POP-Corn: Harry Potter, Alexa Vega & More!

Tasty tidbits on your celebrity faves!
From Gerri Miller, for the Ink Splot 26 Celeb Beat

Hello and welcome to POP-Corn, your source for cool news from the world of entertainment. You may remember the POP-Corn column from Scholastic News Online. Well, this summer it's on The Splot! We'll be bringing you a new jam-packed edition every other week, so be sure to tune in every other Friday all through the summer! (And on the other Fridays, STACKS Staffers will be posting their own Book Flap columns clueing you in to all the latest happenings with your favorite books, series, authors, and page-to-screen adaptations. It's all part of our first Summer on The Splot!)

HARRY POTTER IS BACK!

Harry Potter fans, your two-year wait is finally over: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth film adaptation in your favorite book series, hits theaters July 15th! As the story moves towards its two-part Deathly Hallows conclusion in 2010 and 2011, Harry will learn a lot more about Lord Voldemort’s past as his mentor Dumbledore prepares him for the confrontation to come. Meanwhile, there’s Quidditch to play and some new romances at Hogwarts.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) has a new relationship with Ron Weasley’s (Rupert Grint) little sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright) and Hermione (Emma Watson) becomes jealous of Lavender Brown’s (Jessie Cave) attention toward Ron.

“These characters are usually facing such huge issues, like fighting evil, so it’s easy to forget that they’re just teenagers,” says Emma. “This film feels more like a romantic comedy than the others, in the sense that we get to see them coping with first love, jealousy and insecurity and all the usual things involved in dating.”

ABC Family will catch you up with the previous Potter flicks starting on July 10th at 7:30 p.m. with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, repeated July 11th at 12:30 p.m. followed by Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets at 4 p.m., and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban at 8 p.m. On July 12th, Chamber will air at 12:30 p.m., followed by Prisoner at 4:30 p.m. and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at 7:30 p.m. Then find out about Potter’s creator in an ABC special about the author titled J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life, airing July 16th at 8 p.m.

For a sneak peek at The Half-Blood Prince including behind-the-scenes interviews, check out this featurette:

ALEXA VEGA’S RUBY ROCKS

Alexa Vega got to sing a bit in Spy Kids and later played Penny Pingleton on stage in the Broadway musical Hairspray. Now she’s singing again in the new ABC Family series Ruby & the Rockits, playing a teenager named Ruby who goes to live with her rock star dad (David Cassidy) and his brother’s family. Acting is her first love. “But I’ve been really fortunate that music has been a part of my life,” says Alexa, who remembers growing up watching David in The Partridge Family on TV. Now 20, she’ll turn 21 August 27th and she hopes to celebrate with her family on a trip to Disney World or the Bahamas. Catch the premiere of Ruby & the Rockits on July 21st at 8:30 p.m.

WHAT TO WATCH AND HEAR

Sonny With a Chance star Demi Lovato will release her new album Here We Go Again on July 17th and will make several TV appearances to promote it. That day, Demi will visit The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, and guest on both Good Morning America and The View on July 23. We’ve got some scoop for you on Camp Rock 2, which will once again star Demi, the Jonas Brothers, Meaghan Jette Martin and Alyson Stoner. This time, there’s a rival camp that challenges the kids to a musical showdown, and a love story involving Nate (Nick Jonas) and the piano-playing daughter of the rival camp owner, portrayed by Chloe Bridges. Cameras start rolling this summer on the movie, which will air on Disney Channel next year.

Three Disney Channel series join forces in Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana, a crossover event featuring the casts of Hannah Montana, The Suite Life on Deck and Wizards of Waverly Place. It airs July 17th at 8 p.m.

Willow Smith, Will Smith’s daughter, will guest star on a special one-hour episode of Nickelodeon’s True Jackson, VP on July 25th at 8 p.m. She’ll play a younger version of True in flashback scenes.

Nickelodeon will celebrate SpongeBob SquarePants’ 10-year anniversary with The Ultimate SpongeBob SquarePants Weekend July 17-19. It includes a marathon of fan-picked episodes, a countdown of celebrity-chosen episodes, and 11 premieres.

The new comedy series The Assistants, the N’s new show set behind the scenes in Hollywood, will follow new episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation on Friday nights. It premieres July 10 at 8:30 p.m. with two back-to-back episodes that will repeat July 12 at 9 p.m. on Nick at Nite.

That’s it for this edition of POP-Corn! Don’t forget to check back July 24th for more celebrity scoop!

— Gerri Miller, for the Ink Splot 26 Celeb Beat

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince video courtesy of Warner Brothers
Harry Potter photo courtesy of Jaap Buitendijk
Alexa Vega photo © ABC Family/Bob D'Amico

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