Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer of Warner Brothers has issued a statement as a response to fans who expressed dismay about the postponement of the Half Blood Prince movie to July 2009. The press release reads as follows:
Many of you have written to me to express your disappointment in our moving Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to Summer 2009.
Please be assured that we share your love for Harry Potter and would certainly never do anything to hurt any of the films. Over the past 10 years, we have nurtured and protected each film, and the integrity of the books upon which they are based, to the best of our ability.
The decision to move Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was not taken lightly, and was never intended to upset our Harry Potter fans. We know you have built this series into what it is, and we thank you for your ongoing enthusiasm and support.
If I may offer a silver lining: there would have been a two-year gap between Half-Blood Prince and the much-anticipated first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which opens in November 2010.
So although we have to wait a little longer for Half-Blood Prince, the wait from that film until Deathly Hallows will be less than 18 months. I am sorry to have disappointed you now, but if you hold on a little longer, I believe it will be worth the wait.
Alan Horn
President, Chief Operating Officer
Warner Bros.
Fans continue to be dismayed by the actions of WB as well as the excuses given for the delay of the much anticipated movie. What are your thoughts?
The Los Angeles Times is reporting about the fan reaction to the news that the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie will be delayed by eight months. They interviewed WB President and Chief Operating Officer, David Horn about the situation and he elaborated on the press release from yesterday. He quashed rumors that the delay is due to production difficulties:
“There is no production delay or production consideration. . . . It feels like we have an opportunity in the summer,” Horn said.
He added that he had seen the film, which is in the final production stages, and that it would “absolutely have been ready” by November. He characterized the shift as a proactive business move, not a retreat. “The question we asked is, what is best for this movie.”
He then continued to explain the following:
Warner currently is riding high with “The Dark Knight,” the Batman film that also stars Bale. The grim super-hero movie has taken in $452 million in the U.S. since its July 18 release, making it the second-highest grossing film ever.
To some degree, that success motivated Warner to shift “Half-Blood Prince,” Horn said. The film will now hit theaters the same midsummer weekend that “Dark Knight” was released this year. Horn said the young, core Potter audience would be out of school and give the film a longer theatrical life.
Horn finished the interview by letting everyone know that “We would never do anything to hurt one of the movies or the series. We love our fans.” And money.
Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer of Warner Brothers said this about the move:
“Our reasons for shifting ‘Half-Blood Prince’ to summer are twofold: we know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent pole 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. Additionally, like every other studio, we are still feeling the 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 tent pole release for mid-summer.”
We will get you more info as it comes in. This is big news that will sure to disappoint many Potter fans.
UPDATE: One good thing to come out of this: I received this email from the HPEF, the minds behind Harry Potter conventions such as Prophecy, Portus and the upcoming, Azkatraz 2009:
We are in touch with movie theaters within walking distance of the Parc55, the official Azkatraz hotel, and we will definitely be having HBP viewing parties from Friday on.
The IMAX near the hotel - it’s about 3 or 4 blocks away - will not know if they will have the film in IMAX or on regular-sized screens until February or March, but we have reserved an entire theater for the showing at 00:00:01 on July 17, 2009! We are also working to schedule at least one additional showing over the weekend, and perhaps one on Tuesday as well, depending on attendee interest.
Tickets will be available when our registration system goes live in the beginning of next month, and we will have more info about cosplaying, music, and other movie-showing events at Azkatraz shortly.
Be sure to keep checking our website (http://www.hp2009.org) for all the latest updates!!
We always get comments about how when they listen to our podcast, people feel like they’re getting a glimpse into our lives. They usually follow up with a statement about how they love the rapport the two of us have. Well, for those of you who like HPProgs for the intimate way we welcome you into our lives then this is the episode for you. After we discussed the new Twilight Book, “Breaking Dawn,” Greg and I proceeded to have a general potpourri episode with some content and a lot of personality (pseudonym for annoyance at each other). We also discussed an exciting new contest that is in the works!
NOTE: There are “Breaking Dawn” Spoilers on this episode so if you haven’t finished the book yet, you might want to listen to the first few minutes and then skip to minute 20 or so not to hear them.
