Filmjerk on Oldman

  January 23, 2003 at 9:39 AM ET
      The Leaky Cauldron
 


Filmjerk's Chris Faile posted an article this morning about the Oldman casting, and why WB hasn't announced it officially yet. There's not much new - it quotes an industry source reminding us of what we suspect, that this casting waiting game is all part of drawn-out publicity for maximized PoA hype - but it does re-confirm casting with one of their own sources and mention that Oldman has been signed for as long as ten days. Quotage:
"The reason the studio is not publicly acknowledging he has been cast is press strategy. They're going to do a slow burn on the casting announcements for the remaining characters, including Dumbledore, until they hit production time. They want to publicly maximize these announcements, and are most likely coordinating around last week's news about the fifth book in the series. Any press-smart studio with this kind of franchise will do this sometimes, as this is a business, first and foremost. Add in that "Chamber of Secrets" is still playing on over 1,000 screens right now and the DVD now is announced as hitting in April. With a director unknown to most audiences, they're playing up as much as they can right. They're doing it smart."
There's also a spoiler warning here - if you have not read PoA and do not want the movie's surprises spoiled, do not read the last paragraph. Granted, 99% of you have read it 14 times, but still - fair warning. (And why, Filmjerk, why do it?) As for the press game, I'm also suspecting this is why the DVD is coming out so early; with the book arriving so soon after, the studio will have a year to wean people off Pottermania and get them properly excited again before the movie comes out.
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