"Half-Blood Prince" Pushed to Next Summer!
August 14, 2008 by Jane Boursaw
Well, drat. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been pushed back to next summer. What a crime! I’m sorely disappointed, but the good side is it’ll keep the Harry Potter films going just that much longer.
Originally scheduled for a Nov. 11, 2008 release, the movie will now be released on July 17, 2009. Warner Bros. president Alan Horn said part of it has to do with the writers’ strike, which left the studio in a bit of turmoil. “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.”
“Half-Blood,” the sixth book to reach the big screen, is being directed by David Yates. According to the studio, post-production has been completed. Check out an early trailer here.
The studio still plans to release the two-movie adaptation of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, as planned, with the first part still on for November 19, 2010.
Image: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Warner Bros., 2009; Source: Hollywood Reporter
No! I’m so disappointed. I was all geared up for it in just a few more months.
This is weird. It’s VERY late in the game for them to be moving it up so far. If they were having production difficulties due to the strike, wouldn’t they have known much sooner than this?
Sherry – I hear ya. How the heck will we make it til next summer?!
Liz – I was thinking that, too. Because they said post-production was done, so… what’s that mean?
I wonder if the strike put some of the other Warner movies off-track, so they’re using Harry Potter as a way to keep the cash flowing through next year…