There's a new interview out today with Chris Columbus, who Potter fans know for directing Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets. His latest film, titled Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is due out this weekend in the United States.

Many have compared Percy Jackson to Harry Potter, noting several similarities (especially when you watch this Percy Jackson trailer). It's why we decided to post the below interview from ScreenStar, who specifically asks Columbus about making sure he wasn't copying his own work on Potter too much:

Q: How often did you catch yourself on the Percy Jackson set saying, "Nope, did that on Potter. Can't do it again."?

A: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. To a certain extent, if I felt there were any similarities -- because people always ask the question -- I really, really tried hard to remove them from the film. I didn't really want the comparisons, but the comparisons, when you're doing anything in the fantasy genre, are inevitable. Every time I saw a bit of a pitfall we'd move away from it.

Read the rest of the interview at this link, where Chris discusses advances in special effects since Potter and much more.

Electronic Arts, makers of the Harry Potter video games that follow the plots of the films, today announced their third quarter fiscal year 2010 results. With it came a list of video games they plan on releasing this year.

Of interest to Potter fans is one game listed as "Harry Potter Title TBA". It is scheduled to be released in the third quarter (between September - November) on consoles, handhelds, and PCs.

We suspect this is a Deathly Hallows, Part 1 video game. Do you have any guesses? As always, we'll keep you updated! Thanks to Rami for the tip.

The actor who plays Draco Malfoy in the Potter series is officially on board for the film The Apparition.

The news was first confirmed by Shock Till You Drop.

Tom will play Patrick, who is the third lead in the story. Congrats, Tom!

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed with the tip.

As we reported several weeks ago, crews for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows have been filming scenes in Swinley Forest.

London Taxi Tours, well known for finding Potter sets, has uploaded another video from the area. The video shows more wigwam-like huts built for filming surrounded by very large trees. We also see tourists checking out the area.

The Daily Mail and Express newspapers have both published new interviews with actress Emma Watson over the past 24 hours.

In the former interview, Emma discusses her plans for fashion design in the future:

Q: You’ve done acting, modelling, and now you’re designing. Is this the future for Emma Watson?

A: Oh, I don’t have any plans to be a designer. I’m doing this range because I really care about fair-trade and ethical fashion. I’m so pleased that I got involved, but I don’t want to take all the credit for being the designer because I haven’t trained as a designer or even gone to art college – in fact, I had no idea about the amount of work involved at the outset!

While speaking with Express, Emma touches on wrapping up Deathly Hallows filming in a few months and acting in the future:

Potter producers have scheduled filming to allow her to attend college and film her remaining scenes during her holidays. The last day of filming Harry Potter draws closer, however.

“I will be uncontrollable,” she says, picturing that final day on set. “It’s been half of our lives. It’s made us, it’s formed us. It’s such a big part of my life so it will be really sad.”

Emma is still debating whether to continue with acting long term. “I just want to be sure it’s what I want. I was so young and I don’t think I really knew the greatness of what I was signing on for. I really want to study. I would love to try theatre. I need to try stuff out. But I say all this now, I’m sure I’ll still be here in 10 years, making Harry Potter 30.”

Thanks to Marese for The Daily Mail article!

According to J.K. Rowling's official website, today marks 60 years since the birth of a wonderful father figure in the Harry Potter series.

What better gift to him than birthday wishes from a bunch of muggles? Happy birthday, Mr. Weasley!

Today, several Orlando theme park fansites posted new construction photos from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park.

Most notable are these very cool shots from a helicopter taken just the other day. They show the entire construction area in views we've never before seen. We also get our first glimpse of Hogsmeade store fronts.

You can see other construction photo updates here, here and here.

Thanks to Pat for the tip!

Two new videos have emerged online providing a behind-the-scenes look at LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4.

The first is with a character artist, who discusses how Buckbeak is created. He says that the creature is built from scratch and shows how Buckbeak goes from the animation tool to the actual gameplay.

The second is an interview with Jonathan Smith of Travellers Tales. He discusses the overall gameplay and how characters can grow by attending classes and learning new spells. He added this game has a new physics system which allows it to be more realistic, and that humor also plays a major role in this video game.

Thanks to Snitch Seeker!

It's been almost two weeks since the Potter community came together with others online to raise money for the relief effort in Haiti. Since then, Helping Haiti Heal has raised close to $97,000 thanks to all of your incredible efforts!

