Half-Blood Prince delayed until July 17th, 2009
Warner Brothers has just announced that Half-Blood Prince will be delayed. The film will instead be released on July 17th, 2009. From the press release:In making the announcement, Mr. Horn 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.”
Read the full release at the link below.
Press Release:
BURBANK, CA, August 14, 2008 – Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that it has moved back the release date of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” to Summer 2009. The sixth installment of the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise will now open day-and-date domestically and in the major international markets on July 17, 2009. The announcement was made by Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros.
In making the announcement, Mr. Horn 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.’”
Commenting on the release date change for “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” David Heyman, the producer of all the Harry Potter films, 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.”
David Yates, the director of both “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and who will also helm “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” added, “It has been a joy to work on ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.’ Dan, Rupert and Emma and all our returning young cast continue to blossom, and our new cast members bring fresh color and life to Hogwarts. Even as we put the finishing touches on this latest film, we are already beginning preparations on the final two films—we start filming in February—and I am excited to bring this remarkable series to the exciting and moving conclusion its loyal fans deserve.”
In “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Heyday Films production, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” David Yates, who directed last year’s summer blockbuster “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” returns to direct “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” David Heyman and David Barron are the producers, with Lionel Wigram serving as executive producer. Steve Kloves wrote the screenplay, based on the book by J.K. Rowling.
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are reprising their roles as young wizards Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The film also stars Jim Broadbent, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, David Thewlis and Julie Walters. The cast also features David Bradley, Jessie Cave, Frank Dillane, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch, Helen McCrory, Natalia Tena, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and Bonnie Wright.
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
BURBANK, CA, August 14, 2008 – Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that it has moved back the release date of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” to Summer 2009. The sixth installment of the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise will now open day-and-date domestically and in the major international markets on July 17, 2009. The announcement was made by Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros.
In making the announcement, Mr. Horn 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.’”
Commenting on the release date change for “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” David Heyman, the producer of all the Harry Potter films, 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.”
David Yates, the director of both “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and who will also helm “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” added, “It has been a joy to work on ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.’ Dan, Rupert and Emma and all our returning young cast continue to blossom, and our new cast members bring fresh color and life to Hogwarts. Even as we put the finishing touches on this latest film, we are already beginning preparations on the final two films—we start filming in February—and I am excited to bring this remarkable series to the exciting and moving conclusion its loyal fans deserve.”
In “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Heyday Films production, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” David Yates, who directed last year’s summer blockbuster “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” returns to direct “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” David Heyman and David Barron are the producers, with Lionel Wigram serving as executive producer. Steve Kloves wrote the screenplay, based on the book by J.K. Rowling.
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are reprising their roles as young wizards Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The film also stars Jim Broadbent, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, David Thewlis and Julie Walters. The cast also features David Bradley, Jessie Cave, Frank Dillane, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch, Helen McCrory, Natalia Tena, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and Bonnie Wright.
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Posted by Andrew on Aug 14th |
1478 Comments
Visitor Comments
This makes NO SENSE. Pushing it back almost an ENTIRE YEAR? I don't understand it at all. The late teaser trailer may have been an indication of issues they were having, but an ENTIRE YEAR? SIRIUSLY? The fans would be seeing it in the dead of winter even if it was released during a crazy deadly blizzard or something! We would don our wizards' robes and brave the cold! The summer release thing Makes NO SENSE!!
I'm not one who usually gets angry, but this news makes me VERY ANGRY. Here I was, daydreaming of how much fun it would be to go see HBP right at the end of my next semester at college and use it to wind down a little. But now I have to wait until the summer! And the countdown JUST got out of the 100s. Next time I look at it (something I am NOT looking forward to doing), it will likely be in the 300s! I CANNOT STAND THIS WB, AND I DO HOPE YOU CHANGE YOUR MINDS!!!
so stupid!!!!!!! thats almost a whole year away.
NOOOOOO!!!! WHY?? i really hate this!!! Why did they do this???
Way to ruin my day!!! Ughhhhhhhhh!!!!!! THIS IS SO FREAKIN NOT COOL!!!!!!!!!
WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF THIS IS BS!!!!!!!!!! I am at a complete loss of words!!!!!!!
To tell you the truth, i'm not that dissapointed. It just means more suspence, and less time between hbp and dh pt1.
rebellion time
well.. look on the bright side.. maybe they'll spend more time on HBP.. i uno about anyone else but i've been a bit let down by a couple of the previous films cause of lack of justice done for the book. maybe if they have more time on it we can benefit with more to it. and we wont have to wait as long for DH.. which is pretty rad.. i'm bummed.. but i'm sure we can all keep ourselves occupied in the next few months.. like going outside in the sun.. it does exist outside of the internet and books
Thankyou for the link tiassa =] Im going to get other people to sign it too Lucky i loked on here today loads of ppl probly still think its coming out in novemeber I actually fort this was a joke at first..
Here's the petition.... http://www. petitionspot.com/petition s/harrypotter6 Everyon e, please contact these individuals to complain. Make your voices heard. Domestic Contact: Susan Fleishman, 818-954-1919 susan.fleis hman@warnerbros.com or International Contacts: Jayne Trotman, 020 7984 5222 jayne.trotman@warne rbros.com Desiree Finnegan, 818-954-3397 desiree.fin negan@warnerbros.com or Head of Harry Potter Production Publicity: Vanessa Davies, 011-44-192-368-5131 vane ssa@hpfilms.co.uk
I'm on my way pitchfork and all...i plan on burning someone's house to the effin' ground! Seriously do they not realize all the "loyal" fans that are pissed now and probably like me not want to go see the movie now just out of spite?? This is horse shhh! Put the movie out NOW and just fix it up for the DVD!!! COME ON SERIOUSLY, SERIOUSLY!
I am so angry! I don't even believe it! This is so stupid! They made us wait all summer for a teaser trailer and now they are making us wait again!
WTF? is this a joke? are you kidding me?
I teared a bit i am so effing mad about this.. I HATE YOU WARNER BROS. /CRY /RANT RARARARAR. WTFMATE.
OH WHAT THE fudge? I was just thinking about this the other day. "Wow, two movies so close together."
OH WHAT THE fudge? I was just thinking about this the other day. "Wow, two movies so close together."
NO WAY NO WAY I refuse to believe it.
This has to be some kind of joke.
This has to be some kind of joke.
HUUUUUH?! Seriously? What?!?
Well, Warner bros is really asking for it, aren't they? I agree with softest_bit_of_floor: Something's up. You don't just go move the release date of a movie in front of the most powerful fan base on earth unless something's gone badly wrong.
WTF??? It couldn't even be a winter release (although that's one extra month)..but still!!!!
NOooooo!!!!!!!!!!! You 've got to be kidding us. This is absolutely ridiculous... and worst of all, it actually makes sense for the producers to release it in the summer, because the profits WILL be huge. But that doesn't make it okay for the fanbase. This is awful. Now we're going to have to reset that countdown. Grrr.
Not happy. As if WB don't fudge enough up. I swear if i ever get rich I'm remaking them from PS to DH and i will get a load of HP fans to write the scripts. And i will never back out of a release date. Looks like Twilight's gonna get a load more audiences now.
this is heart-breaking. but... if it makes the movie better... oh god.
wb is so stupid, they release the teaser trailer saying november. then they change it to july...so freaking stupid!!!!!!!!
AAARRRRRRHHHHHHHGGGGG I just saw this on the news and didnt believe it til I read it on here. My life isnt exactly filled to the rafters with exciting things between work and family commitments but this was something I was looking forward to. It had better be worth the extra 6 months of anticipation.
Oh, great! Now I just thought of another reason why I don't like this release date! I recently got this really neat Harry Potter hoodie that I planned to wear to the release. But who EVER HEARD of someone wearing a hoodie in the summer? ARRRRGGGH!
OMFGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GGGGG!!!!! by doing this, they're just going to LOSE movie goers not gain them! People are going to forget about it by then! And HELLO! FALL RELEASES AROUND THANKSGIVING ARE ALWAYS A HIT!! WTF IS THEIR PROBLEM!??!?!??
