The release date for the sixth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was pushed back on Thursday to July 2009 from its original slot in November 2008, movie studio Warner Brothers said. Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc, said it had decided to make the change to bolster its release schedule for the lucrative summer moviegoing season – a period that can account for as much as 40 percent of Hollywood’s annual box office receipts.
Warner Brothers President Alan Horn said the studio was also still feeling repercussions from the three-month Hollywood screenwriters strike that ended in February but has “impacted the readiness of scripts for other films. We know the summer season is an ideal window for a family . . . release, as proven by the success of our last Harry Potter film, which is the second-highest grossing film in the franchise, behind only the first installment,” Horn said.
The studio said the change of date would not alter production plans for the final, two-part Potter movie adventure, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The release date for part one is tentatively set for November 2010.
I call BS on this. After ruining Order of the Phoenix by forcing a shorter cut, now they are sticking it to Harry Potter fans by delaying the movie so Warner can make more money. What a blatant example of the hubris and greed of movie executives. I’d say that I would boycott the movie next summer to send a message to Warner that the Harry Potter movies should be about the fans. It will make money no matter how long it is, whenever it opens. But who am I kidding, I’m a Potter fan, and I’ll be seeing it opening weekend in November or July. I just felt the need to comment on the corporate greed that is ruining the Harry Potter franchise – again – for its fans.
Mugglenet is reporting that two new actors have been cast for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. David Legeno will play the role of the werewolf, Fenrir Greyback and Ralph Ineson has been cast for the part of Death Eater Amycus Carrow.
Timothy Spall has confirmed to Moviehole that he’ll be back as Peter Pettigrew in the next two Harry Potter movies. The actor says “Well I’m actually…. yes… I’m in the next one and I’m also in the one at the end – I have a very big scene in that.” He also revealed one interesting possibility “I think they might be shooting two of them back-to-back – hard to know though, what with this writer’s strike and all. They’re shooting the penultimate one at the moment – which I have a brief appearance in it. I should be doing that soon.”
Spall appeared as Wormtail, aka. Peter Pettigrew, the servant of the Dark Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) in both the third and fourth films – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Warner Brothers announced that casting has been completed on the sixth installment of the Warner Brothers Pictures Harry Potter film franchise, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Warner Brothers revealed that nine-year-old Hero Fiennes Tiffin is playing the role of the young Tom Riddle at age 11, while 16-year-old Frank Dillane is playing the teenage Riddle, who is already on the path to becoming the evil Lord Voldemort. They join Jessie Cave, recently cast as Lavender Brown, who has eyes for Ron Weasley.
Already cast newcomers, Jim Broadbent has been set to play Potions Professor Horace Slughorn, who gives Harry an old Potions textbook that had once belonged to the Half-Blood Prince, which proves invaluable to the young wizard, and Helen McCrory will play Narcissa Malfoy, mother to Draco Malfoy and sister to the evil Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be released on November 21, 2008, by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Brothers Entertainment Company.
CBBC Newsround is reporting that newcomer Jessie Cave has been cast as Lavender Brown in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, opening in theaters on November 21, 2008. Cave will appear in the CBBC drama “Summerhill,” which is set to premiere early next year in the U.K. In the book, Lavender Brown becomes Ron Weasley’s first girlfriend, and the pair get on everyone’s nerves because they can’t stop kissing.
CBBC Newsround is reporting that Helen McCrory will play the part of Narcissa Malfoy in the sixth Potter flick, Half-Blood Prince. She was originally cast as Bellatrix Lestrange in the fifth Potter movie, but couldn’t play the part because she was expecting a baby. Now she’s set to play Draco’s mother and Bellatrix Lestrange’s sister, who’s played by Helena Bonham Carter. Now the two will end up playing sisters in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Other casting includes Jim Broadbent as Professor Horace Slughorn. An announcement on who will play young Tom Riddle and Lavender Brown is expected very soon. Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince is due to hit cinemas towards the end of 2008.
