Potter cast charm Japan
Story dated: June 28th, 2004. Source: Mainichi Interactive
By Ryann Connell for Mainichi Daily News
Cast and crew of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" charmed reporters during a "magical" news conference at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo on Monday.

Director Alfonso Cuaron said the Japanese are "the no.1 Harry Potter fans in the world," adding that the land of the Rising Sun was "natural territory for the movie."

Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley, the best friend of the title character, called Japan "wicked, really cool."

Emma Watson, who portrays brainiac witch Hermione Granger, praised Japanese fans for being "so friendly and welcoming," before adding she is "having a fantastic time."

Daniel Radcliffe, alter ego of Harry Potter, joined the promotional event via satellite from London, where he is filming the underwater sequences for "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the fourth installment of what will eventually be a seven-part series featuring the exploits of the boy wizard and his friends studying at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Radcliffe said he "loves Japan. It's absolutely fantastic!" Radcliffe also revealed that about 50 percent of all fan mail he receives comes from this country, but declining to reveal the contents of the letters he receives because "that wouldn't really be fair."

Cuaron and producer David Heyman also spoke highly of the three young actors filling the main roles in the Potter films.

"I learned so much being with these three guys," Cuaron said, referring to Radcliffe, Watson and Grint. "Their inner strength was beautiful."

Producer Heyman said "there would be no films without these three. They're fantastic, their enthusiasm is infectious, they've got energy and they're completely uncynical." Heyman added, "in their own way, they're very much like their characters."

He went on to speak about an incident before filming where Cuaron instructed the three main leads to write an essay about how they saw their respective characters developing. Radcliffe, like Harry, ground out a couple of pages, Grint, in the typical style of Ron, totally forgot the assignment, and Watson, mimicking studious Hermione "wrote about 65 pages," Heyman said.

Watson praised Cuaron for setting them the task."I was flattered by Alfonso's willingness to listen," she said. "Setting us the essay showed he was interested in our opinions."

Japan is certainly spellbound by the Harry Potter magic, with local moviegoers turning the films into one of the most successful franchises in cinema history.

Almost 1.5 million people went to watch "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" after it opened in cinemas across the country on Saturday, pouring in 1.9 billion yen to make it the biggest box office hit for the year so far and the third most successful opening weekend in Japanese cinema history, according to distributor Warner Bros. Pictures.

"Matrix Reloaded" retains the opening weekend box office record with the 2.2 billion yen it set last year. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," the second film in the series and second place overall, attracted the greatest opening weekend audience with just over 1.6 million people. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," the initial film in the Harry Potter series, has the seventh best opening weekend in Japanese movie history, pulling in 1.4 million customers paying 1.5 billion yen at the box office.