BREAKING: 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' Moved to Next July!
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, New Releases, Warner Brothers, Exhibition, Family Films, Newsstand, Harry Potter
Thanksgiving just got a lot less magical. Warner Bros. has announced that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, originally scheduled for release on Nov. 21, has been pushed back to July 17. As in 2009. As in ELEVEN MONTHS AWAY! It's enough to make you utter an unforgivable curse, such as "Avada Kedavra!" or "What the f***?!"
A film's release date being moved back is usually a sign that the production is in trouble, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. For one thing, the production on Half-Blood Prince is pretty much finished already, and it's not like the director, producers, or actors were inexperienced screw-ups. No, the date change in this case seems to be purely strategic. Said top WB honcho Alan Horn in a press release:
"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.... 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.... [Half-Blood Prince] perfectly fills the gap for a major tent-pole release for mid-summer."
There are two ways of reading that. One is that WB won't have anything else PG-13 and family-friendly ready for mid-summer, so Half-Blood Prince has been called in to save the day. The other is that WB is well aware that the other studios' summer plans were screwed up by the strike, so they've moved Harry Potter into position to take full advantage of that weakness. Both are probably at least partially true, and it's a pretty savvy move in either case.
WB confirmed that this change will not affect the shooting of the two films intended to end the series, for which shooting begins in February.
Coming Soon reports that to take advantage of the new Nov. 21 vacancy, Disney is moving its animated feature Bolt up to that date from Nov. 26. We'll keep you posted on whether the Harry Potter move changes anything else -- like, for example, whether Land of the Lost, already scheduled for July 17 and now up against HP, chickens out and moves to another date. We wouldn't blame 'em.
Related Headlines
Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. OMG I am SOOOO pissed off i am dying to c that movie and november is too far away now i have to wait till july just cuz WB thinks that people well go c it more cuz of Batman?? Wat kind of logic iss that ? Batman has different fans than Harry Potter
Posted at 10:37PM on Aug 15th 2008 by rebecca
3. Absolute CRAP! I was already pissed that we had to wait until December in Australia - God knows when we'll get to see it now.
I'm boycotting - I'll wait till it's on sale on DVD.
Big mistake WB. I mean, Deathly Hallows outsold the Bible for goodness sakes! The fanbase is HUGE, and you've pretty much alienated yourselves from them, WB. Not a smart move.
Of course, if this is a ploy to grab the fans attention, get us feeling passionate about the movie and then putting back the release date to November stating that you've "done it for the fans", I might feel dirty, but I'll still go see it! LOL
Posted at 10:14AM on Aug 16th 2008 by kate
4. No!!! This is beyond frustrating. First they keep us waiting forever and a day for even a teaser and then, just as we get within a hundred days of the release of the movie, they tell us we'll have to wait nearly a year instead! I'm beyond frustrated with Warner Bros. right now.
Posted at 5:27PM on Aug 14th 2008 by Saavik
5. Well that sucks I was looking forward to it. I not to long ago saw the trailer and it looks really good so I was looking forward to it. After great movies this summer I was looking forward to seeing another movie. Well I guess no big deal at least now I don't have to rush through the book after all. I was on the eighth chapter and every thing. Seeing as with work and what not I never got around to reading this book. Plus the one after it. I may now some things at the end but not every thing. Well at least now I can get back to reading another book I was before this one. Again it sucks seeing the movie pushed back but many great ones have had this happen to them and it work out for them in the end. So every thing should be fine in the end.
Posted at 5:32PM on Aug 14th 2008 by Joe
6. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
Posted at 6:03PM on Aug 14th 2008 by Cam
7. Wow, that is a pretty major schedule change-could it really be just marketing, and not something related to production? Having something sitting on the shelf 8 months seems pretty drastic.
Posted at 6:17PM on Aug 14th 2008 by totoro
8. They better not try to milk the pentultimate movie in the series for too long... else people are just going to forget the enthusiasm over the movies, since the books are already over anyway.
Posted at 6:19PM on Aug 14th 2008 by Jessica D
9. hey guys, I know it probably won't do much, but on Mugglenet there is a petition floating around. http://www. petitionspot.com/petition s/harrypotter6 Feel free to sign it. I already e-mailed some WB people directly. I hope they'll realize what a**hats they are being and change it back. Their greed can only go so far.
Posted at 6:36PM on Aug 14th 2008 by Rosie
10. AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WarnerBros SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M DONE WITH ANYTHING THEY PUT OUT. I'M FINISH WITH THEM. You guys can wait for Half-Blood Prince to come out next summer. I'm not waiting for anything they have anymore. THWT
Posted at 6:47PM on Aug 14th 2008 by diego
11. They say the reason for the change is because they lost money because of the writers strike. Well as a fan of WB I wonder have they really thought this through? I now feel like having a strike of my own and not buy any WB products this would included DVD's and movie tickets,books, comics and toys. I understand losing money and wanting to recover a loss. It's not bad enough you take the last book and split it into two movies, now you take a movie fans have been looking forward too for a year to see and tell them to wait eight more months. I am very upset with the WB right now.
Posted at 7:08PM on Aug 14th 2008 by kim
12. There are many things I could write in reponse to this announcement, but neither Dumbledore nor Rowling would approve.
Posted at 7:14PM on Aug 14th 2008 by Mike De Luca
13. yea this is straight up bs! wb is obviously just looking for extra money whereas all of us have no harry potter to look forward to at all in 2008... suck it WB!
Posted at 7:52PM on Aug 14th 2008 by Kyle
14. Bah, they just got enough money with The Dark Knight for the rest of the year and now they move HP! I just hope this means the movie will be polished beyond every other entry in the franchise... and get John Williams!
Posted at 8:10PM on Aug 14th 2008 by Antonio A
15. Time to go drown my sorrows in Butterbeer.
Posted at 8:23PM on Aug 14th 2008 by Peter Hall
17. Harry potter was coming on November 21? huh.
Well, you fans oughta be pissed. Nice move though, WB.
Posted at 8:41PM on Aug 14th 2008 by cough
18. well so much for my birthday plans. why would the do that. idiots.
Posted at 9:28PM on Aug 14th 2008 by Natasha
19. This just pisses me off. Really fans, and me, have been waiting for this movie since it was finished, and now that they are pushing it to the next summer officially sucks. I am beyond pissed. I might just boycott the movie and wait for it to come out on DVD or watch it on the internet. Screw WB.
Posted at 9:38PM on Aug 14th 2008 by Jess
20. Why so serious?
I think the WB is gearing up for a Dark Knight re-release come the fall/winter for the Oscars. With HP out of the way they can focus all their energy and money on the Batman.
Well, it's a theory anyways. But really, how frustrating for HP fans.
Posted at 10:33PM on Aug 14th 2008 by Ryan
1. The one and only reason for this move is The Dark Knight. Unimaginative WB bosses think Harry Potter is their best chance at replicating that success so clearly it should open on the same date.
Posted at 5:18PM on Aug 14th 2008 by Chad