The fantasy worlds of Harry Potter and Peter Pan hooked up on
the Gold Coast on Sunday for the Australian premiere of the young wizard's new blockbuster adventure.
Topping the lineup of stars at the Movie World event was British
actor Jason Isaacs, who will soon be known worldwide as the new Captain Hook.
Isaacs also plays the villain Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter
and the Chamber of Secrets and is filming PJ Hogan's $US100 million ($A178.03 million) live action version of Peter Pan at
studios adjacent to the Gold Coast theme park.
"It's career suicide to be doing the two things in a row but
on the other hand what kind of lunatic would have turned down the opportunity," said the affable Isaacs.
Potter fans lined the red carpet to the Roxy Theatre dressed
in black rimmed glasses, witches hats and long robes.
Also in the crowd were child actors Jeremy Sumpter, who will
star as Peter Pan, and Rachel Hurd Wood, who will play Wendy as well as several of the Lost Boys.
Isaacs did his best to distance himself from his dastardly screen
characters by stopping and talking to fans and delaying the screening of the film to finish signing dozens of autographs.
"I love kids. Its one of the lovely things about doing Harry
Potter is that all the kids that I know can get to see it," he said.
"I'm not a genocidal racist maniac like Lucius Malfoy and hopefully
I'm not a terrible bullying dad like he is either. Captain Hook is a neurotic tortured soul and I like to think I am not that
either."
While Peter Pan is the boy who never grew up, Harry Potter does
get a year older in Chamber of Secrets.
©2002