Allow me to interpret Mr. Horn's comments: The decision to move Half-Blood Prince was not taken lightly, and was never intended to upset our Harry Potter fans. [I'm such a greedy idiot, I just KNEW you'd all be dancing in the streets about this]We know you have built this series [and our bank accounts] into what it is, and we thank you for your ongoing enthusiasm and support [and boatloads of money]. If I may offer a silver lining [besides the new Hummer I'm planning to buy with my bonus next year]: there would have been a 2-year gap between Prince and the first part of Deathly Hallows, which opens in Nov 2010. So although we have to wait a little longer the wait from that film until Deathly Hallows will be less than 18 months [and I get my $bazillion bonus FOUR years in a row WOO HOO!]. I am sorry to have disappointed you now[NOT!], but if you hold on a little longer, I believe it will be worth the wait. [And the bulge in my wallet.]

For those people who think that WB doesn't care about the fans think about this. I have never seen a production company respond so quickly to such an outcry as this and I think its silly some of you are acting like little children who don't get what they want. For those of you complaining, do you run a high end production company? Do you know what goes into every decision and how it affects everyone in the company? No? I didn't think so. And no, neither do I but lets be reasonable. I'm sure that in order to keep business up they have to make a certain amount of money every year, something that they are just afraid might not happen in 2009 and thats ok because they are running a business. Mortgages have to be paid, people need to eat and above all people need to keep their jobs. Because what happens when a company doesn't make enough money? People loose jobs. At least, Potter fans don't have to wait a decade or so like the Starwars fans had to for their series to be completed. HBP is my favorite book and of course Im disappointed and its ok if we do express that were saddened but to call for boycotts and say that for WB to look out for their company is "greedy and wrong and evil and how dare they" is just being silly.

yeah right!!!!!!!! im sure if the pushed HBP from nov to july to make more money then they'll push DH back too!!! dont give us that bull!!!

this is all about money. thanks for being nice mr wb but, WE WANT OUR HARRY POTTER MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!! *sticks out tongue and blows rasberries*

Wait a "bit" more?.........It's actually one year and 16 days we have to wait!!!!!!!!!!!!......... ...Thats definetly not a "bit".......I understand if its just a few weeks or something but summer 09?.....hell no!.....The WB is already losing millions from Watchmen since the rights initialy belong to them so that movi has indefinetly been delayed!..........why should the fans suffer for WB's mistakes?.......It's not our fault they will be making less money!...either way its our money to begin with so we should see it when ever we want to!.....They should atleast give us the first 15 minutes of the film online on November 21st 08!......So we can have something to look forward to for the next year and a half!.........

"I am sorry to have disappointed you now, but if you hold on a little longer, I believe it will be worth the wait." Sound like anyone to you guys? Reminds me of Umbridge at the start of term feast in OOTP. I can hear her darn voice ringing in my ears. Hem-Hem.

Eritheia said: "If you have a bad experience on an airline, what do yo do? You file a complaint, and you don't fly with them anymore, you switch to another carrier. What do you do when you have a bad experience at a restaurant? You leave a bad tip or no tip and/or complain and you probably won't eat there anymore." This is different. In your examples, the consumer has already paid for the service, and then had the bad experience. In this case, none of us have paid for the HBP movie. So to modify your analogy to fit this situation: If an airline postpones a flight that you haven't even bought tickets for, what do you do? You file a complaint! How DARE the airline move a flight around that you haven't even bought a ticket for! :\ See what I mean?

"we ... would certainly never do anything to hurt any of the films." Yeah, right. Too late, the boycott has already begun. If I read the petitionspot petition correctly, several countries of Potter fans have declared boycott. I would not want to be head of WB when the fourth quarter and year end earnings reports come out! Boycott all WB movies and products!

:(. If they really wanna release HBP late, lets do it in, idk February or something.

You know if people boycott its going to hurt the fans right? You guys out there do realize this? If the boycott is successful they could just stop caring about the last two films and then where does that leave us? Instead of boycotting we could use this delay and perhaps persuade them to look over their filming and adjust some of those things people are so keen to complain about.

