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Warner Bros Pictures today moved back the release date of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to day-and-date domestically and in the major international markets on July 17, 2009. Studio boss Alan Horn cited "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 tentpole release for mid-summer.” Apparently, the move was subordinate Jeff Robinov's idea. But he confirmed that the release date change does not alter the production schedule for the two-part Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: I'm told by the studio that the first part is set for release November 19th, 2010 and thr second part set for summer 2011. UPDATE: Oops! Time Warner's Entertainment Weekly, the official magazine of receptionists, is stuck with Harry Potter 6 on the cover of its Fall preview issue on newsstands any moment. Now that's synergy...
'Harry Potter 6' Moves To Summer 2009
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What’s your source? The official Harry Potter movie website still says the release date is Nov. 21st.
OMFG ARE THEY BLOODY CRAZY!!!!!! WHAT THE HELL>!>!>!>!>!>!>!.!>!>!>!
They better get these films wrapped up quick before they have to re-title the last instalment: Harry Potter & Magical Retirement Home.
They really couldn’t have pulled the trigger on any other summer tentpoles in the past six months? Really?
NOOOO!
Get ready for an army of pissed off tweens
Wow, that’s a huge move. I’m pretty surprised they did that, I suspect it’s more because it won’t be ready than timing – this fall seemed like pretty light competition (unless next summer is looking barren because of the strike, which I doubt).
I just checked one of the major HP websites, and the fans are going completely nuts over this, as expected.
How soon until “Land of the Lost” announces that it’s moving to late August?
And does this mean that Warner Brothers isn’t too high on Robert Rodriguez’s “Shorts”?
thanks jeff… thanks a lot.
WHAT THE HELL.
YOU CANNNOT BE SERIOUS.
Stephanie and others, yes this is for real. The official website now lists the new date.
I AM!
And it’s SEVERUS!
75 points from Hufflepuff!
Good Move Warners.
The Dark Knight singlehandedly delivered a box office gross of 2 big films in one. Why waste the Fall when the anticipation for a new Harry will drive the fans to see the next one in droves in 2009?
Also, the writers strike is severely affecting next summer. What the hell else is being released aside from Transformers 2? This will help HP make more money due to lack of competition. It will also soften the blow if Watchmen totally fails.
Finally, it enables TDK to continue on in IMAX until the end of the year. Ensuring a 550 domestic gross and a push during awards season.
Good move.
Aww..shucks!! The one movie that you can depend on to deliver.
This is not going to go down well with all fans, millions of fans out there.
Nikki! Thanks for ruining my weekend
THE HELL?!?!
wow that’s really… lame.
I’m completely and utterly enraged and disgusted at WB’s decision. And to David who made the comment of “Get ready for an army of pissed off tweens”, you’re a complete fool! Since when has HP only had ‘tween’ fans? I’m 19 years old and a huge HP fan.
But anyway, this is not going to sit easy, I’ve already contacted a bunch of WB contacts which on found on HPANA website under some comments. WB will not use ill-founded, weak-based excuses just to get what they think will be bigger profits! They are being SO greedy and I won’t be a bystander to greed or corrupt capitalism! Absolute BS!
i am so PISSED off at WB! they are doing this for the cash.
as someone in baghdad right now and with a chance of missing harry potter in theaters altogether, i suppose i should be greatful but … I really wanted to see this as soon as possible. guess i should be happy that i’ll now be able to see it on the big screen. it makes up for missing the dark knight. kinda. c’est la vie.
Bruno, you make excellent points for why this is a very smart BUSINESS decision. But that is the problem these days, isn’t it? Every major studio’s decisions have become solely about money, and it’s destroying the integrity of movie making and movie going. Sure, moving the release date EIGHT MONTHS doesn’t affect the film itself, but it treats the immensely loyal fans as if we don’t care, that we’ll flock to the cinemas whenever WB deems it financially viable. True, I don’t know any fan that will NOT see HBP because of the move, but it is incredibly disrespectful to the people who have made these films so successful, and Horn and Robinov so filthy rich.
Sarah: “Corrupt capitalism”? As though WB had some moral obligation to release it this year?
Well, one good thing to come out of this: the fanboy/fangirl meltdowns are hilarious.