Ok, for a second I thought it was April fools... and then I realized it was AUGUST. WTF Warner Bros??
THIS MAKES ME HATE WARNER BROTHERS EVEN MORE.
THIS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!! SIGN THE PETITION AND CALL WARNER BROS. WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO WAIT OVER A YEAR AFTER THE WHOLE MOVIE IS DONE. POST PRODUCTION AND EVERYTHING THE FILM IS GOING TO BE SITTING IN A WEAR HOUSE FOR A WHOLE FREAKIN YEAR I SAY BOYCOTT WARNER BROS. UNTIL THEY RELEASE HBP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!
It makes sense for them to release the trailer so late. But IT'S ALL ABOUT MONEY. CAN'T THEY JUST SETTLE FOR ALL THE MILLIONS THAT THEY HAVE?
Oh my god. I told my sister and she screamed were all horribly surprised and half mad. This is worse than the writers strike. They better give us at least 11 different trailers. If this is a joke muglenet, I'm going to be sick
THIS BETTER BE ONE HELL OF A MOVIE THEN...!!!!
THIS IS 11 MONTHS AWAY. LET ME KILL SOMEONE!! ANYONE!! LET ME PRISE MY HANDS AROUND THEIR STUPID LITTLE NECKS AND CHOKE THEM TO DEATH! I AM HAVING A RIOT!!!
HOW IN THE HELL DOES THIS INCREASE THE AUDIENCE BASE?? the same people that were going to see it in the fall (where it belongs and FEELS right) are going to be the same people that see it in the summer...WTF seriously....bunch of ass wipes! Like i said earlier just come out with the movie as planned and then Beef up the freakin' dvd or something...just don't hit us this low!
wow. we have one of the slowest news weeks ever. no news except ginnys b-day. THEN we get this!
This is sooo unfair!!!!! I HATE IT WHY!!!!?? ugghh!!!!! !!!! I WANT MUGGLECAST NOWW!!!!!! I'M REAL MAD.. THEY CAN'T DO THIS I MEAN!!
YOU PEOPLE NEED TO LEARN HOW TO READ. The movie is done, finished, post production has been completed as scheduled. Thats what makes this even more annoying... the movie is COMPLETELY done, yet their sitting on it for 9 months. They're not editing it, fixing it, buffing it up, nothing. The movie they have now is the same thing we"ll be watching nearly a year from now. that is why this is so ridiculous. ahhhh
I... DON'T... UNDERSTAND
I'm sobbing...I can't believe this. I had it all planned. And now I feel all empty inside. How could they do this to us? How? We have to wait basically a whole year?! I don't think I could wait that long.
I am in full anger mode, I already had tickets to go to Europe for the British and French premiere. ** what doesnt make sense is that Christmas movies also break box offices. Plus Harry Potter already has probably the largest fan base who would go and see it even if it was released in the middle of October or some random month. Plus 11 months is kind of rediculous, so much has changed. but then again, movies always leak in other parts of the world. who knows. maybe they'll come to their senses (although I highly doubt it).
another thing... this just shows that they're EXTREMELY greedy people. No matter when they release the film, they'll get a crazy good profit because of the book readers. But they're making it in the sumer for more financial gain. This is really pissing me off. And fall movies make a lot of money too. Do they not realize that most of the oscar nominated films are usually released in the fall and winter? Idiots.
Greed, Be there no mistake, it's all about the money... *shakes head*
Major tent pole release!!!! my arse!!! That's just jabbertalk of saying:" WE HAVE OTHER STUFF TO STUFF DOWN YOUR THROATS FIRST, BECAUSE WE KNOW YOU HP-GOOFS WILL FLOCK TO IT ANYWAY HOW BADLY WE MANGLE IT." consider yourselves a flock of sheep only existing to be shorn, if I ever saw a commercial company give the finger to fans it's this.
Haha this is the lamest excuse i've ever hear, "we don't have anything else for 2009"...
can someone tell me how many days now cuz i need to annoy my friend with the number-she doesn't read harry potter.she doesn't know what _ days means. its soooooooooo funny!
MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY... MOOOONEY! that's what it's all about, isn't it? LAME.
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