As always we can’t wait to hear your thoughts: on the Breaking Dawn review, the Beedle the Bard News and contest, our short fandom discussion and everything else we talked about. You can leave comments here on the blog or call our voicemail at 206-337-0357 in the US or 07092899490 in the UK. Please make sure to keep the message as close to one minute as possible and try to speak loudly and clearly.
Make sure to check out our channel on the new Odeo. Subscribe, rate, review, it’s all good, check it out.
Wanted posters have gone up in New Zealand with a picture of Harry Potter star Robbie Coltrane.
Police have used his face because he looks very similar to a teenager who is suspected of committing a string of burglaries.
Under local laws, they’re not allowed to display a picture of the 16-year-old because he is underage.
Copies of the poster have been distributed to homes in the area, where police said residents have been targeted by the bike-riding teenager.
Below the heading ‘Wanted’ is the picture of Coltrane, underneath which are the words ‘Active burglar in this neighbourhood’.
The text below explains that the photo is of Coltrane and continues: “Robbie Coltrane is not the burglar but imagine him aged 16 with lank greasy hair and you have the picture.
During the Olympics the HP Alliance is asking Harry Potter fans throughout the world to celebrate this year’s Olympic motto of “One World, One Dream.” In order to celebrate this ideal authentically, we’re asking Harry Potter fans across the world to write houseparties@thehpalliance.org
The Olympics we feel are similar to the TriWizard Tournament. Both are ancient athletic competitions designed to bring about international cooperation. But this “One World, One Dream” ideal of the TriWizard Tournament was high jacked by Lord Voldemort. And we don’t want that happening in our world.
The Olympics this year are being hosted by the government of China who is actively funding the genocide in Darfur, the military regime in Burma, and many other nightmares across the world. In saying this, the HPA has the highest respect for the Chinese people, realizes that no government is free from fault, and is not asking any one to boycott the Olympics. On the contrary, we are asking everyone to come together and work for this ideal – not allow it to become an empty phrase of propaganda like Grindewald’s “For The Greater Good.”
So we’re asking you to get together with your friends and hold a house party. It could be big. It could be small. And we’ll give you tools at each house party (including a podcast to listen to) to take action on behalf of the people of Darfur, Burma, and more! If you’re interested in hosting a house party or finding one near you, email Dinah at houseparties@thehpalliance.org
We think this is going to be a really fun way to take action on behalf of our world. We’ve even divided what you can do into Three Tasks! Together we can apply the message that we’ve learned from Harry Potter, in these dark and difficult times, do what’s right over what’s easy, and have fun as we celebrate Harry Potter and the authentic ideal of One World, One Dream!
For more info, check out: http://thehpalliance.org/triwizard.html the side bar has some awesome PDFs with more info as well!
And please email houseparties@thehpalliance.org today!
Now is a great time to get involved in the HP Alliance. Please do your part to fight evil!
Universal has released some concept art for the Three Broomsticks which will be part of the their new park, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It looks amazing!
In December 2007, J.K. Rowling unveiled The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a very special book of five fairy tales illustrated by the bard herself, embellished with silver ornaments and mounted moonstones. Amazon was fortunate to come into possession of one of the original copies, and it was our privilege to share images and reviews of this incredible artifact. Now J.K. Rowling is giving millions of Harry Potter fans worldwide cause for celebration with these new editions of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, available December 4, 2008.
Hopefully by now, you’ve seen the trailer for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. We sat down immediately after watching to record out thoughts. What do you think of the trailer? Does the voice of the woman in the orphanage belong to J.K. Rowling?
We’ve all been anticipating the 9pm EST release of the official Half Blood Prince teaser trailer; but we can now see it an early released copy on MSN movies. It looks fantastic (although if one didn’t know better they might think that Tom Riddle was the main character in the story)!
Yesterday it was announced that that the worldwide debut of the trailer for the sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, would take place via satellite on Tuesday, July 29th, from 9:00 - 9:15pm EST.
