"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" film moves to summer 2009
Vexing news for Harry Potter fans! Just arrived in my inbox is a press release that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is going to hit theaters on July 17, 2009, not November 21, 2008 as originally scheduled. In the press release, Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros., says, "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." There's no announcement yet on the Harry Potter site, but their trailer page does show "In Theaters July 17, 2009." --David
zach on August 14, 2008 at 04:16 PM
well now ill never get to see it becuz im sure one of these presidents will f this country up before july 2009
b_collie on August 17, 2008 at 11:52 PM
I'm especially disappointed because this seems to be purely a marketing decision--it sounds like the film would have been ready to release on November 21.