of raises the bar somewhat when I leave Potter and I move on and start doing other stuff."

Thanks to Tom for sending this in!

Two days before the premiere of the long awaited sixth movie, ComingSoon.net has posted a great interview with director David Yates. In it, he discusses how he got the job to direct four movies in a row, the MPAA rating for Half-Blood Prince, and how filming for Deathly Hallows is going. He reveals that while they are aiming towards directing part one of the two-parter Deathly Hallows first, filming for the second half had to be done as well due to the availability of the actors. Shooting for both movies is scheduled to end around spring, according to Yates. He also mentions a bit about Bill Nighy, who talked a bit about working with the director earlier today.

In reference to the humour in the sixth movie, Yates had this to say:

I really love the humor. I like humor. I think it leavens the load a little bit, and Dan, Rupert and Emma do it quite well. Even though the next script is quite intense, and Steve's really great at pairing it with little moments that are quite charming. They're not gags. They're just really delicate funny humorous bits. Then I'll throw in a few things, like the scene with the pies when Rupert sits down. That was just a bit of improvisation. There was just a big plate of pies and I went, "Rupert, I know what we'll do, let's try this" and then Steve writes a lot of really funny stuff which I adore, and the guys adore doing. I think we need to keep that. I think audiences enjoy it, it keeps them in the right mood.

Continuing with their series of Potter reports leading up to the release of Half-Blood Prince, the Los Angeles Times now has a piece with Director David Yates:

It was about 3:20 a.m. yesterday when my phone rang: It was David Yates, the soft-spoken British director whose second "Harry Potter" film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," arrives in theaters across America on July 15. He sounded apologetic: "It's quite early there isn't it? Thanks for doing this, mate."

Despite the hour, it was my pleasure to take the call -- Yates is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet and, after visiting him outside London last year on the set of "Half-Blood Prince," it was a treat to catch up, even if his schedule required the pre-dawn appointment. Right now, Yates is in the midst of filming the final boy-wizard adventure, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," which will be split into two films.

"We're here in the forest, we've just finished the scene where Harry, Hermione and Ron are captured by the Snatchers after being chased through the woods. The Snatchers are brutal and scary but they aren't the most intelligent of creatures.They're trying to figure out exactly who it is they've caught."

Read much much more with David right here. There are some great comments from him about the casting of the trio and much more!

In a new interview, Harry Potter director David Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves discuss the Half-Blood Prince movie.

Kloves, the adapter of all but one Potter novel (Phoenix), writes first drafts that tend "to be both wishful and practical" in his desire to retain Rowling's details and plot twists. "Wishful in the sense that I want to get the entire book on the page and practical in the sense that I know the wishful side of me is insane."

Prince presented challenges because of "a series of memories that inform the past and the present." While Yates "enjoyed the flashbacks enormously as separate incidents, he didn't feel they were satisfying within the whole. In other words, they diluted the dramatic experience from his point of view and he felt we needed to concentrate exclusively on those memories that informed one particular thread of the story - the story I was, by and large, telling."

Thanks to everyone who emailed.

An interview with David Yates on the Leavesden Studios set back in January 2008 has now emerged.

The Half-Blood Prince director previously said the sixth film is about "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll." He ammended that comment, saying that "it's actually about sex, potions and rock 'n' roll... It's a wonderfully fun, slightly rebellious, quite naughty stage of teenage life. When you're kind of discovering the opposite sex. In the previous film, it was about the first kiss. This film is a bit more sexualized than that. We don't see sex, but it's kind of in there. And the relationships are a bit more complicated and romantic and convoluted. So we're pushing into new emotional and kind of physical territory for Harry Potter, so it's quite playful and fun."

The director also spoke about how the actors have changed since OOTP. "Emma has become much more confident. I mean, she was confident before, but her acting is becoming more effortless. Dan's been off and done Equus and some television things, a television film, and he's grown a lot more confident and matured a wee bit. And they're all getting a wee bit older, and the material allows them to take a few more turns, again. They're getting better, as they should be as they get older, you know, so it's encouraging and enjoyable."

Emma Watson has added a new post to her official site where she talks about the Empire awards taking place tonight. She says, "I think I'm also presenting an award which will be great! I really hope it will be a good night for Potter! Fingers crossed!"

Emma has been nominated for Best Actress, Dan Radcliffe for Best Actor, David Yates for Best Director, Nicholas Hooper (who composed the fifth film's soundtrack) for Best Soundtrack, and OOTP itself for Best Film and Best Sci-fi/Fantasy.

