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.

The fifth Harry Potter movie, Order of the Phoenix, has received a nomination for the People's Choice Award at this year's European Film Awards. The film faces competition from mostly local movies like the German romantic comedy Rabbit Without Ears.

You can vote for the Movie 5 on September 1st at this link.

Thanks to everyone who emailed.

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, J.K. Rowling and Order of the Phoenix have all been nominated for SyFy Genre Awards. Radcliffe is in the running for Best Actor, Watson for Best Actress (up against Potter co-star Helena Bonham Carter for her role in "Sweeney Todd") and Order of the Phoenix for Best Movie.

J.K. Rowling got the nod for the Gene Roddenberry Lifetime Achievement Award. The nominees are all writers for the first time ever, and only one of them is still alive. Others in contention include: Douglas Adams, Arthur C. Clarke, Gene L. Coon and H.G. Wells.

Voting begins June 25th on SyFy Portal and lasts a month. Winners will be announced in early August. We will post the link for voting as soon as it becomes available.

Thanks to GuillerminaLynn for sending this in!

Some of our UK readers may have been feeling a bit left out when we first told you about Order of the Phoenix and Chamber of Secrets being available in the US iTunes music store.

Yesterday, the UK iTunes store commenced sales of movie rentals, and Order of the Phoenix is included! We'll let you know when the other films appear.

Last week we told you about several new photos that have surfaced online from Order of the Phoenix.

Now, one more cool photo has appeared via Oclumencia. It's Lucius Malfoy sitting at home looking quite relaxed with a drink and two dogs at his feet. Tipsters noted that this shot appeared in the Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter special this past summer. Thanks to Oclumencia and everyone who e-mailed for the tip!

A couple days ago, Oclumenia got their hands on several new promotional photos from Order of the Phoenix. Of particular interest are one of Lucius in Azkaban and Harry, Dumbledore, Bellatrix and Voldemort all posing for a friendly photo.

Check 'em all out here in our gallery. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed in with the tip!

Thanks to Kaci for letting us know that a TV spot from Order of the Phoenix has won "Best Animation/Family TV Spot" at the 2008 Golden Trailer Awards, which were held yesterday in Los Angeles. The spot, titled "Great Wizards", can be viewed here in QuickTime format.

The kiss in Order of the Phoenix between Daniel Radcliffe and Katie Leung (Cho) has been nominated for this year's MTV Awards in the best kiss category.

You can vote at this link, until May 23rd. The site says "Juno may be super hip, but the hipster movie moment of the year was undoubtedly the kiss between nerdy Daniel 'Harry Potter' Radcliffe and foxy Katie 'Cho' Leung.

The Awards will air on June 1st. Thanks to everyone who emailed!

The HBO schedule for Order of the Phoenix is now online, and the fifth film in the Potter series is set to begin in high-definition on June 22nd at 9 PM EST. The Making Of special, which originally aired back in November, will start airing again on the June 19th.

Thanks, Julee, for the tip!

UPDATE: Kneazle sent in a very detailed report of her visit, having seen us report about it here. Check it out on the "Read More..." link below!

Thanks to MuggleNet reader Rose for letting us know that the 16th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition is ending on April 12th, and may be of interest to Potter fans. On display from Order of the Phoenix are Tonks’ final battle outfit, Umbridge’s pink skirt/suit outfit, Lucius Malfoy’s outfit, a Death Eater outfit, and Voldemort’s cloak.

The display is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is free to the public. Several costumes from other films are also on display, including Sweeney Todd, Beowulf, Enchanted, and Hairspray. Find more information at their website! Thanks again to Rose for the tip.

Dave Legeno is set to play the part of Fenrir Greyback in Half-Blood Prince. The 44-year-old spoke to The Star saying, "Daniel will be taking his own 17 stone monster in this film - me."

The fighter, known as The Legend Killer for his giant-slaying ways, added: "He is a lovely guy but let's just say he will have his hands full when I get hold of him."

Check out a scan of this brief interview here, thanks to Snitch Seeker.

