WB responds (a bit) to HBP delay: "We Love Our Fans"
The LA Times has a new article up highlighting how upset fans are at Warner Brother's decision to push back the release of Half-Blood Prince to July 17th, 2009. They spoke with WB president Alan Horn (pictured left) about the matter, who tried to come up with more reasoning: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. The film will now hit theaters the same midsummer weekend that "Dark Knight" was released this year. Horn said the young, core Potter audience would be out of school and give the film a longer theatrical life. It will now open opposite Universal's special-effects comedy "Land of the Lost," which stars Will Ferrell. But Horn said there was nothing next year compared to this summer's especially dense slate of big-budget releases.
The article wrapped up with this quote from Horn: "We would never do anything to hurt one of the movies or the series. We love our fans."
Posted by Andrew on Aug 15th |
685 Comments


Visitor Comments















The rage over this money driven decision has over flowed from the HP fan world into the Alan Rickman Fan world. The disrespect they are showing the fans who have financed these movies is staggering. they HAVE hurt us and the movies. I mean how many more houses are cars do you have to have before the profits can take a back seat. HBP is ALWAYS going to break records and produce an obscene amount of money
i know lots of you are saying to yoursleves well im still going to see it in theaters. I agree with you! but theres a better way then to just hand your money to WB a simple way buy a ticket to some other movie a non warnerbrothers momovie then you can go in the theater from then on i think its odviouse There's a petition.... http://www. petitionspot.com/petition s/harrypotter6 Also, here is the contact info for some folks at WB.... Everyone, 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'd like to add that boycotting Warner Brothers ... who sees to care about nothing then whether or not they make good money ... is a good way to get the to listen...so Harry Potter Fans need to unite World wide and tell them they will not get another dime from us unless they change it back.... Boycott Warner Brothers
Each HP fan should buy a stock of WB and form a coalition for change! If the group is not given an ear, all can sell the stocks at once and hurt the company!
oh what a surprise - a greedy jew
You have no fans! Harry Potter does. and even if people are your fans because you produce the movies they aren't your fans anymore. they are the angry mob thats about to protest at your headquarters and hopefully throw rocks at your heads to knock some sense into you
ok so i have heard now that they have pushed the movie back they are moving the Twilight movie up to the slot of November 21st! Thats rediculous!!! if you want one movie thats based on a bookto be pushed back and then move another movie based on a book up to the others slot than you must be crazy. I won't stand for this!!! Someone needs to protest this at the source, the WB headquarters, come on people use that freedom of speech we have been given and change things back to normal!!!
I soo HATE the WB for doing this!.......I wish i lived near WB studios so i can knock some sense in those people!!!!!!...i want to throw a strike soo bad!.....If anyone lives near there can you please call some people and make signs and do a strike?!.....And i wish Jo would say something about this!.....Anyone knnow where 2 contact her at??...
hahaha "we love our fans," that's BS. they just love our money. i say that when this comes out, everyone pay to see another movie that's NOT made by warner bros and just walk into harry potter's theatre instead. that way, we are still seeing the movie, but WB isn't getting the money from it. that will teach those greedy bastards.
They love us? Don
i can c they luv "the fans" as much as Harry luvs Umbridge
They love us? Don't make me laugh! They couldn't care less about us! The only thing they DO care about is their STUPID MONEY... STOP playing with us Warner Brothers. Why on earth do you release those pictures now? I have lost interest. It's the first time that I don't care to see new pics. I think pushing the date was a HUGE MISTAKE. At least you could have pushed it to Christmas and not so far. Harry potter will make money no matter when it's released. You should learn to respect your customers. We give you the money after all. I am going to boycott ALL the WB movies until Half blood prince is out.
fudge U WB!!!!!AND fudge U HORN!!!!!!WE MUST ALL STAND AS ONE TO PREVENT THIS!!!!!!COME ON GUYS!!!!!!!
Why they haven't still got the date to earlier time? What are they waiting for? I mean - the movie is readyy!!! What the f**king hell do they want from us? We're protesting them, we won't be buying the DVD's of Harry Potter, we won't be watching the film at the first release week. Aren't they gonna apologize? Are they only gonna say "We love our fans"? Loving a group that might make you earn money is not to cancel the current date and delay it to next summer! I mean - come oooon! I wish I had a little chance to make my voice heard by David Heyman or Alan Horn...
what a bunch of idiots. i think WB have truely screwed up this time. did they really think that statement would calm the fandom down? we all know bullshit when we read it. lol
I'm still a little stunned...they still haven't announced that this a hoax yet, have they??? I'm clinging desperately to my last hope...I can't wait till JULY!!!!Why WB???? What did we ever do to you???? And you claim you love the fans????
