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Next 'Harry Potter' film to be delayed eight months: LA Times


Warner Bros. says the schedule shift from November will take advantage of a summer short of blockbusters.

Talk about a disappearing act: Harry Potter just vanished from the 2008 movie schedule. Warner Bros. shocked fans around the globe Thursday when it announced that "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth installment in the massively successful film franchise about a young wizard and his friends, would not hit theaters in November as planned. The film will instead be delayed eight months and arrive on July 17 2009, according to Alan Horn, Warner Bros. president and chief operating officer.

The postponement was made to exploit the "relative dearth" of major summer blockbusters next year in the wake of the recent writers strike, Horn said. There is no production delay or production consideration. . . . It feels like we have an opportunity in the summer," Horn said.He added that he had seen the film, which is in the final production stages, and that it would "absolutely have been ready" by November. He characterized the shift as a proactive business move, not a retreat. "The question we asked is, what is best for this movie."

Warner currently is riding high with "The Dark Knight," the Batman film that also stars Bale. The grim super-hero movie has taken in $452 million in the U.S. since its July 18 release, making it the second-highest grossing film ever.To some degree, that success motivated Warner to shift "Half-Blood Prince," Horn said. . Petitions were circulating, rumors were flying and angry screeds were being posted on Internet sites within minutes of the Thursday announcement. A July 2009 release means there will be a two-year gap between the film adaptations of books five and six in J.K. Rowling's series. The new opening date, however, would cut the waiting time between "Half-Blood Prince" and the final two movies, which will be shot next year. The final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," will be split into two films, scheduled for November 2010 and summer 2011.