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AUGUST 14, 2008 at 4:20 PM
Posted by GERI
Source: Business Wire
Warner Bros. has just announced
that the release date for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been pushed back and will be released on July 17, 2009 instead of this coming November. This news has been confirmed to HPANA by Warner Bros.
Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros. 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.
Jeff Robinov, President of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, confirmed:
The release date change does not alter the production schedule for this or future Harry Potter films. Post-production on Half-Blood Prince was completed on time, and the studio’s release plans for the two-part Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will not be affected by this change. We know Harry Potter fans are eagerly anticipating seeing the final chapters unfold onscreen. In fact, the good news for them is that the gap will now be shortened between Half-Blood Prince and the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
While producer David Heyman offered:
When Jeff Robinov explained the rationale behind moving the release date of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to July 2009, it was immediately apparent that this offered us the potential to reach the widest possible audience. I am extremely proud of this latest film and of the work of David Yates and our incomparable cast; I believe we have developed and pushed the series further still. We are all looking forward to sharing it with Harry Potter fans around the world, even if we have to wait just a bit longer.
UPDATE: The official Potter site has been updated with the new release date.
UPDATE II: We don't normally do this, but fan reaction to this news is understandably heated (to put it mildly) and we thought it would be fun to post links to petitions that will try to convince WB to rethink their decision. (No offense, but it will have no effect whatsoever except to make them feel bad -- momentarily -- before going back to counting money --Ed., Cheeser.) Feel free to send links to any petitions you find!
UPDATE III: IMAX was apparently caught by surprise. They've just released a very short statement concerning the change:
Reflecting today's announcement that the release date of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has moved to July 2009, IMAX Corporation confirmed it is already exploring alternative titles for this year's holiday season and is confident it will secure a solid film for the IMAX(R) theatre network.
UPDATE IV: Hold on to your hats, folks. Studio head Alan Horn told the Associated Press today after the announcement:
"The picture is completely, absolutely, 100 percent on schedule, on time. There were no delays. I've seen the movie. It is fabulous. We would have been perfectly able to have it out in November."
UPDATE V: 16-year-old explodes due to delay of 'Harry Potter 6'
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Auror
Points: 2204
Degamo says:
Geri
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one shocked at this news. I thought that it was an April Fool's joke, interestingly enough seeing as we're nowhere near April. I'm beginning to lose my faith in the Harry Potter film franchise. First we get a belated trailer which wasn't up to my liking, and now those of us planning around this release have been slapped in the face by the W.B. moving the film back over half of a year! Oh well, at least we have 'Beedle the Bard' to look forward too (and the books are better than the films in my opinion anyhow).
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 9:40 PM EST
Witch
Points: 684
HermioneandRon says:
WHHHHAAAT?
Ahhhhhhhhh!
This is insane, I don't know what to think.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 9:40 PM EST
Witch
Points: 699
Victoria611 says:
They care about MONEY, not the FANS. Well, guess what. I can see this movie in the dollar theatre at 50 cent Tuesday. Let us all BOYCOTT and see this movie on the cheap. Let them have the reward they deserve
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 9:44 PM EST
rockstar
Points: 2857
Harry_J Potter says:
the good news for them is that the gap will now be shortened between Half-Blood Prince and the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
What about the gap between the last movie and this one? It was already long enough! Stupid WB.
I'm really angry. My friends and I had plans to see it here in NY, but as school's out in July, I'll be a thousand miles away in a stupid town which I'll pay LESS for my ticket, so SUCK ON THAT WB.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 9:48 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 4th Class
Points: 1256
daylilie says:
ban the movie.. dont let them get thier money for making us wait.. Maybe next time they wont mess with the fans.
BAN THE MOVIE.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 9:48 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2011
brenpotterfans says:
This is really horrible!!!!!!!!!!! I don't want to wait a whole another year. It will make just as much money if not more over all the winter holidays.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 9:51 PM EST
Northern Belle
Points: 3968
American Angel says:
They basically just used a lot of fancy words and phrases to say that they are doing this because they view the summer of 2009 as a prime opportunity to make more money; that is what "new windows of opportunity" refers to. I mean, really, how greedy can they be?! As if they weren't already going to make a huge profit on the movie as usual! It's just utterly disgusting that they would do this to all of the HP fans purely for money when money has never been an issue since movie one.
To make things worse, I can't believe they actually had the audacity to mention the shortened gap between HBP and DH. What about the abnormally long, two-year gap between the release of the last movie (Ootp) and HBP? We've never had a problem with waiting for the movies on a yearly basis before, so most people aren't going to be jumping for joy just because DH is released soon after HBP's ridiculous new release date. There's no benefit for the fans in what they've done no matter how they try to sugar-coat it.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 9:56 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2204
Degamo says:
Cheeser
I agree with your edit completely. The W.B. has now shown that it cares more about money than their loyal fans who have literally handed them money time and time again. I really wonder how much more money they're going to procure from this film given how disappointed I am at this news. Maybe I should save the money and purchase 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' instead (at least it will go to charity).
This is completely outrageous. As if they didn't get enough money with 'The Dark Knight'...
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 9:58 PM EST
Whimsical Flautist
Points: 2519
Minstrel in the Gallery says:
*Cheeser, you're awesome for posting petition links.
This is seriously just a big slap in the face to us Harry Potter fans. Thanks WB, we really appreciate it *sarcasm*. How does it feel to betray all of your loyal HP fans just for a little more money? You disgust me.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 10:05 PM EST
Whimsical Flautist
Points: 2519
Minstrel in the Gallery says:
American Angel - You worded what I've been thinking perfectly. Yeah, we don't have a two year gap between HBP and DH, but now we've got a two year gap between OotP and HBP, so we've gained absolutely nothing while losing plenty.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 10:09 PM EST
Dan Radcliffe's Slave
Points: 9375
Rados says:
I'm a bit disgusted at this news. Sure, Hollywood's a moneymaker business, but what happened to pleasing the consumer? The best analogy that I can think of to share with Warner Brothers comes from Spongebob Squarepants, in which Mr. Krabs says, "The money is always right!" ...and in this case, I'm seeing angry fans who don't want to wait and are plotting to boycott instead of feeding the monetary frenzy that Warner Brothers is expecting.
