The official Harry Potter movie teaser web site is now up (via Ghost in the Machine). Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire) is now officially the director.

According to EOnline, the reason Stephen Spielberg passed on the film is because he wanted to use Haley Joel Osment, the spooky little boy from The Sixth Sense, as Harry, while the studio and author wanted to find an unknown British schoolboy.

According to Variety, the next book in the series, Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament, will be over 700 pages long. Can’t wait! (via James Marino).