Expect more action in Harry Potter II movie

Kids seeing the 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" movie this month can expect more action and special effects. But, the producers won't tinker with the plot.

That's the word of director Chris Columbus in an October interview in Vanity Fair magazine. That article also included first photos of the movie's cast and sets.

Harry Potter in the "wizarding" bookstore. (Vanity Fair picture)

(Young Saint Louis.com will publish a review before the movie opens November 15. The review by Eddie Szewczyk of Belleville on-line in mid-November, after a critics' preview showing. Szewczyk reviewed the first Harry Potter movie for YSL.com last November.)

Some critics say "Chamber of Secrets" as the weakest of author J.K. Rowling's four Harry Potter books.

Columbus dismisses that criticism by pointing out the second book in the series already has sold 40 million copies. That includes 15 million in the United States and Canada alone.

He also said the "Chamber of Secrets" offered great plot situations to show in movie form.

In the Vanity Fair interview, Columbus said, "It's the most cinematic of all the books. It delivers amazing action sequences, amazing set pieces. I was ravenous to do it."

Even the pictures of Harry and his classmates playing Quidditch, the flying game, have been speeded up.

Columbus said, "I gave the effects people more time...I wanted Quidditch to be twice as good, twice as fast. I wanted full-blown fighting scenes."

Actor Kenneth Branagh as professor Gilderoy Lockhart (Vanity Fair picture)

But, as with last year's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" movie, everyone is keeping the movies true to the book's plots. Author Rowling makes sure of that.

But, director Columbus finds Rowling's attention to detail very helpful.

"For every book she's written, there's another book of knowledge" in her head, Columbus is quoted as saying.

"She can give you the entire history of the Whomping Willow," he explains. That is the tree Harry and his friend Ron Weasley ran into when arriving at Hogwarts school in their flying car.

Another thing that hasn't changed much from the first movie is the cast.

Teenager Daniel Radcliffe returns as Harry. Emma Watson is Hermione Granger and Rupert Grint is Ron Weasley.

Among the adults, Dame Maggie Smith is back as Professor McGonagall. Robbie Coltrane is the half-giant Hagrid and Richard Harris is headmaster Dumbledore. (Harris had completed the role before he died last month.)

But, there's a new teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Kenneth Branagh plays the professor Gilderoy Lockhart. He got the job over actor Hugh Grant.

Of course, many of the movie's stars aren't human.

The flying car and Whomping Willow will be back. And then there's a computer-generated "house-elf" called Dobby.

Ron, Hermione and Harry with a Mandrake plant (Vanity Fair picture)

Harry, Hermione and Ron are a year older as are the actors in real life. Radcliffe turned 13 last summer; Emma Watson is 12 and Rupert Grint is 14.

Author Rowling is having her characters age in each book of the series. How long the real-life actors will stay with the cast is still up in the air.

But, one thing is sure, Columbus is giving up his director's role in the third movie. He's going to continue as producer but Alfonso Quaron will take over as director. The third movie is "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."

That movie is scheduled for the holiday season in 2003. Some work is already being done.

The Harry Potter mania also is becoming a real tourist attraction in England. Leavesden Studios near London is where the movies are being filmed. Its permanent sets are a favorite destination for busloads of school kids.

One thing that is uncertain about Harry Potter is when the fifth book will be published. Originally, the plan was to bring out a book a year like the movies. But, it's been two years since Rowling published her fourth book.

Rowling's U.S. publisher, Scholastic, Inc., is quoted in Vanity Fair as saying, "We don't know when she's going to finish." The best guess now is summer of 2003.