The awards will be broadcast tomorrow at 9 PM on ITV2.

A new MTV Movies blog entry comments on yesterday's Deathly Hallows rumors. MTV says that a source at Warner Bros. told them an announcement was coming within the "next week or two," but we've learned that MTV may have not been told this at all.

If true, this falls in line with recent quotes from Potter producers David Heyman and David Barron, who both said an announcement about the DH movie split would come in the "not-too-distant future." We'll let you know as soon as we do!

Lois Lowry, a children's book writer, has updated her online blog with information about The Giver movie. She had hoped Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince director David Yates would be able to direct The Giver. However:

...he has just decided he wants to do the final Harry Potter first, thereby postponing The Giver by several years.

While this is not confirmed by Warner Brothers yet, it appears to be a pretty reliable source. We'll let you know if we know more. Thanks to Ms. Lowry and Leaky for the tip!

In an interview conducted last weekend for the release of the fifth Harry Potter DVD, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson express their feelings about Dumbledore being gay.

Check out a video of this here.

The Daily Mail is reporting that the 11-year old nephew of Voldemort actor Ralph Fiennes is set to be cast as young Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Director David Yates says he has found someone to play the part, but couldn’t comment on who it is:

"I've found a really interesting kid to play Riddle. I can't tell you who it is yet -- it's early days."

Please remember that all this should be taken as a rumor for now. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed in!

In a new audio interview that will leave us die-hard fans very happy, Half-Blood Prince director David Yates talks about how he understands the fan's connection with each film. With that in mind, he says, he's going to make HBP a very character-driven film with a coming of age story (thanks in part to screenwriter Steve Kloves' "fun" draft).

To listen to this 6 1/2 minute interview, head on over to Voices From Krypton who got the scoop. Thanks to those who e-mailed with the tip!

In a new interview with OOTP director David Yates and Potter producer David Heyman, they discuss briefly how they plan to adapt the Half-Blood Prince book.

Yates: It's about the kind of emotional and sexual politics of being a teenager. It's a very different swing, the next film. I think it needs to be for the series to keep evolving. In my work, every choice I've made I've always gone for something in the neurotically opposite direction. Once I've finished something, I've stayed keen to stay fresh as a story teller to try something different. The "Potter" world is so rich. They're so many things to play with in that world that it's possible to regear so the next one will be very different I think.

At Saturday's OOTP press conference in London, producer David Heyman was asked which character was referred to when they were advised by JKR not to cut it from the movie. Heyman responded with this:

"Jo reads each draft. She reads each screenplay, and she said, 'You know, I wouldn't do that if I were you. Or you can, but if you get to make a seventh film, you'll be tied in knots.'"

"Which character was it?" he was asked, but Heyman teased, "I thought you might ask that. I'm not going to say."

Luckily, however, MTV News caught up with director David Yates yesterday where he submitted. Please hightlight below to see what he said because it contains Book 7 spoilers:

--->“It was Kreacher, actually. We took Kreacher out, and Jo said, ‘Listen guys, you don’t have to put Kreacher back, but I’m just telling you, if you want to kind of keep a thread going for six and seven, you might want Kreacher to come back.’ She basically told us Kreacher plays a role in Seven, in a sense. She hinted. We thought about it for five seconds, and he came back.”<---

Read more on this here (link contains spoilers).

In a new interview with Ain't It Cool News, Rupert Grint discusses both the upcoming movie Order of the Phoenix and filming Half-Blood Prince. Concerning the fifth movie, Rupert talks about one of the disappointments he faced:

"I was a bit disappointed when Quidditch didn't make it, but I mean... it's such a big book, there's so much to fit in I can understand why they pared it down.
But I'm kinda hoping it'll be in the next one."

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix comes out in theaters on July 11th.

UPDATE: Ain't It Cool News also has a report from this morning's press conferences with the OOTP cast and crew. It contains information about the fifth and sixth movies, but more interestingly, Book 7.

In the original draft of the screenplay Order of the Phoenix, they had decided to remove a character from the story. Rowling read over the screenplay and said “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” that they were free to do whatever they liked, of course, but "if you make a 7th movie you’ll have tied your hands."

The report is spoiler-free for those concerned but contains theories from the author.

UPDATE #2: A second interview was also conducted with David Yates. Yates talks about the new movie and the sixth movie as well. In the interview he discusses the relationship between Dumbledore and Harry:

"It’s a very different dynamic this time because there’s a lot more between Dumbledore and Harry. I think we’ll be alright on this one. I’ve got a good feeling."

