The Harry Potter movies have been extremely popular in Japan, where the film series has grossed $893 million and has been seen by more than 78 million people in theaters.

You can find more information over at the Hollywood Reporter.

First, Pottermore is now open to everyone. The site has been in invite-only beta since October last year, but it now open to the public, though it may take time to process your registration request apparently.

Related to the Pottermore news, the Pottermore Shop opened at the end of March, offering the HP books in digital format for the first time. Apparently sales managed to top £1 million in the first three days! By comparison, total spend on print editions has been £588,000 in the year so far.

Apparently the first three books are priced at £4.99 each while the remaining four come in at £6.99 a piece. Shows the power of the digital format at least.

Next up was news that the Harry Potter encyclopedia is in the works, this was something Rowling sued to stop the publishing of the HP Lexicon you may remember. All proceeds from the encyclopedia will be donated to charity.

Lastly, Rowling announced the title of her first non-HP book, aimed at adults. The book will be called The Casual Vacancy.

From the end of the month, they will be able to stroll down Diagon Alley, peer into Professor Snape’s potions class and gaze around Dumbledore’s office as the set where the eight films were shot opens to the public for the first time.

To commune with Harry, though, parents will first have to run the gauntlet of the lobby, with its cafeteria, Starbucks, gift shop and – a thoughtful touch, this – cash machine.

After a quick, teasing film in which the series’ young stars hint that the secrets of the films will be laid bare – “You’ll never look at Quidditch the same way again”, promises a cryptic Daniel Radcliffe – the screen shoots up to disclose a pair of enormous wooden doors. “Yes, ladies and gentlemen,” imparts one of the legions of enthusiastic and spookily Potter-literate guides, “this is the one and only Great Hall of Hogwarts.”

I tend to agree that he’s not really leading man material though. In fact, I’m not sure any of them are. Will they be limited to bit-parts and ensemble pieces? Too early to say. I think Emma Watson has potential for rom-coms, but she doesn’t seem to be interested in that route. I think Hermione was a little too insipid to really allow her to show her acting chops, especially some bite, which I think she’s probably got a bit more of. I’m not convinced acting really appeals to her, I think she’s more likely to go the fashion route.

As for Radcliffe, well Adrian Brody was hardly what you’d call action man material, but did well in King Kong and Predators, perhaps his is the sort of career path Radcliffe could follow? Mixing cooky romance with something a bit more urgent, and some English period pieces which he seems destined for. I suspect he and Robert Pattinson are going to end up going for a lot of similar parts. One thing’s for sure, he seems keen on high-brow.

Rupert Grint is perhaps the biggest question. None of the current crop on movies seem to really define him, he hasn’t got leading man looks, but we’ll have to see. He’s certainly got some interesting projects on the go, with Into the White already doing well in Norway, the biopic of Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards and Cross Country, a horror/thriller, he should be able to show us a little more of who he is and what he can do.

How long before someone tries to get all three back into a film together I wonder?

You’ll buy them from the Pottermore site, but it looks like it will be powered by Google and you can transfer them into your Google Books library (and pay for them with Google Checkout).

And Pottermore also plan to use YouTube to make ‘global video broadcasts in the future.’

Sounds like Google is happy to align itself with Harry. Maybe something to do with their famous ‘don’t be evil’ mandate.

It did all end, and largely as expected, despite some fears the filmmakers would take a few too many liberties. The various crescendos of the books were duly included, their boxes ticked, although in some cases it was merely lip service. I suspect I am going to need repeat viewings to fully appreciate it. Despite being the shortest of the films, and with only half a book to show, it still felt very rushed (apart from one or two quiet scenes, where the lack of speed was unsuccessfully used to try and convey solemnity). You didn’t get much chance to enjoy the big set pieces as we stormed through them and off to the next.

I said in my review of Part 1 that:

If the final battle doesn’t last for half-an-hour and isn’t a cross between Black Hawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, The Magnificent Seven and Spartacus, with wands, I will be very disappointed.