If Warner Bros. cared about their fans then the film should have been released on the 21st of November. If they want people to see it in the holidays haven't they heard of the winter holidays? Those 3 weeks that have christmas, Hannuka, New Year etc in that kids stay off school for? Shame on you guys, profits over fans. It says on yahoo that the producers are worried that the next potter film will crash cos of the books being out. No it'll crash through boycotting fans angry with being treat like crap by film executives. Kez from the UK
There is another petition circulating guys it might be an idea to sign it also. sorry if its already been posted but the more these guys know how displeased we are the better! http://www.pet itiononline.com/11212008/ petition.html apologie s if this has already been posted.
There is one thing we CAN'T forget! Together we are strong. VERY strong. I'm really mad about this but still happy, because there is thousands and thousands of fans everywhere in the WORLD, who are as upset as I am. It makes me feel stronger! And WE ARE STRONG TOGETHER!! Let's not go to ANY other movie than HBP ('cause I can't stop myself from doing that) and let's make WB know we won't. We have to make them understand how extremly stupid they are. And let's contact JK Rowling and hear her opinion. Is she OK with this? If she is, THIS TOTALLY SUCKS!
Sign the petition: http://www.t hepetitionsite.com/1/rele ase-harry-potter-and-the- half-blood-prince The movie is will be ready, why not release it! WB is lying! ALL five films have done equally well regardless of the time of year! They just don't want the 1-2 punch of "The Dark Knight" and "HBP" to make 08 a year so big that 09 looks like a loss because they have no blockbusters to release. Sign the form! Get HBP released!
Well I'm still angry but it'd be cool to have Harry Potter beat Dark Knight. Still angry though!!
"We would never do anything to hurt one of the movies or the series. We love our fans." LIES!!!!!!!
I'm crying here! I was cursing at my computer for about 5 minutes when I found out, so I had to check it out here. It's stupid that they're moving it to make more money, don't they know people like us will see it once with our friends, once with our families, then buy the DVD to cherish it forever? UGH!!!
Does anyone know an e-mail adress to WB? Or any other way to contact them?
At this point, BOYCOTTING is a logical response. I would not find it hard to do at all. I can easily wait for the DVDs of WB movies, including Harry Potter. We, as true fans, all know what happens anyway. I think we should do all that we take to let WB know how wrong they are to make this decision for pure financial gain. We have been very loyal to the movies over the years. Many school children are out in November due to Thanksgiving holidays, not to mention Christmas and usually the films are still in the theatre. Plus the income earned from repeat moviegoers, of which I am one. I always go once to HP films by myself and then take my 3 younger relatives to see it. I say do whatever it takes to let WB know what a wrong move this is. Hit them where it hurts.
This sucks BIG TIME!!!! I was already practically drooling with excitement for the sixth movie. I was willing each day to pass quickly so that it'd be November already, and WB does something low like this?!?!?! I am appalled! They have no idea what it means to love the HP fans. In spite of being a big HP fan, I am seriously considering foregoing watching the sixth movie in the theaters entirely. I'll wait for a downloadable version in the Net. If the sixth movie doesn't do well in the box office, WB bigwigs really have no one else to blame but themselves. The nerve of these people. . . .
TO HARRY POTTER FANS WORLDWIDE: BOYCOTT WARNER BROTHERS
darn! I woke up this morning hoping it was all just a dream! I told one of my close friends who is on messenger right now & she said that bites! cuz we were gonna hopefully go see it together if she wasn't w/her bf & his mom. grr WB!
I have always enjoyed the releases in November because they had more of a Potterish feel to them. POA was ok in the summer and last years debacle with OOTP shocked me to the core I was hoping for HBP to redeem it even if so slightly. WB has hit themselves with the Avada Kedavra curse and its gonna hurt them big time.
eff WB. I go through moderate lengths to increase my wealth, it's obviously something of a necessity to pay bills and live a nice lifestyle. but i wouldn't go through such lengths that i would greatly upset so many people. what stops them from doing that to the rest of the films? they advertised a september 21st release, they should honor that if they can at all. if it was pushed back for an applausable reason (death of actor/ress, behind schedule otherwise etc.) that would be one thing. but to do it for a few more million dollars...? i am sure that hp fans are going to see the film regardless and i know that is what wb is banking on. there is no honor in WB; they are a money-greedy ... prats. poop heads.
wait, is it WB for warner bastards?
Everyone needs to go to warnerbrothers.com and scroll down to "feedback", at the bottom of the homepage, and leave a comment there. You can choose the Harry Potter forum. Let's annoy the hell out of them..."them", the money hungry, arrogant, rude assholes who have made this 30 year old woman cry...and I don't cry a lot....
Anyone heard if EA Games is changing the release of the video game because of this?
