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There’s a generation out there who have been practically weened on Harry Potter. The books and the films have become a religion for devout fans of the series, but would it have been the same if different actors had been cast in the leading roles? You may be surprised to hear that before the perfect cast was set in stone, there were some strange alternate actors vying for the parts!

Ian McKellen turned down the role of Dumbledore

Sir. Ian McKellen was once thought in the running to play Hogwarts’ headmaster, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. He was, in fact, offered the role after original Dumbledore actor, Richard Harris, passed away just after filming the first Harry Potter film. However, Sir. Ian turned down the role, citing the reason that Richard Harris had once publicly declared what a dreadful actor he thought McKellen was! Eventually, Michael Gambon took on the role and the rest is Harry Potter history.

Continue reading: What Would 'Harry Potter' Have Been Like With This Alternative Cast?

Wes Anderson and George Clooney will both take their latest movies to the Berlin International Film Festival this year. Organizers of the Berlinale, the first of the year's major European film festivals, have released the list of films set to show in and out of competition at the 64th annual event which will take place between the 6th and 16th of February in the vibrant German capital.

Wes Anderson's 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' Will Show At The Berlin International Film Festival.

Of the 23 films set to screen at the Berlinale, 20 will compete for the top prize, the prestigious Golden Bear Award. Amongst a host of intriguing foreign titles, Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel and George Clooney's The Monuments Men stand out as the big-name movies of the event. Anderson's whimsical new comedy, which stars Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson, will open the festival. Set in the 1920s, The Grand Budapest Hotel is based partly on the writings of Austrian novelist and playwright Stefan Zweig who, after the war, lamented the destruction of Europe.

Continue reading: Wes Anderson, George Clooney Taking Movies To Berlin Film Festival [Trailer]

The best rumour this week is that Judi Dench may play Mon Mothma in Star Wars Episode VII, which director Jj Abrams starts shooting in the UK this spring. The character is a rebel leader in both III: Revenge of the Sith and VI: Return of the Jedi, but there's no foundation to this story. Rumours have been rampant over recent weeks and are bound to get even more inventive in the coming months. The original Luke Skywalker Mark Hamill has been keeping his lips tightly sealed when being quizzed about 'Star Wars VII'.

The year's first blockbuster, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, held its UK premiere this week before the spy adventure's British opening this weekend. Stars Chris Pine, Keira Knightley and Kenneth Branagh (who also directed) were joined on the red carpet by an array of local almost-celebrities. Browse through our 'Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit' UK premiere' photo gallery.

Continue reading: A Week In Movies: Dame Judi In Star Wars? Jack Ryan And Milla Jovovich Hit London, While Trailers Promise Vampires, Spies, Aliens And Hunks

You'd think we'd have had our fill of vampire romances by now, but new movie Only Lovers Left Alive is set to show us that there's still fresh blood to shake from the undead fantasy genre. It helps that Jim Jarmusch's soon-to-be-released film boasts the hair-raisingly talented lead duo of Tilda Swinton and Thor's Tom Hiddlestone, who play a pair of trendy vampire lovers trying to find their fill of blood whilst keeping a low profile.

Tilda Swinton & Tom Hiddlestone Strike A Deathly Pose In The New Vampire Romance.

Swinton and Hiddlestone are moulded into the deathly cool couple Adam and Eve. After being around for centuries, Adam, a rock star with a penchant for vintage guitars, is finding it difficult to get his head around the modern world with all of its technology. His need for reclusiveness is threatened by the people drawn to his air of mystery and the music he makes.

Continue reading: 'Only Lovers Left Alive': Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddlestone Celebrate Undying Love In New Vampire Romance [Trailer]

The Sundance Film Festival is the place to be for young, aspiring filmmakers hoping to crack into the hotly-contested business of the movies. By the end of the film festival, which this year runs from 16-26 January, there are always a selection of film titles that are revived for the following awards season, and this year people are so eager for the celluloid showcase that a number of early contenders for festival glory have been marked before their debut release.