They are delaying the film and the quality would be just as shoddy as OOTP was. They have to realise that we go to see the movies no because the name David Yates is attached to it or WB is promoting it , but we go to see it because of HARRY POTTER. Its the Potter name that draws the fans out not WB or Yates and it is the fans that have made this into the number one series of all time, so they should have some consideration towards us more than towards their fat pockets.

who cares?! do they think that harry potter fans haven't already determined the length of time between each film? we already know that wb. we aren't morons. we had already prepared for a long wait between hbp and dh. what's the killer is that you postpone the film almost another YEAR less than 3 MONTHS before it's scheduled to come out. that is not acceptable. i believe foxnews's assumptions that the move was due to dan's equus premiere in nyc being at the same time. and i dont disagree that that is a wonderful reason to postpone...that makes it kind of awkward. but to say that the reason is for money just makes us mad. just come out and say "hey, dan will be performing naked the same week the movie premiers. we dont want kids exposed to that press and publicity."

Huh!

I disagree with you Mattrixed. We have already paid for the service WB provided or are supposed to. As fans of these movies and consumers we have invested millions of pounds into this franchise. A lot of which is profit for WB. Sorry if we expect as return on that investment! However, it is not simply the delay of the film that is infuriating. It is the prnciple of their decision. We have to make these huge corporations- who get extremely rich off of our custom- understand that they should not bite the hand that feeds them. it does not make good business sense. To get this message across, unfortunatly we must resort to the unsavory tactic of a boycott. AND THAT IS OUR RIGHT. 23 yr old Female MA student.

So you boycott, then what ?

Then they (WB) understand that thier fan base provide thier profits and that upsetting them is counterproductive to their end of year accounts.

Ok, fair enough. But where do you think the money to make movies comes from? it comes from the profit of previous movies. So if HBP makes very little money due to this boycott, future projects and what project do you think is going to suffer those cuts? DH.

Well put Vicki prove to them that its the fans than make Potter the success that it is

WHat the heck! Still, Us fans of Harry Potter shouldnt have to wait until its 3 months until the movie, you have to delay it and then we have to wait 11 more months! And thats a real devoted fan.

No, Mattrixed. Fans have been paying into the HP franchise for years. It's not just ONE movie. If this had been the first Harry Potter movie that had been delayed, I don't think anyone would have been very upset. But, this series has been going on for years, and fans have been paying money for years. They have been WB's customers for years. And as regular consumers of WB's services and products we can choose where we put our money and where we don't put our money.

I had hoped he would say anything new, but this is just old stuff. We've heard it all before. Of course he thinks it's OK to wait another eight months, i guess he has seen the movie already. And about that part with we don't have to wait as long for the first DH-movie, well, we didn't expect anything less than 2 years so that would be much more OK. He can't honestly think we feel better because of that, can he?

True, but to be quite honest a boycott would only be truly harmful to the production of the later films if every fan were to follow through and as much as it would be a kick in the teeth for WB if that did happen, it's highly unlikely. As long as it made some impact, made them take notice. They have to realise that their money making motivations are flawed and that happy fans = healthy profits. Whereas Unhappy fans = reduced profits. It's not just millions they make but billions and the reason is because of the likes of you and me.

IF they get away with moving the date easily like this. They WILL MOVE HALLOWS AS WELL. Its only a matter of time

WHat is the most upsetting about all this, and why so many of us are complaining, is because WB have lied to us all year. They have been advertising it to come out in november all year long. They just release a trailer with the fall release date and we have three months to go. Everyone has been getting all excited, its been just over a year since OOTP, and all of a sudden.....they push it back 8 more months! And they come up with all these excuses that are BS and ecpect us to take it lightly!! NO! WHY cant they just push it back to february or something...

suck it, alan horn!

True, but to be quite honest a boycott would only be truly harmful to the production of the later films if every fan were to follow through and as much as it would be a kick in the teeth for WB if that did happen, Very true, but I think they are suffering already because they don't have anything big lined up for next year due to the writers strike. I don't think its a matter of making more money but spreading that money around so they don't go through a bad year, and I just don't see anything really wrong about that.

beth_28-- yes february would be great for me!! I just really don't understand why the heck they're pushing it sooo far! Everything they're saying is bull and they know we don't believe it. DON'T GIVE UP HARRY POTTER FANS! WE'RE OBVIOUSLY GETTING TO HIM IF HE KEEPS MAKING STATEMENTS!!! if we weren't getting to him, he would've kept his mouth shut after his first statement.