He has also said that he has "talked about" coming back for the Deathly Hallows movie as well.

The LA Times has a new article on the Order of the Phoenix movie, quoting director David Yates, Dan Radcliffe, and Emma Watson.

During one particularly emotional scene in this installment, Radcliffe recalls [Gary] Oldman [Sirius Black] saying to him: "'Dan, do you mind if I do something sort of physical with you before we start?' I was like, 'No, no,' assuming he meant giving me a hug. He came up to me and grabbed me and shook me really, really hard. As he went away, he kept eye contact. And tears started to form up. I had no idea how it happened, but it worked."

Emma also mentioned that Yates is perfect for this film: "I don't know if he could have directed any of the other ones. This was his story to tell."

Also, in an article previewing some of this summer's movies, USA Weekend writes about how Luna Lovegood actress Evanna Lynch made her own radish earrings (which we told you previously) for use in the film.

The costume department on the film hired several jewelry designers to make the earrings, but Evanna Lynch, the young actress who plays Luna, was so into the character that she made her own. "And they were better!" says costume director Jany Temime. "More artsy-craftsy, more like what a creative young girl would do. The stuff we had was too professional. So we used hers."

Thanks to those who emailed!

GeekMonthly has posted the second part of their interview with Order of the Phoenix director David Yates. Check out a snippet below:

Right at the beginning, you always have these rehearsals with any actor you work with. With Dan, in particular, who had to go through this quite complex journey. We sat down several months before we started shooting. We would meet every week and we would talk about what Harry was dealing with. One of the things we did, and it sounds quite intense for a family film, is we brought in a bereavement counselor to talk to us about how Harry Potter dealt with witnessing the death of Cedric [Diggory]. This woman came in to talk to both of us about how people deal with quite intense emotional and disturbing experiences. She deals with people in the police and the rescue services who every day witnessed trauma and death, and she kind of showed us how people process that and deal with that and what it does to them.

In a great new interview with GeekMonthly, Order of the Phoenix director David Yates offers his thoughts on the themes of the fifth book:

Jo's work is full of really interesting thematic stuff. In our story, Harry's having to deal with the whole issue of whether or not he's being corrupted and been made bad by this connection he has with Voldemort. It's classical. Anyone who's ever been through those very turbulent, difficult teenage years where you find yourself growing angry and frustrated and those years are really formative, will be able to identify. They're the years that can sometimes define you as a person. Some people can take that and develop in a positive way, and some people start on a route that ultimately leads them to difficult years.

Read more...

In a new interview, Movie 5 director David Yates spoke about how, having produced politically charged films like The Girl In the Cafe, he was surprised when approached to direct OOTP.

Yates, who had never read the Harry Potter books, said: "It was interesting to get the call. I wouldn't have put myself forward as an obvious candidate." However, after reading Order of the Phoenix, he realized the novel had strong political overtones. "And it's probably the most emotional of all the books. As I read the book, suddenly, I tuned into the kind of thing I have always been drawn to."

Yates also spoke a little about Umbridge, saying she is "quite damaged as a person. She basically abuses Harry and puts him through this horrific detention. It is horrific abuse."

Thanks, Andrew, for sending this in!

David Yates, director of the fifth Harry Potter film, spoke in a new interview about what direction he's putting the movie in. Yates' prestige has increased in the UK after producing hits such as Sex Traffic and The Girl in the Cafe, but it has been questioned why someone who makes "gritty, hyperreal socially conscious films" is directing Potter. Producer David Heyman answers that question, saying, "Well, this movie is bit of a revolution."

Yates had this to say: "The ministry is this bureaucratic authoritarian regime trying to impose a fundamental doctrine on this liberal wacky school. The ministry isn't very good at accepting the beauty of differences. Everything has to fit in a box, and if it doesn't fit, it must be removed. The wonderful thing this story tells kids is that it's OK to be different."

OOTP presents Harry with his toughest experiences yet, and that's what Yates is focusing on. "I've stretched Dan quite a bit. He's a very intuitive person, very bright, quite sensitive. I'm just helping him wake those things up. You can see his determination and ambition, and he can switch things on a sixpence, so I can't wait for people to see what he's achieving."

Thanks to Roger and Andrew for the tip!

On Saturday we told you Production Weekly had reported that David Yates would direct the sixth Harry Potter film. However, Warner Bros. has just informed us that a Half-Blood Prince director has yet to be chosen, so consider this false for the time being.