It’s been a dark few weeks for the fans of the Harry Potter films, but the sun has finally come out – Gary Oldman is signed to appear in the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It’s been a bizarre is he/isn’t he thing for the past month or so, with Oldman and his people insisting he hadn’t been hired, and with Warner Bros seemingly quite blasé about the whole thing. Readers of the books know that Oldman’s character, Sirius Black, has a major role to play in this story, unlike his cameo in Goblet of Fire, so everyone was wondering why the hell the actor hadn’t been signed yet.
Oldman’s manager Doug Urbanski confirmed the deal, signed in the last 24 or so hours, to a Gary Oldman fansite. "I’m so relieved and happy," said Urbanski. "I can’t put my mind in the place of the producers, but I would’ve thought that when they read the book, a call to us would’ve been very high on their list. Obviously, the character of Sirius Black is key."
Let’s hope this is really the end of this saga. I don’t think my poor, Potter fanboy heart could take yet another last minute reversal.