The dark God's Pocket stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Eddie Marsan

In thirty years the film has discovered some of the most promising filmmakers out there and continues to deliver, from Roland Joffé’s The Killing Fields in the festival's opening year (1985) to last year's most notable success; Fruitvale Station, the debut feature length from Ryan Coogler. With another 120 films to get through this year it seems more than likely that at least one of the releases will be leaving Park City, Utah, with more than a few skiing lessons and a commemorative t-shirt.

Continue reading: Early 'Sundance' Favourites Already Generating A Buzz For Upcoming Movies

Despite his relatively young age, Wes Anderson has carved out a niche style of filmmaking recognisable to both aficionados and casual purveyors of cinema alike. His latest effort, The Grand Budapest Hotel, sees his perennial working relationship with many stars hit the big screen once more.

A hotel manager and a lobby boy

The trailer hit town in October last year, when we got a good look at the huge cast. Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, Edward Norton and Bill Murray all return to work with Anderson, while big names, Jeff Goldblum, Tilda Swinton, Willem Dafoe and Harvey Keitel all feature.

Continue reading: Waiting For Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel? Check Out These New Clips [Clips]

Wes Anderson’s brand of frenetic, witty energy is bursting from the seams in the new trailer for The Grand Budapest Hotel. The comedy drama centres on a hotel concierge’s unlikely friendship with a lobby boy, and, as you’ve come to expect with an Anderson film, features an array of brilliant talent in its ranks.

The trailer for the film, which is due for release on March 7th in the U.S; February 28th in the U.K, is reminiscent of every film in Anderson’s showreel, but most notably, The Darjeeling Limited.

The Grand Budapest Hotel - Some might see similarities to the hotel in The Royal Tenenbaums

Continue reading: 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' - Meet Wes Anderson's Gang [Trailer + Pictures]

The multi-million selling rapper Jay-Z aimed to combine and rap and modern art this week, performing his new track 'Picasso Baby' for six consecutive hours at Chelsea's Pace Gallery in New York. Confused? Well, the lengthy 'secret' performance was used both to shoot Hova's new video and to promote his new album 'Magna Carta Holy Grail.'

Though the performance was kept hush-hush, it didn't take invited guests long to post videos and pictures to Vine, Instagram and Twitter. According to the New York Post's report, Jay-Z was entertaining the likes of, "Judd Apatow, Adam Driver, Cynthia Rowley, George Condo and others" reportedly "serenading Alan Cumming, and dancing around Marina Abramovic, Performa founder RoseLee Goldberg and even a woman on a scooter with her leg in a cast."

The marathon performance, shot by film director Mark Romanek, centred on the rapper's arty track 'Picasso Baby,' which includes the lyrics, "I just want a Picasso, in my casa . . . I wanna Rothko, no I wanna brothel," as well as referencing "Jeff Koons balloons" and "[George] Condos in my condos."

Watch Jay-Z performing 'Picasso Baby':

Continue reading: But Is It Art? Jay-Z Plays 'Picasso Baby' For Six Hours At New York Gallery

By now, we're all aware that David Bowie hasn't exactly gone down the conventional route of promoting his latest album The Next Day. First single Where Are We Now? seemingly came out nowhere (few knew that Bowie was working on new material), while there has been no interviews, no press conferences, no live shows. Nothing.

The album performed strongly in the charts and the second single, The Stars (Are Out Tonight), featured a video starring Tilda Swinton. However, there was nothing from Bowie himself, until Guardian writer Rick Moody asked the singer-songwriter to supply a "work-flow diagram" for a piece for the Rumpus, because he "wanted to think about it in light of what he was thinking about it, I wanted to understand the lexicon of The Next Day."

Surprisingly, the media shy star obliged and provided a varied list of words - including 'hostage' 'isolation' and 'pressgang' - that he thinks sum up the new record. Moody wrote that the list was "really excellent," adding, "[they are] exactly in the spirit of this album, and the list is far better than I could ever have hoped, and it's exactly like Bowie, at least in my understanding of him: impulsive, intuitive, haunted, astringent and incredibly ambitious in the matter of the arts. Bowie is a conceptual artist, it seems to me, who just happens to work in the popular song, and he wants to make work that goes somewhere new, and this is amply demonstrated by the list."