So much for my happy release right before exams this year... :(
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 10:09 PM EST
Prefect
Points: 350
Puffskein16 says:
What the heck?! November or July, it doesn't matter, because real Harry Potter fans will see it opening weekend no matter what! The movie better be way better than its opening release in November, if they are going to wait that long!
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 10:14 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2204
Degamo says:
puffskein16
That's exactly what I was trying to say! I'm not a fiscal genius, but people are going to see Harry Potter whether it comes out in November or July. If you ask me, their revenues might even go down after this fiasco. I don't see anything positive coming out of releasing this film in July. I still can't believe we have to wait an entire year.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 10:24 PM EST
Witch
Points: 917
zxPurplezx says:
I won't see it opening weekend. I'm not even sure I am going to see it at all. Does that mean I am not a real fan of Harry Potter now?
^^ Oh well acually, I am not a fan of the Harry Potter movies very much. haha
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 10:25 PM EST
Mrs. Roonil Wazlib
Points: 2492
weasleyskeepingme says:
Wow.
Technically, I'm not surprised at the greed WB is showing, but that they want to have a summer blockbuster so bad they would actually switch an already arranged date?? Thats LOW.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 10:31 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2204
Degamo says:
Minstrel in the Gallery
American Angel
I just can't see the W.B's rationale- a shorter wait between movies six and seven?
Um-
I mean, a shorter wait between movies six, seven, and EIGHT (I completely forgot that they broke up 'Deathly Hallows' in order to *cough* fit such a large novel into an adequate screenplay). They managed to fit 'Order of the Phoenix' into one movie, though...
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 10:32 PM EST
I Am Queen of My Castle
Points: 3673
Hecate3fold says:
Wouldn't it be nice if no one went to see the movie in the theaters and waited until it came out on video to see it.
What would that do to the WB company and their idea to make more money?
This could happen, all we have to do is set our own time to watch the movie.
I'd love to see this happen, just to prove that it's the fans that have the final say.
Blessings! Hecate3fold!
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 10:52 PM EST
Antipodean Snow Goddess
Points: 3070
Tikihaha says:
I am only feeling complete numbness ... basically we now have to wait another YEAR before we can see this movie. I know they're trying to squeeza as much money as they can from the Harry Potter Cash Cow, but for crying-out loud, this is plain insulting to their true fan base.
This sucks.
Not happy.
I daresay that this will bite them in the backside when the fans have drifted away now that the books have finished.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 10:56 PM EST
Northern Belle
Points: 3968
American Angel says:
Degamo, exactly. And actually, in terms of money (since that is obviously the only thing they care about), I actually think this could hurt them. Since there is such a large gap between the last movie and HBP, a lot of people who don't read the books (which I'm willing to bet is a large portion of the people who watch the movies) might have forgtten/lost track of the storyline and become disinterested in what happens and just skip the movie altogether. And you're right, their decision to split DH into two movies was also questionable. After this new decision, I'm wondering if that decision wasn't just based purely on the thought that everyone will want to see the ending of Harry Potter, and so a split movie could make for double the mega profits.
Hecate3fold, that would be great. After all, we will have waited two years for HBP by the time it comes out, so skipping the movie's release and waiting for the DVD shouldn't be too hard.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 11:01 PM EST
Squib
Points: 187
missmanda83 says:
This is ridiculous.
I'm halfway tempted to not even seen the thing in theaters now. They split Death Hallows to make more money. They're pushing HBP to make more money. WB doesn't care one bit about us- just our money! I'd be willing to take more of this if it was a new book from Jo, but it isn't. It's a movie that doesn't begin to compare with the books they're based on.
Remember when the Lord of the Rings movies were released? They came out one year after another. That's the way this should be. Part of me wants people to lose interest and WB to get burned. They deserve it.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 11:14 PM EST
rockstar
Points: 2857
Harry_J Potter says:
You know, I had defended their decision to split DH into two movies. "They're doing it for the fans!" I said. Oh how that's come back to bite me...
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 11:18 PM EST
Witch
Points: 509
luna_moon says:
The response I want to give--a picture of my finger. The response I'll give instead--SERIOUSLY, WB? Double U Tee Eff.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 11:21 PM EST
Muggle
Points: 88
peacelove&harrypotter says:
Going along with update IV..if the movie is ready to be released, and people at Warner Brother's have already seen it, why can't we, the fans see in November as promised? There is absolutely no point as to making us wait until July of next summer to get to see a movie that is ready to be released!!
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 11:25 PM EST
Witch
Points: 803
FawkesRox says:
(No offense, but it will have no effect whatsoever except to make them feel bad -- momentarily -- before going back to counting money --Ed., Cheeser.)
I agree with you Cheeser, they aren't going to move the release date back to July even if we get a billion signatures, all WB cares about is the money. Doesn't stop me from signing though! *tries to smile but fails miserably*
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 11:47 PM EST
Magical Menagerie Madam
Points: 7276
KimUnicorn says:
Sad, sad, sad sacks of warm, fresh s***.
It's all about money for them and the fans take it up the butt.
Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 11:56 PM EST
Heir of Gryffindor
Points: 5731
Gryffindor Lord says:
I'm in love with that fourth update. It just proves that WB is in it for the money. Bunch of losers.
Posted Aug 15, 2008 at 12:08 AM EST
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