Tuesday November 8, 2005
Harry Potter cast attend London premier of fourth film
LONDON: A sense of magic and excitement was in the air in London's Leicester Square on Sunday as Harry Potter fans waited in the rain to greet cast members attending the premier of the latest Potter film, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.''
Producers describe the film - the fourth in the series about the bespectacled young wizard - as the darkest production yet; it is the first of the films so far to achieve a PG12 rating, meaning under 12s should not view it without adult supervision.
Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Potter, attended the premier Sunday evening along with other cast members including Robbie Coltrane, who plays Harry's friend Hagrid, Michael Gambon, who stars as the kindly Albus Dumbledore, and Maggie Smith who plays Professor McGonagall.
An ebullient Radcliffe, 16, professed himself delighted to see his fans.
"If this doesn't get you excited, then nothing will,'' he told reporters.
"It is a bizarre experience (to be mobbed). Fans are the most amazing people.''
The film tells how the young wizard, now in his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is selected to compete in the Quidditch Triwizard Tournament against older and more experienced students from rival schools.
He also encounters his first love interest, new character Cho Chang, played by Katie Leung.
"Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire'' was the fastest-selling book in history on the first weekend of its publication in July 2000.
The films of the first two books grossed more than 1 billion pounds (euro1.5 billion, US$1.7 billion) worldwide.
Author J.K. Rowling has now completed six of the seven Potter books she promised her young readers.
