Double Bill Nighy in Harry Potter

It is about time, but Bill Nighy is at last attached to the Harry Potter franchise.

Bill Nighy has an announcement. “I don’t think I’m allowed to say it but I’m going to be in the next Harry Potter film,” he tells us. “I won’t say which character, but he’s a goodie. I just got the gig.” If you don’t mind us saying, it’s about time, Bill. The rangy actor has been dropping hints for aeons, once complaining that he was “the only British actor who hasn’t been in Harry Potter”. But has he read the books? “Not yet, but I will!” he says. “It’s rather like being in a Shakespeare that way, you know?”.

Independent

The film version of the last book will exist of two parts.

‘The Deathly Hallows Part 1 is set for release on the 19th of November 2010 and Part 2 is set for release on the 15th of July 2011. It is a bit of a wait but it must be absolutely worth it.

‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,’ due for release on July 15th, and the two parts of ‘The Deathly Hallows’ are all directed by David Yates. Bill has worked with David Yates before on The Girl in the Cafe, The Young Visiters and State of Play.

Potter fandom is convinced that he’s playing Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic. Scrimgeour is certainly a good guy, but a flawed one. Though he’s not as wimpy as his predecessor, Cornelius Fudge, he’s more intent on creating an image of security than actually fighting Voldemort and his legion of Death Eaters. He does come through for Harry in the end though.

Here is how the character is described over at Wikipedia:
He is described as looking like an old lion with tawny hair and bushy eyebrows, with yellow eyes and wire-rimmed spectacles.

Sounds like a Bill character indeed.

In other news

Cinema release for The Boat That Rocked in the US has been pushed until November 2009. It seems they are working on a re-edit of the film, and the film will be shortened for the US market. The original version was 129 minutes long.