Friends, I have some very sad news for you today..."Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince," originally scheduled for a November 21 release, has now been moved to July 17, 2009 in the US and major international markets. Warner Brothers confirmed the move and the official film website has been changed to reflect the date.The press release states two reasons for the move: First, the studio says summer releases are better for “family tentpole” events, and second, they are still feeling the aftereffects of the writers' strike and need the time to make sure the film reaches the widest audience possible.
The writers' strike "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."
The new date, said Jeff Robinov, president of WB's motion picture group, does not alter the production schedule for the last two Harry Potter films; filming on the first of the Deathly Hallows films will begin in February. "The good news for [fans]," he said, "is that the gap will now be shortened between 'Half Blood Prince' and the first part of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.'"
Friends, I am quite saddened and angered by this news – especially since the reasons for the move, those stated in WB’s press release, are hardly the main motivation for extending the films release by another year. It doesn’t take a great sorcerer to figure out that WB is only interested in the bottom line here. By moving "Half Blood Prince" to next year, it will prevent WB’s 2009 profits from looking seriously mediocre after the phenomenal success of another one of their studio’s movies, a little film called "The Dark Knight." In fact, a rival studio executive told Entertainment Weekly, "They don't need the money this year anymore. When a movie over-performs the way "The Dark Knight" has, you really don't need Harry Potter in the fall."
And every Potter fan knows that it’s not just a movie release – it is all the merchandising and market around the film. That is a whole lot of money folks! And they want 2009 to be dominated by that because there is no other competition (besides perhaps "Terminator: Salvation," also a WB movie). The movie executive quote earlier comments about this as well: “Turning a battleship that big isn't easy. You're not talking just about the movie, but all the merchandising, the toys and stuff. It's huge. And it has a domino effect across the rest of the summer slate."
And one more reason…another popular book series is launching their first feature film – "Twilight," which hits theatres this December. "Twilight" and "Harry Potter" share MANY of the same fans. There is no reason for Potter film producers to want to risk their box office haul with a fellow series rival.
This is the kind of behavior that makes me hotter than a Hungarian Horntail!! Do they even think about the fans?! Do they?!!
As a final note, a bit of irony. This week, "Entertainment Weekly" will feature an early look at "Half Blood Prince," with the film gracing the cover of it’s Fall Preview issue hitting news stands today. EW and Warner Brothers share the same parent company, but, clearly, they do not share the important information.
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