Can we blame this on Harry Sloan, Tom Cruise and UA as well? I’m sure they’re connected somehow.
It’s not like Warner Bros gives a shit about the audience so what do you expect?
Oh and in regard to scripts allegedly not being ready because of the script, we all know that the scripts for those blockbusters were being written under the table during every day of the strike and anybody who dares to deny it was obviously involved on either side of the deal.
This is extremely disappointing. I saw the trailer for HBP four days ago in the theater. Waiting til Nov is hard enough…and the new date is almost a year from now. It’s a terrible decision. Maybe we should boycott all WB until they revers this decision.
Jeez, you’d think the world had ended, rather than a movie being put back 8 months.
Anyway, the big winner: Quantum of Solace.
My life
is over
I’m starting to wonder if this is some sort of sad attempt at a publicity stunt…
Here’s the thing, it seems like WB is one of the few studios that is willing to give people creative freedom.
This is a studio that has released 5 Harry Potter films without pissing off fans and keeping the cast changes to a minimum. They gave Zach Snyder 300, and then risked a lot with a Watchmen. Which is clocking in at 3 hours and is not forcing cuts. Superman failed because it gave Bryan Singer too much freedom. They allowed Nolan to restart Batman in a darker way. They also allowed him to turn the sequel into a darker crime saga. The film was finished and awaiting release for months, but for a financial reason they held it off till July and it ran uncontested for 4 weeks and is almost at 500 million. They even inherited 2 horror franchises from New Line (Friday the 13th and Final Destination 4) and both movies are in post production but are being held off to noncompetitive release dates in 2009.
Tell me how WB is into money over creativity or their fans? If Watchmen and T4 fail, Harry Potter will be there to pick up the slack. Also next summers release schedule is slim. Aside from Transformers and Wolverine what will challenge an established series like Harry Potter? Nothing. It’s really crazy to see fans react so harshly to this decision and making it like some big money grubbing conspiracy.
It just makes sense. Also why such uproar when you already know hot this story ends. You all read the book. Just think that after this wait, you will have a shorter one for the next one!
I’m seriously pissed about this move.
And for all you people out there who say that Warner Bros. had no moral obligation to release this movie, think about this: since the release of the last Harry Potter movie, Warner Bros. has promised the planet a new Harry Potter movie in November 2008. Other companies expecting the release, immediatly made plans to produce their own Harry Potter related products at the same time, causing a boom in their sales. What do you propose they say to the theaters that had specially ordered posters, cardboard cutouts, and paraphenalia in advance, with the original date printed on them? Sorry, better luck next time? Or the people who have already begun the printing of T-Shirts, posters, and calanders with all the original information on them, and plans to sell them over the holidays so as to boost sales during a recession? Sorry, your loss? This was not just a little movie being pushed back, this is a culture that is being denied its icon due to one company’s greediness, and it’s going to affect alot more than just the PotterFans.
I’m with Aaron on this one… It’s hilarious to see the same people that are completely devoted to these movies be completely oblivious to how the industry sometimes works. It’s a business, folks. WB only had one strong blockbuster, “Terminator” for next summer — and even that has arguably been rushed. They mulled over moving Watchmen, but must have decided it was too risky. They couldn’t seem to get another “Superman” going, or get anyone to take “Justice League” seriously, so they needed another big franchise film to fill seats for Summer ‘09. I’m not so surprised at this move as most of the so-called “fans” of HP are.
OK let’s get down to what this article is really about.
WB misleading investors during the writers strike.
Delays caused by the writer’s strike is the reason for this shift according to the article yet Horn et all said the strike would have no impact on their revenues this year or 2008 releases.
Big lie.
Moving a film like this to a different stock reporting period would normally have the stock hurting trailing effect I wrote about so long ago.
Warner’s only saving grace that might let them get away with no drop is the over-performance of THE DARK NIGHT in rental revenue.
This is so shocking, although it makes perfect sense. I hope that they move James Bond’s to the Harry Potter slot — as it will be able to play throughout the holidays as previous bond films. I also hope they move High school musical to the thanksgiving slot — why open it in October when repeat business for kids will be difficult, given they are in school???
