A few weeks ago, it looked like Gary Oldman might not be reprising his role as Sirius Black in Harry Potter 5. It wasn’t just speculation, even Gary thought so. But after all the worry, things have been sorted out. Gary Oldman is officially signed for Order of the Phoenix.

The latest word comes directly from Gary’s agent, the great Doug Urbanski. “Gary Oldman is now set to play Sirius Black in the Order of the Phoenix. A deal was concluded this morning,” he says. In the end, apparently it got done rather easily. With no word from Warner Bros. on whether or not they wanted him for Harry Potter 5, Oldman was on the verge of signing up for something else. That was enough to get the film’s producers moving, and they signed their Sirius Black up pronto.

It’s still kind of baffling that everyone on WB’s end sat on their hand so long in the first place. It took nearly losing him to get them moving. None of it makes a lot of sense, but in the end all that matters is that Gary Oldman will indeed be back in Harry Potter 5 as Sirius Black. Rabid Potter fanboys and fangirls can now breathe a little sigh of relief.