Plenty of Oscar winners and nominees starred in the Harry Potter franchise, and it was nominated for 12 Academy Awards over the span of its eight-film series. But it won none, leading some to call it the “most-snubbed-top-grossing franchise of all time.”
But The Academy, or at least whoever runs Oscars.org, has launched a new section of its Collection Highlights dedicated to The Boy Who Lived. Fans will find 27 pieces of Potter content, including casting and directing rumors, photos from the set and more. There’s newspaper clippings (but they don’t move like the Wizarding World’s Daily Prophet) highlighting some of the biggest media storms surrounding the films. For example, Steven Spielberg was long-rumored to spearhead the first film in the series and many speculated that an American actor could have been cast as Harry. And superfans might be surprised to learn that in June 2000, Tim Roth, well-known for Pulp Fiction, was originally cast as Severus Snape. The role eventually went to Alan Rickman after Roth chose to star in Tim Burton’s remake of Planet of the Apes.
The special section also recounts the drama over who would play Dumbledore after Richard Harris, the original Hogwarts Headmaster, died in 2003.
Radcliffe spoke out about the Academy’s snubs in 2012, when Hugo and The Artist dominated the awards, saying: “I don’t think the Oscars like commercial films, or kids’ films, unless they’re directed by Martin Scorsese. I was watching Hugo the other day and going, ‘Why is this nominated and we’re not?’ I was slightly miffed. … There’s a certain amount of snobbery. It’s kind of disheartening. I never thought I’d care. But it would’ve been nice to have some recognition, just for the hours put in.”
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