WB you make us wait for the movie....We'll make you wait for our money!....Simple as that!....We would not go the opening weekend too see HBP or we'll just buy a ticket to another movie and see that movie....Either way WB you are gonna lose buttloads of cash!...I'M NOT WAITING 11 WHOLE MONTHS!!!!....Imagine we get to three months again before the movie will come out then something really bad will happen again like the world ending or the film being damaged?

i thought they had Watchmen for next year? Anyway it's poor financial planning if a company cannot shoulder one lean year. They probably are feeling the effect of the writers strike. But they should be more generous towards their writing talent, rather than the executives. They refused to recognise until late the importance of these men and women and it's cost them. I have no sympathy for them, that was pure greed. Many areas are suffering due to the slow down of the ecomony except (according to the British media) the film companies who have been raking it in because people have seen going to the movies as a cheaper alternative to other leisure activities. They made a huge amount of money form the Dark knight (and will do off of Harry Potter) surely that will sustain them. It shoudn't be about how the figures look on a balance book from one year to the next.

DONT BUY TICKETS TO ANY WB MOVIE. BUY TICKETS 2 ANOTHER MOVIE AND SNEAK IN 2 THE WB ONES SO THEY lose MONEY

NessaGiyen - you honestly do NOT see anything wrong, ANYTHING wrong!? this whole situation is wrong! they have been fasely advertising for a year! If they were already thinking about changing the release date is was a horribly wrong decision to release a trailer like 2 weeks or so ago telling us it would be released in the fall! If they need more money for 2009 why not move it to january or february! i would be okay with that. but to move it to next summer!!! i find that extremly wrong! And on a side note, they are starting to film deathly hallows in february!!! so we will be waiting for HBP to come out while they will be close to finishing DH! how does that make sense!?

yeah...whatever

Harry Potter is being delayed because Horn may not get his bonus next year if he does not come up with a way to increase revenue for 2009. He does not care if Harry Potter makes more money. HPB may actually make less money in 2009 since there will be less hype. The Tales of Beedle the Bard and Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone: 10th Anniversary Edition are both coming out this year. Dan will be in New York doing Equus on Broadway. The only HP event announced for 2009 is the movie. The actors will be filming DH in 2009. If they are still filming in July will they break to do the film premiers? Will David Yates and his staff miss the premiers or continue preparing DH? If everyone stops work on DH to promote HBP will DH be ready for the 2010 release? How many HP fans will flip to Twilight? Don

Although I

GOOD point bethinoz!!

I understand that studios need to make money. Movies have been moved in the past. But, we've been waiting for this movie already for so long and they FINALLY showed us the teaser, they've released photos, they've done interviews, and they set the date! It's like setting the date of your wedding and having all of the guests buy plane tickets and accomodations and then changing the date to save yourself some cash while screwing over your guests! I would have been much more understanding about the move if they hadn't already comitted to the movie being in November. Although I am extremely upset by the decision, I'd feel bad punishing all those involved with making the movie who had no control over the release date. And, personally, even if they don't get every detail correct (and even if the changes drive me crazy) I think we all love seeing the details and relationships of the books come to life in movie form and even if it isn't exact, I think they've done a really good job of faithfully recreating the world that JKR created. I will always prefer reading the books to watching the movies, but that doesn't mean I don't want to see the movies! My last thought is shut up Alan Horn. Don't pretend you really care about the fans. You care about our wallets. And thats your job, but don't lie to us.

Don

Although I

oh yeah right!! what a load of bs!! i appreciate the gesture but i still hate WB and the decision still sucks!!!

Do not let Horn make you believe this had anything to do with WB making more money on HBP. It is all about him and his bonus!

beth_28 - Yes, I recognize that putting out the trailer right before the change was incredibly stupid of them because the hype was being built. Its the main reason I got really upset about it. But I'm not about to go and join a boycott or write an angry letter when I can see the reason behind their decision. It's not fair but you can imagine it could be a lot worst. I got into the fandom and into the movies and into the books to enjoy it not to get angry and throw a tantrum over something I know so little about. So yeah I have to wait a while but I still plan on enjoying it and those who are boycotting it on opening weekend or "forever" are just going to deny themselves something they like.