If they loved their fans they wouldn't do this. People have been waiting for Harry Potter longer than they have been waiting for twilight. This is nuts! They should protest this!
come now hp fans ... you don't really intend on boycotting wb -- that is to say, not watching their rendition of the sixth installment of harry potter -- do you? it's for sure, it would certainly hurt them; but not only at the expense of wb but also at our own expense. there must be another way to hurt just wb. until then, we can continue to let them know how very much they suck elephant dung. there is no honor in them whatsoever; not an ounce. but they are right, this move is certain to (a) hunger current hp fans who already were going to see the flick thus making us want it more and (b) drum up people who would not have seen it. honestly though - and it would still be shameful - i think they could have gotten away with doubling the cost of movie tickets or something; i think it would still have done the trick. the fact that they are doing this is relatively unethical if you think of it; it's not like they're pushing it back due to an unforeseen or uncontrollable reason such as an actor quit/died etc. this was completely avoidable and i think someone out there (an agency or something) should hold them to their promised release date. i guess there is no standard as to what an acceptable reason for release delay requires and/or perhaps no such agency which monitors this. but it's evident; one needs to be created to prevent this thing from happening freely. and they blame it on the dark knight? wtf is that about? royal crap heads.
They never would want to hurt their fans? I think they hurt enough of us already...
I remind people that the only way to hurt a money hungry company is with our money. Don't give it to them. Boycott Warner Brothers. That is the only real way to get their attention. Put two and two together everyone...think...they moved back the movie date specifically because they are hoping to make more money by releasing it when kids are out of school...that just reeks of lack of faith in HP fans everywhere FYI...Harry Potter has a HUGE worldwide fan base. So in short...yes Boycotting Warner Brothers is the way to go. They want more money?? Don't give them it. Boycott Warner Brothers!!!
Twilight replaced it.
to rbrice1981: I absolutely agree with you! We MUST NOT boycott Half Blood Prince. It would undoubtedly hurt WB but it would do no good to us either. If we love Harry Potter we shouldn't do that. However, we SHOULD BOYCOTT ALL THE OTHER WB MOVIES. We shouldn't go and watch them. We, Harry Potter fans, are thousands arround the world. Let's all unite and hit them where it hurts. Don't give them money
IF EVERYONE HERE SENDS IN THREE EMAILS AND SIGNS THE PETITION WE CAN MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD. EMAIL TO THESE PPL 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 remember to take out spaces. WB CANNOT GET AWAY WITH THIS. WE HAVE 11 MONTHS. WE CAN SEND EMAILS EVERY DAY!!! I AM GOING TO EMAIL EACH OF THESE PPL ONCE A WEEK UNTIL SOMETHING IS CHANGED.
I realize they probably have to stay somewhat neutral but I am curious what the MuggleNet staff thinks. I am hopeful they will consider doing a podcast about this as soon as they can. I know rbrice1981 thinks we are just punishing ourselves if we boycott seeing HBP in theatres but it really is the most effective way to make an impact. We have all read the book, hopefully, and I know when I read it, I envision the actors as their characters so not seeing the movie until DVD release is not a huge issue for me.
Sorry...but I will absolutely boycott HBP and all other WB movies! I will be so mad if I wait this long, then give WB my money and then the movie has all kinds of parts missing and changed from the book like they have done to all the movies in the past. Like in that Entertainment Weekly interview. it was talking about DH and how they have left stuff out of the other movies and now they have to figure out how to put things back in. I think them pushing the movie to July actually scares me...it make me think that they are worried about it being good and going against "Twilight" and other holiday movies.
Okay after hearing that Summit Pictures has moved up the release of
This is the address for Warner Bros. feedback page. I suggest besides signing the petitions, that everyone send them a message. POWER TO THE MUGGLES! http://w w w.warnerbros.com/main/hel p/customer_service.html
WB can take that "apology" and stick it where the sun don't shine . they don't care about the fans, they just want more money. yea okay, so it will make more money in the summer cuz kids aren't in school and they can go to the midnight showing and what not. who cares?! die hard potter fans are still going to see it no matter what day it falls on... winter summer spring or fall. once again it's all about money and they want the dark knight to make as much money as possible before needing to compete with potter. this just pisses me off. i'd like to see the movie without all these darn shenanigans. so when is deathly hallows gonna come out? 2011 and then make us wait till 2015 for part 2??! probably.
After hearing that Summit Pictures has moved up the release of
So here's what we'll do. 1. We will not see any other WB-movie than HBP (because we just can't stop ourselves from that one of course) 2. We will write to them over and over again and complain. 3. We will sign all the petitions we find. I still wonder what JK Rowling thinks about all this though. It would feel a lot better if she is on "our" side and told WB.
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. WHO CARES, HP IS BETTER!!!! I WANT HP NOT A STUPID EXCUSE OF A HIGH GROSSING MOVIE
If anyone had plans to go and see The Dark Knight - Don't!
*points wand at Alan Horn* "AVADA KEDAVRA"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Back to Top