Continue reading: Tyrant, Hostage, Violence: David Bowie Cryptically Comments On 'The Next Day'

Anyone stuck searching for the meaning of Tilda Swinton’s bizarre new exhibition at MoMA needn’t bother asking the actress herself because she won’t be giving you any clues. Tilda’s exhibit, entitled ‘The Maybe’ involves her sleeping (or at least appearing to sleep) in a glass box, at the Museum of Moden Art, from the time that the museum opens at 10:30am, to the time that it closes at 5pm. When she ‘performed’ the exhibit back in 2005, she told The Observer that “The meaning of the piece has nothing to do with me. It is entirely in the eye of the beholder.”

Some visitors to MoMA yesterday found that their eyes were not beholding much more than someone pretending to be asleep, however. New York Post reports that one disgruntled visitor said “She’s not asleep. She’s faking it. She’s an artist. Artists always fake it.” Some were more intrigued, though and Anne Marie Vaduva, 35, of Manhattan pondered “I think she’s in between. She’s in a state of self-induced trance.” Tilda had a glass of water in the box, from which she sipped sporadically but she was never seen leaving the box. In her Observer interview, she had attributed her ability to stay in the box to having a “strong and convenient bladder.”

The rest of Tilda’s performances in the box will not be scheduled but will take place unannounced. According to a MoMA spokesperson, around half a dozen will take place throughout 2013. 

Continue reading: The Meaning Is In The Eye Of The Beholder: Tilda Swinton Offers No Clues To Her Sleeping MoMA Exhibit

The Museum of Modern Art was host to Tilda Swinton, who was reprising one of her less taxing roles. This wasn’t on screen, but rather sleeping in a glass box as art-lovers and confused wanderers alike gawped in.

In a brief description of the work, a notice by the installation states: "The Maybe 1995/2013. Living artist, glass, steel, mattress, pillow, linen, water and spectacles." The MoMA said in a statement: "An integral part of The Maybe's incarnation at MoMA in 2013 is that there is no published schedule for its appearance, no artist's statement released, no museum statement beyond this brief context, no public profile or image issued. Those who find it chance upon it for themselves, live and in real – shared – time: now we see it, now we don't." Swinton has taken on this piece before, first performing it at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995 where 22,000 people saw her nap. In 1996, she performed it in the Museo Barracco in Rome.

Tilda – as we call her – has become known as one of the finest actors of her generation, starring in mainstream films, but lending her hand to arthouse projects too. She won an Oscar in 2008 for best supporting actress for her role in Michael Clayton, and will next be seen in Snowpiercer, a futuristic, post-apocalyptic drama set on a train.

Continue reading: Tilda Swinton – Sleeping In The Name Of Art At MoMA

David Bowie’s new single ‘The Stars (Are Out Tonight)’ hasn’t caused as much of a stir as last month’s ‘Where Are We Now?’ – we all know that he’s back now of course. However the video for the new track has made the single another talking point on the comeback trail, with the seminal musician appearing far more fully in the promotional clip, alongside actress Tilda Swinton.

David Bowie's new video for The Stars (Are Out Tonight) takes on a subversive theme

Continue reading: David Bowie's 'The Stars (Are Out Tonight)' Video Sees Celebrities Become The Stalkers

Keira Knightley hit the town in support of fashion powerhouse and personal friend Karl Lagerfeld as he unveiled Chanel's The Little Black Jacket exhibition in London on Thursday night (October 11, 2012).

Although not in a black jacket herself, the 27 year-old screen siren did keep up with the colour requirements by wearing a black brocade dress with a black handbag to go with it. The event itself was in aid of a book of the same name being released, which features celebrity models wearing the iconic fashion item. The book, a joint project between Lagerfeld and Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld, is a reinterpretation of one of Chanel's most iconic fashion items: the black jacket.

A few of the celebs that make an appearance include Claudia Schiffer, Uma Thurman, Kanye West, Tilda Swinton, Baptiste Giabiconi, Yoko Ono and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Continue reading: Will Karl Lagerfeld Design Keira Knightley's Wedding Dress