The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the elaborate attraction based on the popular film franchise that has drawn more than 7 million people to Universal Studios Orlando, is about bring its Sunshine State to the West Coast. Universal is currently finalizing a deal with Harry Potter film distributor and licensing rights holder Warner Bros. to build a replica of the Wizarding World attraction at their theme park in Hollywood, CA.

I was about to start out this gift guide by writing some pretentious crap about the unifying power of cinema and television and how the greatest art form of the past century would make the perfect Christmas gift for that demanding loved one of yours, but then I put down the cough syrup and slapped some sense into myself.

But it is true that when you’re not sure what to buy someone as a present you can always surprise them with a fine movie or a boxed set of their favorite television series. Then as you sit back and watch their face light up with the joy of angels singing harmoniously in Heaven when they open the gift you can take a sip of spiked egg nog and let out a hearty Errol Flynn laugh because you are victorious and you didn’t even try.

That’s why we here at Geeks of Doom want to aid you in your soul-destroying quest to find that ideal DVD or Blu-ray if you’ve got the extra dough (and you drink silver chalices full of orphan tears), for that special someone in your life.

Amazon has eight titles available in their Digital Rental Deals for this weekend, which include several new movies, like Super 8, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Conan The Barbarian, and Cars 2, for only $1.99 each.

– Super 8 | 24-Hour Rental
– *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 | 48-Hour Rental
– The Change-Up | 24-Hour Rental
– *Water For Elephants | 48-Hour Rental
– Conan The Barbarian (2011) | 24-Hour Rental
– Cars 2 | 48-Hour Rental
– *Tree Of Life | 48-Hour Rental
– *Miral | 24-Hour Rental

Once you activate the rental through Amazon’s Instant Demand service, you’ll have access to the movie for 24-48 hours (as noted above). If you’re interested in purchasing the digital versions, the cost is $14.99 each.

All week, Amazon has been offering up Lightning Deals, limited quantities of various products for a discounted price for a 4-hour window of time, as a prelude to the biggest shopping day of the year — Black Friday. You have to be on the lookout for these deals and once the item runs out, the sale is over. Meaning, if you see something on sale that you want, buy it immediately before it’s gone.

Amazon has released the Lightning Deal schedule and prices for Movies & TV on DVD and Blu-ray for Friday, November 25, starting at 12:30AM PST (that’s 3:30AM EST) and running through 11:30pm PST. See list of Black Friday deals here below, along with more information on how these special deals work.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2011

12:30 a.m. – 4:30 a.m. PST

Hot Tub Time Machine
Blu-ray – $4.99

U-571 (Collector’s Edition)
DVD – $.99

Charlie Wilson’s War (Widescreen Edition)
DVD – $.99

Bruno
DVD – $.99

It’s being reported that David Yates and the BBC are set to develop a Doctor Who movie with hopes of turning the property into one of the next big franchises.

Yates is working with BBC Worldwide executive vice president of programming and production Jane Tranter, and potential writers are being looked at right now. Yates says that they’re not rushing the project, and that two to three years will be taken to make sure they get things right, explaining that it will require “quite a radical transformation to take it into the bigger arena.”