Putting the trailer out right before the change was not as stupid as releasing the world wide release dates not a week before the change.

I really don't care, I really hate the delay. I had plans for the November release, but now it won't work out. Whatever they say, I still hate the delay. I honestly think it is unfair to delay it like this. Now it's about a year until we see it, instead of a couple months.

i see the reason for thier decision. But they are reaping what they have sown. If they valued thier writers more financilly and rewarded their creative contibution they would not be facing next years drought! I really do not see why the fans muct suffer for thier ineptitude or mismanagement. I assist in the running of my family business and i understand thier motivation however, in the long run customer satisfaction is paramount without them there is no business. Also it seems abundently clear that this decsion was being made when the Dark Knight was being released and that they held it back for fear of damage it might do to the movies takings. Therefore they do fear a fan backlash and a boycott. They are probably hoping that with no significant relases in the immediate future that this anger will have died down . A shrewed move but all the more disgraceful. I mean 60% of thier audience are probably children and manipulating them is appalling

well, what can I say, I am extremely disapointed, and have been since that half a century we had to wait for the teaser... On the other hand, Im still watching the movie, three or four times, probably and theres nothing that could keep me from doing that... However, there is one simple solution I can give WB for my anger, which is probably going to be ignored-Get me John Williams back and there will be no hard feelings... after all, theres a lot of time to make the proper changes... By the way, that silver linning is probably the stupidest, most dumbass argument I've ever heard in my life... I found it HILARIOUS. ITS SO darn IDIOTIC!!!! And "Boicot"? HAHAHAHAHAHA... yeah, right... you'll be on your sleeping bags outside the theaters two days before the movie premiere... Even YOU can't believe that.

NessaGiyen - if you were a true fan of Harry Potter, like you claim to be, you would not stand by and not do anything about it. Who said i was boycotting or never going to see the movie. What im saying is that for people (who like you) are saying its not a big deal and calm down, are obviously not true fans. If you were you would not stand by and let this happen. Even if it gets no where, sending letters and emails is worth trying in case it does work out. I am not freaking out and sending threatening letters to them, but im angry and outraged, so yeah im going to try everything to get them to change their minds. But its not just waiting a "while", its them saying one thing and changing it right from under us, and forcing us to wait a year. What ever so called business reasons they have for this, they did not think it through all the way and i think its good we are all standing together and trying to change it to at least jan or feb.

The only thing Dark Knight had to do with the decision was this is that it assured Horn is bonus for this year. WB did not need to bring in any more for him to get his pay out for 2008 but with little to look forward to for 2009 he needed something to increase revenues. Since 60% of audience are probably children they can be fickle and HBP may make less in 2009 than 2008.

Does the american financail year start in April as it does here (GB)?, because if it does Jan or Feb will be no good either

So anyone else think that they should have made this decision six months ago instead of waiting till we were under three months to the release date to tell us this? And not to mention that they tease us with a trailer when the facts probably are that they were considering moving the date when the trailer was released. So basically their main reason for moving the date was so they could make a bigger profit on the film. Doesn't that almost make you think they'll move the release date for DH Part 1 back as well? Because that has a scheduled release date for the same weekend in November as this one did. You know Mr Horn, I don't think we'd be as pissed off as we are now if you gave us some better reasons than the ones you've given already. I'd really rather you say, "The company is hurting and we could really use more profit off this movie to keep WB going strong" than pretending like you care about the fans of this franchise. Don't lie to us and don't pretend like it isn't about the money. Yeah I understand that WB is a company and the goal of a company is to make a profit, but don't give us a load of crap. Tell us how it is and be a man. Don't pretend like you care more about the fans than you do about profit because it's obvious you don't. You're making us wait two years between OotP and HBP instead of two years between HBP and DH. Wouldn't it make more sense to release HBP now and take more time to focus on DH to make it the best HP film of them all? DH is really where WB is going to make the last bit of a fortune off this franchise so release HBP in November and make us happy if you really care about us more than money.

ALAN HORN AND WB CAN SUCK MY PHOENIX TAIL FEATHERS OFF! HE'S AN IDIOT! EVERYONE WAITED FUKKIN YEARS FOR BATMAN AND THE DARK KNIGHT... AND STILL IT GOT THE MOST MONEY EVER!!!