Sun Aug 17, 2008 12:59PM2 comments ›
Sun Aug 17, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" Release Delayed
Writers strike forces WB to push back release date
ICv2 reports that Warner Bros. has pushed back the release of the sixth film in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, due to fallout from the recent Writers Guild strike. Instead of being released on November 21, 2008, the next Harry Potter film will appear in theaters on July 17, 2009. The move is the result of the studio not having any "tentpole" blockbusters scheduled for release during the all-important summer season, as such films' production would have normally begun during the time period in which the strike occurred.
Harry Potter fans can take heart, however, as it's also reported that the move shouldn't have any effect whatsoever on the release of subsequent films in the series.
The shift of The Half-Blood Prince will have no effect on the scheduling of the next Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which will be released in two parts, the first of which will debut in the fall of 2010 followed by the eighth and final Harry Potter film in the summer of 2011.
Two of the previous five Harry Potter films have opened during the summer, but the young magician’s rabid fan base will flock to the theaters in any season, which has allowed Warners to schedule the films effectively during either the summer or the winter holiday season.
More on the other films that Half-Blood Prince will now be competing with, as well as the moves made by other studios in the wake of this announcement, can be found over at ICv2.
In case you missed the recently released trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Cinematical has a nice version of it posted on their website.
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Comments (2)
Anonymous (7:59 AM on Mon Aug 18, 2008)
That's a big book to fit in one movie.
Neil Ottenstein (11:29 AM on Mon Aug 18, 2008)
Explained this way, it makes sense (or perhaps $ense). While there are lot of complaints about this, unless you had an event planned around the November release (e.g., my daughter's birthday is around this time and we've had birthday parties at the theater in the past, but she is older now), it is really just a minor delay and will make the gap until the final films that much shorter.