“Harry Potter 6″ Pushed to July 2009!
Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that it has moved back the release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” from Thanksgiving this year until July 17th next summer!
The announcement was made by Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros.
In making the announcement, Mr. Horn stated,
“Our reasons for shifting ‘Half-Blood Prince’ to summer are twofold: we know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent pole release, as proven by the success of our last Harry Potter film, which is the second-highest grossing film in the franchise, behind only the first installment. Additionally, like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writers’ strike, which impacted the readiness of scripts for other films-changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of. We agreed the best strategy was to move ‘Half-Blood Prince’ to July, where it perfectly fills the gap for a major tent pole release for mid-summer.”
‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ – Two Films
Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that the screen adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s final book in the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” will be released in two parts.David Yates, who earlier helmed the 2007 summer blockbuster ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix‘ and is currently in production on ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince‘, will direct ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I’ and ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II’.Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II will be adapted by screenwriter Steve Kloves.
Jeff Robinov, President of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, stated:
It has been an honor for our studio to be entrusted with bringing J.K. Rowling’s extraordinary book series to the screen, and we have always felt a great responsibility to be true to her vision. In concluding the film franchise, we recognized that ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ is packed with vital plot points that complete the story arcs of all of its beloved characters. That said, we feel that the best way to do the book, and its many fans, justice is to expand the screen adaptation of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ and release the film in two parts. We could not imagine the final chapter of the film franchise being in better hands than those of David Yates.
‘Harry Potter’ Filming Interrupt
As Harry Potter’s fans are anxiously waiting for the release of Harry Potter sequel, the people behind the feature film series were abashed by problems occurring during the filming of the last installment of the Potter’s franchise.According to reports, the shooting of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” has to be temporarily halted because of two male streakers.
In a press release, it was said that the filming has to be stopped following the spotting of two men running naked through the woodland setting in Farnham, Surrey, England.
Because of the interruption, the cast filming on the set, including Daniel Radcliffe and Helena Bonham Carter, were sent off back to their caravans while the security chased the streakers away.
However, at the time when the shooting resumed, the two intruders came back and made monkey sounds.
I don’t know about you, but I think those guys are really brave. Harry could put some spells on them….
Harry Potter ‘As Addictive As Drugs’
Harry Potter can be as addictive as being hooked on drugs, reports The Mirror.
Dr Jeffrey Rudski revealed that one in ten Potter fans were experiencing withdrawal symptoms after JK Rowling’s book 
series came to an end with last year’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Of the 4,000 fans polled many admitted to spending up to four hours a day on Potter-related activities.
“I feel like someone close to me has died,” one fan remarked, knowing the character would not appear in any more books.
Dr Rudski said another 20% of Potter fans were “near-addicts”.
“Addiction to a drug is no different to an addiction to Harry Potter,” he added.
The Harry Potter series began in 1997 with the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. After huge commercial success the character moved to cinemas in 2001 with Daniel Radcliffe playing the young wizard.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth installment in the film franchise, will be released this November.
Final “Potter” Split In Half?
When the “Harry Potter” film franchise began, the fourth story – “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” – was such a fat book that many thought it would have to be turned into two films.
It was a rumor that lasted for years but eventually turned out to be false, instead the fourth film remained one movie as expected – albeit cutting out a lot of the book’s padding.
Now the same talk has sprung up again, this time for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, the seventh and final novel in the series.
The Daily Mail reports that crews currently working on the sixth film “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” have been told the final Potter film “will be released in two halves.”
An unnamed source says “There’s so much to fit that the view is the last movie should be in two halves. There is a huge battle when Harry, played by Daniel Radcliffe, takes on Voldemort that needs to be done really well.”
Del Toro Wants To Direct Harry Potter 7
Since the third film, the Harry Potter movies have been good, but we’ve yet to see a great big screen translation of the tales of the boy wizard. That could potentially change if Warner Bros listens to Guillermo Del Toro’s statement that he’d like to direct the final chapter in the movie septology (or whatever the hell you call a seven parter).
In a recent interview, Del Toro told MTV, ““I’m definitely interested [in directing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows], now that the movies have grown darker. They have a contrast between the gloomy existence of the kid and the world he’s exposed to. They have evolved into a really nice universe.”
Del Toro was once in the running to direct Prisoner of Azkaban, which went to Alfonso Cuaron. But he say he loves the final book. “I got it for my daughter and she was like ‘When are you going to give it to me?’” he stated. “I read it and I was very moved by the ending. It ends very much like a Dickens novel”. Continue Reading…