As we told you yesterday, Emma Watson was 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 at the Empire awards.

The ceremony took place last night and congratulations to David Yates who earned the Best Director award for his work on Order of the Phoenix. Check out a video interview with him at the bottom of this page where he concedes being tempted to direct the Deathly Hallows film.

Further coverage of the event, including photos of Emma Watson, Evanna Lynch, Katie Leung and Jason Isaacs, can be seen here.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in!

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.

Apple's iTunes music store recently added movies to its lineup of offerings, and this week they added Order of the Phoenix to their directory. You are now able to rent it for 30 days for $3.99. Once you start playing the movie, you have 24 hours to finish it.

Sorcerer's Stone through Goblet of Fire are also expected to be added to the store in the coming months.

Yesterday we told you that the Food Network's Ace of Cakes would be doing a special last night on the Hogwarts Castle Cake from the LA Order of the Phoenix after party. DanRadcliffe.com now has the video online, and you can watch it over at their site. Thanks, Jenna!

Of note to MuggleNet visitors, when you get to 2:38 you'll see Ben and Emerson behind one of the cake designer's right shoulder. Unfortunately, we were too afraid to touch the cake because of how well it was designed.

According to figures released today by the BBC, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the UK and Ireland's highest grossing film last year, making £49.4 million (around $98 million) and putting the movie just ahead of the third installments of both the Pirates of the Caribbean and Shrek franchises, and big releases such as The Simpsons Movie and Transformers, which also opened in 2007.

This makes it the most successful Potter film since Chamber of Secrets, which grossed £5.3 million more in the UK.

Thanks to Tammy for sending this in!

Ah, and what a year it was. 2007 was BY FAR the biggest year for Harry Potter fans that we have ever seen. It was filled with book releases, movie releases, theme park announcements, gay character announcements, and oh-so-much more.

We now present to you our fourth annual Year in Review, highlighting the biggest and most interesting stories of 2007.

Feel free to use the comments of this news post to reflect on this year and discuss what's coming in 2008. Also, look for two more big projects appearing here from MuggleNet within the next week!

Yahoo! recently released some of their year-end awards with the Harry Potter series grabbing various honors. Emma Watson came in at #3 and Dan Radcliffe at #10 on the list of the 10 Most Popular Stars of 2007.

Order of the Phoenix was named one of the 10 Most Popular Movies of 2007 claiming the #5 spot, and the trailer for the fifth Harry Potter film ranked at #4 in the category of 10 Most Popular Trailers of 2007.

Thanks to Sara, Katie and Shannon for sending this in!

The Order of the Phoenix DVD has been released in the United States today, a month after fans in UK and Australia got their hands on it.

Several visitors have e-mailed in to tell us that there is a new sneak peek of Half-Blood Prince on the DVD. The clips differ from those that were available online to UK/Australia buyers. It has been uploaded to YouTube for those of you who don't hold the United States disc. If these clips are made available online for international viewers, please let us know via tips at staff dot mugglenet dot com!

Additionally, Larry sent in this article from MTV which speaks with producer David Yates about Half-Blood Prince filming:

That's because, as director David Yates points out, it's the "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" of the Potter books, with massive making-out sessions to occur for several characters — Ron and Lavender, Harry and Ginny — as they come of age. "It's the 'American Graffiti' for this set," Yates said. "I'm looking forward to developing the relationship between Ron and Hermione, and Ron and Lavender. There's a nice triangle there."

Follow this link for more from Heyman, Dan Radcliffe (Harry), Katie Leung (Cho), and Evanna Lynch (Luna).

WB has sent along a promotional video featuring several aspects of the upcoming Order of the Phoenix DVD, Interactive DVD Game, and DVD gift set. Some of the clips include a small interview with Set Designer Stuart Craig, Set Director Stephenie McMillan, and Art Director Alex Walker (who is interviewed by Tonks actress Natalia Tena). You can view it right here, already in podcast form if you so chose to bring it with you on your iPod.

What's more, a demo of the Interactive DVD game is now available in flash form at this link.