David Heyman on "Half-Blood Prince" Delay
October 30, 2008 by Jane Boursaw
ComingSoon.net spoke with producer David Heyman about the delay of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” to next summer.
Heyman said he’s sympathetic to the upset caused by the delay, but there were reasons for the move. “I would love the film to come out in November,” he said. “We would have been ready, but the fact is partly because of the writers strike and for whatever reason, Warners didn’t have any movies next summer. They had Batman this year which was bigger than they ever thought it would be, so they came to me, and they said, ‘David, we want to move it.’”
I don’t really have a problem with the move. I figure it just spans the franchise out that much longer, because I’ll hate to see it end. I mean, don’t go crazy and wait five years or anything, but half a year? No problem.
Heyman added that Warner Bros. has been very good to him in terms of autonomy and finances. “It defies belief how much independence we have on these films. They’ve been so supportive that one has to support… they needed it. It’s a film business.”
Heyman said the film is essentially done, except for a few tweaks. But for security reasons, they’ll keep all of the elements separate until they make prints, six weeks before the release date. “Piracy is such a huge issue.”
Image: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Warner Bros., 2009