It wasn’t. Maybe that was because the audience age dictated handling in a different way, but the scale was ripped away by constant shifts in location and purpose. We pass Aberforth with barely a mention, flick between the battle, searching for the diadem, a quick trip to the Chamber of Secrets. We don’t see Tonks, Lupin or Fred die. The scene with the resurrection stone was largely pointless. Molly Weasley finally gets her time to shine after spending so much of the story in the shadows, but, aside from channelling Ripley from Aliens, the moment passes so swiftly you don’t get a chance to savour it.

The battle between Harry and Voldemort seemed a let down too, with them spending most of the time with their wands locked together in a way that was only supposed to happen for wands with identical cores. I was hoping for something more like the Luke/Vader fight from The Empire Strikes Back, with the protagonists trading curses hammer and tong, Voldemort throwing masonry and taunts while Nagini tried to sink her fangs in. In the finale, we also missed the talking, the circling, Voldemort taking on three foes. Not to mention it took place outside instead of in the Great Hall, the spiritual home of the series.

As for the changes, not sure the change of scene to the boat house for Snape’s death, something that has never even been hinted at before, worked. Nor Harry dragging Voldemort over the precipice. They stole Neville’s thunder a bit too, I felt. For a moment I feared they’d let someone else kill Nagini, but thankfully they didn’t.

On the plus side, while Helena Bonham Carter’s Bellatrix Lestrange doesn’t get much screen time, her impression of Hermione playing Bellatrix is so good I wondered if they’d used CGI. I thought Ron and Hermione’s relationship was handled well. Most of the cast barely got a chance to appear though, let alone a chance to show us what they could do (who wouldn’t want to see them in full flow?).

Ironically, I think the battle may have got in the way of some of bits the fans were looking forward to, there was little humanisation, little sacrifice on show, just lots of wand swinging followed by the occasional body and shell-shocked face. The bodies of Tonks, Lupin and Fred are almost an afterthought. There was no banter from Percy as he fights alongside Fred right before he’s killed, no one throwing themselves into the line of fire to save a friend or loved one. Even Ron’s witty one-liners were limited. Where were the house elves? Their charge, led by Kreature, would have been worth a shot or two.

And what was the point of 3D except to make more money? The film was shot in 2D, so that had to be converted in post, the only thing that was natively 3D were the effects. I saw it in 2D, as I do with every movie (if there isn’t a 2D option I won’t go). When will we get past the idea 3D adds anything?

I didn’t dislike the film, but I didn’t come out buzzing. As I said, I think it’ll take repeat viewings to take it all in if you’re not part of the ADD generation. Maybe then it will leave a better impression. At the moment it feels like they ticked all the boxes, crammed in as much of the books as they could without changing them but cut out the heart, the thing which made them so great. It was a film without a soul.

A dumbledore is a bumblebee. Snape is a ship-building term that means “to bevel the end of (a timber or plank) so that it will fit accurately upon an inclined surface.” Hagrid is the past participle of hagride, which means “to harass or torment by dread or nightmares.” Skeeter is a term for an annoying pest, and not just Rita Skeeter, blood-sucking journalist. Mundungus is “waste animal product” or “poor-quality tobacco with a foul, rancid, or putrid smell,” a good name for a sneaky thief.

They’re all good, but I think my favourite is the one for Prisoner of Azkaban:

The video also suggests the site will hold much more, such as computer gaming, social networking, an online store and will develop with input from the fans.

Rowling also did an interview with the BBC about the upcoming site, which you can watch here.

The site doesn’t launch until October, but a lucky million will get early entrance and you can head back on 31st July (Harry’s birthday) to register.

The build-up to the final film is starting to gain momentum and the latest footage has some new, a lot of looking back over the existing films and, as a bonus, the first test screening between the actors who would become Harry, Ron and Hermione.