WTF!?!?!?!?!? How can they do this? No!!!!!!! They can’t do this. It’s ridiculous. This is probably the stupidest thing that I have ever seen Warner Brothers do. Screw this, I want my movie. I need my Severus and my Harry. Why would they do something so stupid? This has completely ruined my good mood today.
For Warner, this does make complete sense. Partially because of the writer’s strike, WB’s summer 2009 slate had but a single tent pole: Terminator: Salvation, which is still slotted for next Memorial Day weekend. Now Warner has two bookends. Besides, with summer 2009 seeming like the weakest slate in years (see again – WGA strike), Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince immediately becomes the front runner, along with Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen, for the summer 09 crown (and along with Toy Story 3D, the crown for the whole year). It ain’t gonna be Terminator: Salvation, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Star Trek, or Night At The Museum 2.
Now, instead of being THE film to beat for the holiday season of 2008, and merely another mega success from Warner Bros, Harry Potter 6 becomes THE film to beat for all of 2009 and gives Warner Bros. the potential to have four consecutive years with the year’s highest grossing film (The Dark Knight, Harry Potter 6, then Harry Potter 7.1 and 7.2 and/or the next Batman picture from 2008 to 2011). At the very least, Warner will now have one of the top three films for the next four years guaranteed (especially if they can pull off ‘Shadow Of The Bat’ or whatever they want to call it by 2011). This stinks for us Muggles, but it’s a sound strategy for Warner Bros.
Scott Mendelson
Well, with America killing off the entertainment industry in apparent stages, as they have no real use for it, it seems like a typical and expected move.
I think this was their plan all along. They were just waiting for the figures from Dark Knight.
“this fall seemed like pretty light competition”
Quantum. Of. Solace.
This is a great business (and brave) move for WB considering how bare their 09 schedule is. Moving Watchmen to a summer spot would have been a wrong move. I imagine that Watchmen would have done similar business to Hellboy2 if it had been moved from March. A solid opening weekend and crowned a success only to be deemed a ‘disappointment’ the following weekend when it’s ticket sales plummet 70%.
But riddle me this. How is it WB, of all the big studios, are seemingly having such trouble putting together a big summer movie? Wasn’t this the same Alan Horn led WB that wanted no less than five big tentpoles a year?
I would have thought that after The Dark Knight WB would have put a rush on the next DC Comics movie. I’ve heard good things about both the Green Lantern and Green Arrow (still called Supermax?) scripts and surely they can just steal Shazam! off New Line.
What it makes especially odd is that this is the same WB that boasts about the number of potential franchises that they have in the wings.
World of Warcraft, Robotech, Masters Of the Universe and Thudercats are all at the Warner Borg. While they may not have the potential to be amazing cinematic greats they are ripe for Happy Meals and toy tie-ins. The staples of big summer offerings.
wot a load of sxxt they shouldnt do that
Readers of my french blog know how much I respect Warner Brothers and how much I find this franchise interesting, or sometimes even more adult than some of the last 007 installments, but frankly this is no good news and no good calling card for the new one.
Maybe they could change the title in HARRY POTTER AND THE DEADLY DELAY or DECONSTRUCTING HARRY?
NOOO!!!
Warner, Yates I hate you!!!
Yates cuts a lot of fondamental scenes,
Warner moves HBP to summer 2009…
I hate YOU!!!
I’m gonna have to agree with the general consensus: It’s a great business decision, at least on paper, but it’s a disrespectful gesture towards the fans. Personally, I’m not a huge Harry Potter fanatic, so I don’t mind the wait, but I can certainly understand and sympathize with the fans’ anguish; if Watchmen was delayed to fall 2009, I’d be unbelievably pissed.
Next summer looks to be one of the weakest in years, probably even weaker than 2004.
Sheesh!! You’d think the world ended!! People claiming that WB OWES THEM a Harry Potter film in November! That WB is only out TO MAKE MONEY!
Get real! This is a business. If you want to find out what happens in the next Harry Potter movie, you can read the book.
