Potter Boy Radcliffe Gets Feisty With Studio Over Equus
So Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe officially signed the contract to bring Equus (and the 10-minute sex scene that goes along with it) to Broadway next year. The New York Post tells us that he had to wrangle with studios over scheduling obligations to the Potter movies to make it happen.
To sign on for the New York production, Radcliffe had to stand up to Warner Brothers, the producer of the "Harry Potter" series. The studio wanted the actor to make back-to-back movies: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
Radcliffe, who's earned about $50 million from the series, balked, saying he wanted a break between movies to do Broadway, sources say. He got his way.
We're as excted to see Mr. Radcliffe's razor-sharp nipples as any Gryffindor scarf-wearing 11 year old, we guess. But we're not about to go all Beatles on Broadway. We're praying it doesn't look like what happened during the London production, as the Post's described:
In London, fans regularly mobbed the stage door. A phalanx of London bobbies always escorted Radcliffe to his car. He'd pause on the way to sign "Equus" posters and playbills but refused to sign any "Harry Potter" memorabilia.
One night, the crowd was so thick that Griffiths - who scares away kiddie fans with a nasty Vernon stare - got trapped in the theater and had to sneak out a window.
Galloping gargoyles!
A few corrections...
Bobbies never escorted Radcliffe out of the theatre. I personally saw him leave unescorted and walk to a waiting car. Richard Griffiths never exited through a window (he's an extremely large man). The crowds at the stage door were relatively small (due to the restricted space in the alley way) and were never unruly. They were not a mob a all, just people awaiting a turn at an autograph and perhaps a quick chat. No one went "Beatles".
It is true that he would not sign Harry Potter merchandise but he would not sign things other than the Equus programme. This is totally appropriate.
I have to agree with Dianne. Griffiths said in an interview that he never "escaped through a window" and it was a ridiculous thought because he couldn't fit through a window in the first place. They have never been mobbed. A barrier would be put around the stage door so that Dan could come out and sign a few autographs. His father always kept watch and if anything inappropriate was said or done, Dan was GONE. There was no mobbing at any point and, for the most part, fans were very well behaved.
My daughter and I flew from Boston to London and attended Equus 3 times during the preview week. Dianne and Littleroo27 are absolutely correct. Mr. Griffiths walked right past us each night, generously signing autographs on the way to his car. There was no escaping thru any windows! As far as the fans are concerned -- there was nothing unruly happening, nor were there any "London bobbies" escorting Dan to his car. He would come out the back stage door and sign autographs for a while and then he went back inside the theatre to exit out another door with his bodyguard and Mr. Radcliffe. The only annoyance that I could see going on was the Paparazzi running back and forth between the theatre entrances to get pictures of Dan. They even had walkie talkies -- Unreal! It amazes me that journalists will fabricate false stories, and start rumors, at the expense of someone's reputation, just to grab the public's attention.