12:00pm ET, 3-January-03

Gambon Not Dumbledore?

A spokesman for Warner Brothers downplayed for SCI FI Wire recent reports that British actor Michael Gambon has been cast as Professor Dumbledore in the upcoming third Harry Potter film. "It's a rumor, and it's not confirmed," the spokesman said in an interview. The spokesman declined to offer further details.

Earlier this week, E! Online reported that Gambon was in line to take on the role originated by the late Richard Harris, who died in October, in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, based on the third of J.K. Rowling's best-selling fantasy novels. But other reports have disputed that story, with the studio denying that the casting has gone forward.