As other people have pointed out, the writer’s strike has created a vacuum of movies next summer. There’s no Marvel Comics superhero adaptions that were a big part of this summer’s movies. The Watchman are sort of an unknown, although the trailer for this movie raised the hairs on my arms, it was so amazing. Transformers 2 looks to have the entire summer to itself, and so Warner is going to try to duplicate the success of The Dark Knight by copying its marketing plan.
I say good for WB because the monetary success of Harry Potter and previously the Lord of the Rings trilogy tells WB that audiences want big-budgeted fantasy films, and the studio will be more willing to make them.
So wake up Potterites. This rescheduling is good for you.
This cant be possible!!!!!! I cant wait till july. Please dont do this….. please please please. Potter maniacs HATE to learn this. we LOVE Harry Potter.
I don’t know why anyone is surprised or annoyed that the studio is strategising a release date to try to maximise profits. Since when wouldn’t they – and this isn’t a slam against them at all. That’s business – they don’t make movies for the fun of it. They don’t even make them for the “fans” or viewers. They make them to make a profit. As big a profit as possible. Like it or not, this is the fundamental fact of capitalism.
Anything they do to please fans is only in aid of getting them to spend more money on their product. That is all. Same for any business with investors expecting a return on their investment.
I’m not sure this is the wisest decision to make more profit, but that’s a different discussion.
“As though WB had some moral obligation to release it this year?”
Sure, they have no moral obligation. But it seems incredibly stupid on their part to do something that obviously will get fans mad at them. Do they really think they can maximize their box office by doing something that will annoy fans and give them something to complain about online for almost a year?
Sure, this is a business, nobody owes anyone anything. But while WB can move the release wherever they want, audiences can also stay home. Sure, the diehards will see it no matter what, but it could hurt repeat viewings and generally poison the word of mouth (”not worth the wait”). I think it’s a miscalculation on their part and it will bite them in the ass.
WTF? =O
You know how long I have been waiting for this? Just as long as the rest of all the other want to see your Harry Potter HBP movie. I”M PISSED!! WHY? What the @#*%? Come on now WB! You had me. Ha ha ha good one people. Right? April fools? I hope! Damit!!! SOB’s just so you know i’m not at all happy about this
It’s a bummer to lost the next POTTER til 2009 but at least we don’t have an old school every three years STAR WARS sequel type wait. And now the wait til the DEATHLY HOLLOWS will feel shorter. So if there’s a silver lining, I guess that’s it.
too bad the movie got pushed but…um, when has a studio ever made a decision that was not based on profit/budget/investors/wall street, etc?
they are a business like any other business…
what are they crazy?! dont they understand that there are people like me who have been counting down days for ever?! greattt now we have to wait longer wtf. I think this change is just making funs upset specially because people look forward to these films… they shouldnt do that…. ITS SOO STUPIDDDDDDD GRRRRRR
“Anything they do to please fans is only in aid of getting them to spend more money on their product.”
And doing something like this that annoys fans may get them to spend less money on their product.
We get it. WB is doing this for strategic reasons and they think it will make them more money. Time will tell if that works, but it sure looks like it might backfire.
Seriously, do you really think doing ANYTHING that makes the fans angry is likely to get more money out of them?
And aside from the fans being pissed off, the last book came out last year – does it really seem like a good idea to leave a bigger gap than necessary in between films? Won’t a longer gap mean the public will be less and less interested as time passes with no new material?
As a Harry Potter fanatic, I will not boycott the Harry Potter films, there is no way I could do that, but if Warner Brothers does not come through and release the film when they first agreed to, I will boycott all other Warner Brothers films, and anything connected to Warner Brothers. I think if all of the Harry Potter fans agreed to that, they would have to change their plans, and release the film as promised. Warner Brothers knows that Harry Potter fans will go to the movie WHENEVER they release it, so they think they hold all of the cards, but I don’t think they realize that if everything else was boycotted, they would stand to lose a substantial amount of dollars!!
This completely sucks. Not only have they made absolutely no f***ing effor to make the DVD’s interesting, (i.e. LOTR), now they pull this crap. absolutely disrespectful of the fans. blah, blah, blah, it’s a business, blah,blah, blah.
it’s a business based on fans. and it hoses a lot of the other business that were creating and timing the tie-ins.
warner bros. is showing themselves as having very little vision and creative output when their biggest films are based on a comic series and a book.
tools.
