Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010 & 2011) Trailer

Released just this week, here is the official, wizard-filled trailer for Warner Bros.'s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the two-part conclusion, from director David Yates, to the film franchise. Part one is set to be released on 19 November 2010 (in time for Thanksgiving), and part two on 15 July 2011.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010) Trailer

The following trailer for Fox 2000 Pictures and Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, based on the novel by C. S. Lewis, was released last week. The film will be in theaters beginning 10 December 2010 and features the wizard Coriakin (and, hopefully, his associate Ramandu).

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010) Trailer 4

Here is the latest trailer for the upcoming film The Sorcerer's Apprentice due on on 14 July. This trailer comes from the DisneyMovieTrailer Channel on YouTube and will hopefully be active for longer than the last trailer I posted.

Legend of the Seeker, Season 2: Coming Soon to DVD

Season two of the syndicated series Legend of the Seeker will see its Region 1 DVD release from ABC Studios on 28 September 2010.

Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010) Update

The following information (posted on Amazon.com) about the "junior novelization" of the upcoming The Sorcerer's Apprentice links the film closely to the Arthurian tradition:

In modern day Manhattan, one young man's life is about to take a surprising turn. When Dave Stutler wanders into a strange shop downtown, he can never imagine the consequences. It turns out that Dave is no ordinary boy--he is a Merlinian. As a descendent of the most famous sorcerer in history, Dave has untapped powers. The problem is, certain people don't want him to ever use them. Led by Horvath, a Morganian (descendents of the evil sorcereress Morgana), this group will stop at nothing to destroy Dave and unleash darkness upon the world. Dave will have to rely on the help of his mentor, Baltazhar Blake, to find his inner strength and help save the world.

New/Recent DVDs

The following new and recent DVDs may be of interest:

GANDALF & SARUMAN:
The Lord of the Rings (Animated): Deluxe Edition (1978)


MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN:
Defenders of the Earth: Complete Series (1986)


MERLIN:
The Legend of Prince Valiant: Complete Series (1991-93)
Merlin and the War of the Dragons (2008)
Merlin: The Complete First Season (2008)


MORGAN LE FAY:
The Legend of Prince Valiant: Complete Series (1991-93)
Merlin: The Complete First Season (2008)

Coming Soon: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice a film loosely inspired by "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" short from Fantasia is set to be released next month on July 16th. The film features Nicholas Cage as Balthazar Black, a modern-day mage living in New York City, and Alfred Molina as his nemesis Maxim Horvath. In order to defeat Horvath, Black takes upon an apprentice David Stutler (played by Jay Baruchel) and trains him in the ways of magic.

Two trailers have been released thus far and can be viewed below:

Welcome

Welcome to The Reel Wizards Project, a production of the Institute for the Advancement of Scholarship on the Magic-Wielding Figures of Visual Electronic Multimedia. The initial stages of this endeavor were begun early in the 2000s, but interest petered out as the decade continued. Now, a blog seems one of the best ways to reconfigure and expand our mission.

Basically, the blog is conceived as a way to provide information on how magic-wielding figures has been depicted on film and television, but, as necessary, our scope will expand to investigate similar characters in other visual electronic multimedia, like video and computer games, and in earlier filmic and film-related media.