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WIRE Buzz: Lego conjures 6 new Harry Potter sets; Olaf returns in fresh Frozen short; more
Merlin's beard! Six new Harry Potter LEGO sets are apparating over to the U.S. this summer. Capturing some of our favorite moments and locations from the magical films, the releases are inspired by Chamber of Secrets, Order of the Phoenix, and Half-Blood Prince.
The new sets include:
- Hogwarts Room of Requirement ($19.99) - 193 pieces including 3 minifigures: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood
- Hogwarts Astronomy Tower ($29.99) - 253 pieces including 3 minifigures: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Dolores Umbridge
- Hedwig ($39.99) - 630 pieces, with a wingspan of over 13” and a beak-to-tail measurement of over 7”
- Privet Drive ($69.99) - 797 pieces including 6 minifigures: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Dudley Dursley, Vernon Dursley, Petunia Dursley and Dobby
- Forbidden Forest ($99.99) - 971 pieces including 8 minifigures: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Horace Slughorn, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley, Lavender Brown and Draco Malfoy
- Attack on The Burrow ($99.99) - 1,047 pieces including 8 minifigures: Ron, Ginny, Arthur and Molly Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, Bellatrix Lestrange, Fenrir Greyback and Harry Potter
Behold the box art for the upcoming sets in the gallery below:
The only thing missing from the Astronomy Tower set is a figurine of Dumbledore's mangled corpse. What, too soon?
"Each year we get the chance to recreate some of the most action-packed and exciting settings from the films. We hope these new products inspire young builders around the world to believe anything is possible as they act out their own adventures in the Wizarding World," Marcos Bessa, LEGO Harry Potter Design Lead, said in a statement.
You can start to pre-order the sets this Thursday, April 30, prior to their American debut Aug. 1.
Even with everyone stuck at home, Disney can still produce a Frozen short or two. In the latest At Home with Olaf segment, "Pink Lemonade," the happy-go-lucky snowman voiced by Josh Gad downs an entire pitcher of — you guessed it! — pink lemonade.
Upon realizing that the bottom half of his body has suddenly turned magenta, Olaf declares to an offscreen Anna: "I'm a snow cone!"
Disney Animation vet Hyrum Osmond created the project at home, with Gad doing the voicework from his own home.
Both feature-length Frozen movies are currently streaming on Disney+, along with the Olaf's Frozen Adventure short and the first season of Lego Frozen: Northern Lights.
With no theaters open right now, the Academy Awards must adapt in anticipation of the 2021 Oscars ceremony. Today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed that it would temporarily amend its eligibility rules in light of the havoc being wreaked on the filmmaking and theatrical industries by the coronavirus pandemic.
As The Hollywood Reporter notes, the Academy is now considering movies that go directly to streaming, so long as those movies become available on the organization's members-only platform (Academy Screening Room) "within 60 days of being made available on a publicly-available streamer or VOD service." Recently adopted pre-virus rules mandated that any film hoping for Oscar consideration must screen in a Los Angeles theater for at least a week.
Some other tweaks involve the consolidation of the sound editing and sound mixing categories, as well as the requirement that any score wishing to compete must comprise 60 percent of a film's overall music.
While it's still early in the year, we'd wager that Trolls World Tour is helping lead the animated Oscars race at the moment. As a way around the massive theater closures, Universal decided to skip a traditional opening altogether and send the sequel straight to digital and VOD. The unconventional move paid off with the movie bringing in more revenue during its first three weeks than the first Trolls (2016) did in five months. However, Trolls did nab itself an Oscar nod for Best Original Song, but lost to La La Land. With these new rules in place, perhaps World Tour could mark an Academy Award redemption story for the franchise.
Another streaming contender could be Warner Bros. Scoob! The big screen reboot of the Mystery, Inc. gang was slated to debut in theaters, but is now headed for a digital release on Friday, May 15.
Pixar's Onward also has an excellent chance of being nominated in the animation category, but since it played in theaters for a few weeks before arriving super early on Disney+, it doesn't really apply to the Academy's fresh rule change.
As the quarantine months go by, we'll see what other Oscar-hopeful genre flicks end up arriving on streaming platforms.
The 93rd Oscars are still scheduled to be held on Feb. 27, 2021.