FYI Dan_Zee, evryone HAS read the bookz thatz why they want 2 watch the movie!!!!!!!! JEEEEZZZZZ Get Your Facts Straight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND for W.B ……. I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!! WTFH Were u thinkin, moving t 2 da summer wont make a FRICKEN difference to th F***ing MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????
P.S
I completely and utterly agree with Sarah Ts comment about David. How can you be so insensitive!!!!???? Its not just tweens that are obsessed with the HPFranchise, its kids, teens and adults!!!!!!!!!!!
As for all these people who talk about this as being a strategic business plan, IT WOULDNT F***ING CHANGE A THING ABOUT HOW MUCH MONEY THEYRE GOING TO GET, ALL IT WILL DO IS MAKE ME AND ALL THE OTHER HARRY POTTER DEVOTEES REALLY MAD AND FURIOUS!!!!!!!!!
HOWEVER, I do agree with Arron bout the fan meltdowns, BUT No Way does it mean i agree with the movie being pushed back to July 2009! I just think the meltdowns are hillarious because theyre SO TRUE!!!!
you can not be serious.
ive been waiting so long for this movie to come out,
now another year pratically for us all to wait ?!
uk this is bs this was posted on the 14th and on the hp website it still says the realese date is on november 21st. it also shows that someone updated it on the 17th wouldnt u think they would change the date to summer??
Wow. That sucks. Twilight will get heaps more in the box-office now, probably. Not that that is a bad thing. I love Twilight, but still. Did they have to move it quite so far away???
as if my life in high school isn’t boring enough… now there are no good movies to look forward too. thanks a lot WB. you ruined my winter. F U !
BLOODY HELL..
it cant be…
I am 42 years old and i am very, very disapointed with the wb hbp late realise. Fans are going to be outraged and the relise might loos $$$.
There might be one other matter we might consider concerning “Half Blood Prince’s” delay: the media’s hounding of Mr. Daniel Radcliffe.
Since Mr. Radcliffe has reached his majority, he has payed a character in the play “Equus” (in London).
In the course of “Equus”, Mr. Radcliffe’s character, a very disturbed young man under the care of a psychiatrist, takes off his clothes and also has a sensuous encounter with a young woman on stage.
When “Half Blood Prince” would have made its November debut, Mr. Radcliffe will be performing “Equus” on Broadway. “Equus” would be right in the middle of its run. Predictably, the media are already squeeking at the tops of their lubs: “‘Harry Potter’ is naked! ‘Harry Potter’ is naked!”
Warner Bros. does not want negative publicity for any Harry Potter film, esecially this kind of specious media nonsense. So they blame the “delay” of “Half Blood Prince” on the writer’s strike–why not? everyone else is doing it–and delay the film to a time when “Equus’s” Broadway run will be a distant memory at least according to the MTV-span of the manic media.
News media need to grow up. Let Mr. Radcliffe be a man and an actor.
All that said, I too am dismayed and downcast at the delay of “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” until summer, 2009.
Respectfully,
Good Ol Buzz
Yep! Warner brothers does it for the fans! Great move guys! millions of fans pissed! great move! you should better stay inside!
what? are they just scared twilights going to beat them in the box office??? harry potter 6 was to come out november 21st…now twilights been moved to the 21st of november. everyone’s been making a big deal about which one will be #1, and personally i’d rather see harry potter 6 than twilight. this is crap!
this is stupied!! we should start a big riot!! they should make twilight move!! harry potter is way freakin better!!!! thanx to jeff now we all have to suffer!
Iam disappointed! they will make money anyway whether they release it now or next year. What I cannot understand is why this move now when it is said the film has already been released in Chicago, and when the teaser trailer is circulating on-line..
well too bad for those who haven’t read the the saga!!
wow wow wow. this is gonna piss so many people off. lol oh well the last one comes out the summer i graduate high school i geuss thats pretty cool.
I am vey angry that the release date gas changed. Anonymous was right. I would go to a harry potter movie before twilight at any time, it doesn’t matter what hp book it is I will pick it over twilight.
BS – WB YOU CAN GO TO HELL