However, today we got a tip from the Spanish HP site, BlogHogwarts.com that the satellite feed of the trailer will be available on aol.com. Here is the report:
I inform you that we contacted Warner Bros. Mexico today, and they
have confirmed to us that the teaser trailer of the upcoming movie
‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ will be exclusively aired in
the AOL website for the USA, next Tuesday 29th. It’s not confirmed yet
if the AOL websites for other countries will have the trailer also,
but they say that this is the first time that a website is going to
set up his satellite signal to transmit the trailer directly =
We will keep you posted with any further developments.
One of the over-arching meta-themes of the Harry Potter books is, without a doubt, choice. From early on the books the theme of choice is empasised, when the Sorting Hat defers to Harry’s wish to be in Gryffindor, or when Dumbledore makes it clear to Harry that it is his choices, far more than abilities that make him the wizard that he is. It’s clear that J.K. Rowling is a proponent of the idea that we make ourselves who we are and are ultimately responsible for who we become.
Putting aside a scientific discussion of free will and determinism, a greater question, from within the stories themselves, comes to light. With the conclusion of Book 7, and the revelation of Dumbledore’s less than altruistic motives, does J.K. Rowling’s position on free will and choice change? Did Harry, in fact, make all those choices of his own free will, or, perhaps, was he influenced by forces beyond his control? Despite Dumbledore’s protestations to the contrary, could Harry ever have avoided the final showdown with the Dark Lord, had he simply chosen to walk away?
In this week’s episode, we examine the nature of free will and choice as presented in the books after Book 7, and what J.K. Rowling might be saying about what it means to be free.
We were almost the only HP fansite that didn’t acknowledge the one-year anniversary of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I tried not to think about this. Not because I am in denial, but more because I try not to make too big of a deal out of seemingly arbitrary dates.
But then I started to think about this past year. And about all that has gone on in relation to Harry Potter, the fandom, and HPProgs in general.
So now, please join me on a stroll down memory lane to remember the Harry Potter Happenings of the past year:
August 2-5, 2007: We attended our first HP Symposium: Prophecy 2007: From Hero to Legend. The post-Potter excitement at this conference was palpable and there will probably never be another gathering of HP fans that is as exciting and momentous as this was.
Snape fans everywhere feel validated and begin to post youtube videos, fanart, and fanfiction about our favorite (or not) greasy potions master.
October 17, 2007: Jo causes a stir by discussing religious symbolism in Harry Potter at the LA stop on the Open Book Tour (we didn’t know what we were in for yet).
October 19, 2007: Jo shakes the fandom by stating that she “always thought of Dumbledore as gay,” when asked if he ever “found love.” Ironically, the fandom was less shaken when she alluded to the fact that Aberforth did in fact have inappropriate relations with goats during his lifetime.
Fans (including us) question whether Jo’s revelations after the books “change canon.”
July 10-13, 2008: Portus 2008 takes place in Dallas Texas. Most attendees agree it is one of the best Potter conferences ever. Jim Dale makes a special appearance.
July 18, 2008: Fans who have been eagerly waiting for the Half Blood Prince Teaser Trailer are dismayed at the 15 second non-teaser they get prior to the Imax showing of “Dark Knight.”
July 21, 2008: Fans everywhere celebrate the 1 year anniversary of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. They use this day to celebrate, reminisce, hope for more, and make a plea for social change. They are once again united in a way that only Harry Potter can unite a diverse group of individuals.
You will be able to listen to the show as well as take part in a chat on this page.
The number to call in is: (646) 595-4635
The service we use claims that there is a “click to talk” feature for VoIP- but I haven’t seen it work yet, so unfortunately for most of you (and us) it will be a long distance call.
Greg and I recorded a post -Portus podcast last week but we realized that there was no way we could capture all that went on at the conference.
Even if you aren’t a regular HPProgs listener, we’d love to have you call in so that you can give your own perspective on Portus. I think it would be a great way to showcase what these conferences and the HPEF are all about.
We can’t wait to talk to everyone about your Portus experiences!!