If we get to the $105,000 mark, Partners in Health will name the three full cargo planes we funded after Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

This morning J.K. Rowling has passed along a message, specifically to all of you:

To everyone who has helped raise such an incredible amount for the earthquake survivors in Haiti: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

Like many others, I made a personal donation to the DEC shortly after the earthquake happened; but never did I expect such an amazing response from all of you. You cannot imagine how awed, moved and humbled I am to know that planes named Harry, Ron and Hermione are going to be flying off to help. I did not need this to remind me how extraordinary Harry’s fans are, but you keep giving me proofs. THANK YOU! - Jo

Remember, that you can still donate right here with a chance to win some great prizes!

Warwick Davis, who plays Professor Flitwick in the Potter films, updated his Twitter account with some filming information early this morning.

Morning! On my way to 'Hogwarts'. Looking forward it. I'll be 'Griphook' today. Wish I could tell you what we're shooting."

What do you think they are filming? If you're a Twitter user, you can follow Warwick: @WarwickADavis, and while you're there, follow all the Harry Potter stars on Twitter.

Thanks to Joshua!

The latest episode of our Harry Potter podcast is now available for your listening pleasure!

Join Ben, Jamie, Micah and myself as we discuss (and in Ben's case, get deep over) the latest Harry Potter news stories. We also kick off our Prisoner of Azkaban Chapter by Chapter series! Plus:

- It's an all-guy show, and Andrew predicts extra madness.
- Lots of updates on the theme park, as Ben reveals he's not that excited.
- Our thoughts on Deathly Hallows being a 3D film.
- We discuss the Dursley's ongoing stubbornness, Aunt Marge's rudeness, and MUCH more related to the first three POA chapters.
- An e-mail arrives from a listener who doesn't think the Harry Potter series is as great as we make it out to be.
- We can FINALLY say we'll be doing a podcast at Infinitus 2010!

All that and a LOT more can be heard by downloading! To download the fun for free, we recommend subscribing through iTunes.

Just CLICK HERE and then press "Subscribe" to the right of our album art. (Already subscribed? Refresh your feed!) No iPod or MP3 player needed! You can also visit the MuggleCast website to listen right within your browser, or to download the MP3 file to your desktop.

Movieline.com has disclosed a new list of the top grossing actors of 2009. The article notes Dan Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint all individually out-earned actor George Clooney.

On Rupert and Emma: "The young actors each took home $30 million for the two-part franchise finale Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

On Dan: "The Potter star made $40 million for Hallows. Has there been a more radically life-changing casting of an unknown? Maybe Al Pacino in The Godfather? Help me understand."

EDIT: Rupert Grint's agency has contacted Rupert-Grint.us again to let them know that the actor is NOT confirmed to attend the theme park opening. There was a misunderstanding. We apologize for the misinformation, but we'll keep you updated!

Though it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise (Universal will undoubtedly want to make a big PR splash by having most of the main Potter cast attend), Rupert-Grint.us has confirmed with Rupert's reps that he will attend the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park.

We've learned previously that the Phelps twins, Bonnie Wright, and Tom Felton are all set to attend the park's opening as well.

We'll take an educated guess now and assume that Dan Radcliffe and Emma Watson will also attend.

Hey guys! I just wanted to give you a quick update about a few of the projects Gaby and I have been working on that we're really proud of!

Many of you know about Givoogle (Use Google to raise money for charity!), and GivesMeHope (FML for optimists), but a few weeks ago we launched LoveGivesMeHope - full of stories that make you go "AWWW!" Here's a recent one that got to me (yes, Gaby turned me into a big softy):

When my sister was younger she came home from school one day and demanded I take her to the library so she could get books on sign language. ...I asked why? She told me there was a new kid at school who was deaf and she wanted to befriend him.

Today I stood beside her at their wedding watching her sign... "I DO".

Today, we are proud to announce the launch of OMG Facts - the official website of the #1 fact source on Twitter. Created four months ago by 16-year-old Adorian Deck, a former MuggleNetter, @OMGFacts already has 335,000 followers.

OMG Facts uses GMH's user moderation system to ensure ONLY the most interesting facts are published. Here are a few:

The average office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet bowl.

When you put a seashell next to your ear, it's the sound of your blood surging in your veins, not the ocean.

Speaking of Twitter, if you've been seeing a lot of people retweeting the account @IDoThat2, it's because it's the #1 most-retweeted account on Twitter. We created it for fun a few weeks ago. :)

Oh yes, we have a date for the wedding - Summer 2011, in Ecuador. ... Thank you SO MUCH, everybody, for your support! We love you all!

The other day we showed you Universal Orlando's new Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park commercial.

The commercial is now available in a nice high definition format. View it right here on YouTube!

You'll be able to watch this commercial during the first half of the Super Bowl (this Sunday). For all we've got on the theme park, click here.