Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
News (Page 3)

Following complaints from Harry Potter fans for the delay in releasing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Warner Bros. President and Chief Operating Officer Alan Horn has issued the following statement:

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 Harry Potter and the 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 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the wait from that film until "Deathly Hallows" will be less than 18 months.

The release date for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been pushed back eight months.

But you can still get a sneak peek of the movie now. Here are three new screen shots from the film:

As reported earlier this week, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - originally meant to be released in mid-November - is set to hit theaters in the summer of 2009.

Considering the new competition the film will now face, including the Transformers sequel, experts are confounded by the decision.

Warners Bros.' decision to change the release date was “a very curious move,” Jeff Bock of industry research firm Exhibitor Relations told MTV, especially considering how few family-friendly films will be released this fall.

Bock predicted a total box office haul of over $300 million for Harry Potter if it had remained in the fall. Now? Those projections could drop because the July release date places Harry in competition with summer blockbusters such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

So, what movie benefits the most from the Harry Potter change of dates? That's easy: Twilight.

“There’s no way that Harry Potter was worried about Twilight, but Twilight has got to be feeling very good right now,” Bock said, projecting that the vampire movie could do somewhere around $70-100 million. “Maybe it won’t be as big as Harry Potter, but if a company like Summit Entertainment pulls off $100 million, that’s quite a coup. Things are looking really bright for Twilight right now.”

Earlier today, we reported that the release date for Valkyrie has been moved up.

Sadly for Harry Potter fans, we have opposing news for the next installment of this franchise.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will no longer come out around Thanksgiving. Instead, viewers will need to wait until July 17, 2009. Ouch.

Said top Warner Bros. honcho Alan Horn in a press release:

"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.... 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.... [Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince] perfectly fills the gap for a major tent-pole release for mid-summer."

In the meantime, fans can click on the following photos for larger images from the movie:

Following this week's release of the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie trailer, it's been been announced that the film will premiere as this year's Royal Film Performance.

The big screen adaptation of the sixth Harry Potter book will premiere on November 17, four days prior to the film's Great Britain release.

There's no word yet as to which members of the British royal family will attend.

Ron, Hermione and Harry will receive a royal greeting in England this fall.

There's now no reason to see The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the trailer to Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince has been released online!

Just one day after we brought you screen shots of the young Tom Riddle from the first trailer from Harry Potter 6, we're proud to bring you the following Harry Potter 6 trailer.  Enjoy the next minute and 41 seconds of your life.

The sixth installment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is due out in theaters on November 21.

Viewers will be treated to the trailer from the latest Harry Potter this Friday when they go to see The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

The biggest reveal of the trailer will be the chance to see young Tom Riddle, who, of course, grows up to be Voldemort.   The young Voldemort will be played by Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, the nephew of Ralph Fiennes who will be playing grown up Voldemort.  How cool!?

Without further ado, here's a screen shot of Tom Riddle thanks to USA Today:

Don't get too excited, Harry Potter fans.

This incredibly short title teaser for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is playing in IMAX theaters prior to The Dark Knight... but it's nothing more than a quote from Professor Dumbledore.

The sixth installment of the franchise comes out in conventional theaters and IMAX on November 21.

As if you needed another reason to go see The Dark Knight:

IMAX.com has confirmed that there will be a 15-second trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince attached to the forthcoming The Dark Knight in IMAX. The latter, of course, will be released in theaters on July 18.

Professor Dumbledore and everyone else from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be featured in an upcoming IMAX preview.

We're uncovered a few more photos from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Below, check out: Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood and, of course, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter himself...