Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince Delayed To Summer 2009

Potter-Delayed.jpgI’m not the biggest Harry Potter fan in the world, I thought the first 3 Potter films were ify at best, but the last few installments have won me over to the point that I’ve actually really been looking forward to the next Potter film “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”. Well guess what folks… looks like you’re going to have a wait a lot longer for it:

Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that it has moved back the release date of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” to Summer 2009. The sixth installment of the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise will now open day-and-date domestically and in the major international markets on July 17, 2009. The announcement was made by Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros.

In making the announcement, Mr. Horn stated, “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.

I strongly question this decision. I understand the reasoning behind the move, but to move such a major film with a fan base that has been anxiously awaiting the next installment at basically the last minute is a mistake in my opinion. From a business point of view I also think it’s a mistake to move the release date even further away from the release of the last Potter book. Yes it’s already been a while since the last book came out… but the more you can leverage the momentum of the book release the better.

And come on… didn’t they know that summer was a good time to release a movie BEOFRE? Are they just learning this now? Why didn’t they make this decision 5 months ago?

Either way, this move will neither improve or worsen the quality of the movie, but I think this is a bit of a slap in the face to rabid Potter fans who thought the latest release of their beloved franchise was close at hand.

(Source: IESB)

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70 thoughts on “Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince Delayed To Summer 2009

  1. Well, when it was all said and done, Half-Blood Prince actually was (domestically) the second highest grossing Harry Potter movie (making $301 million). Yeah, it stunk Warner delayed it, but it didn’t seem to effect the box office.

  2. Well apparently they postponed it because the big hit twilight was coming out but that is not a good enough reason from my point of view, but i guess twilight was over rated and was very popular :(

    But ah well it’s coming out in two days!!!!!!!!

    +

    It gives less time for the next Potter film to be released. xD

    1. Apparently they delayed it for the exact reasons mentioned in the post.

      They had no Big Tentpole Film from WB to compete in the summer so they put HP there. Has nothing to do with Twilight.

  3. Almost Happy Birthday Emma Watson!!! I was big fan of you since I saw this movie. I wanna be an actrist just like you. It’s almost my birthday too!!! My birthday is in April 26, and my brother’s birthday is in April 21. GO HARRY POTTER!!!!

  4. I dont want to really throw down on any of the WB. But I am one of the most avide fans there are. I was just thinking the other day that I am gonna need to go and buy my ticket in advance soon when I get on to confirm the date. And low and behold I find that in November I can just go use that extra 20 dollars and buy a pair of WHATEVER. It doesnt even matter because I dont get to go see the movie and that was what I care about. Okay breathe. Just freaking out a little bit. Haha. Haha. I am serouisly upset enough that if they dont move the date of the movie up I guess reading the book for the 9th time will just have to do until it comes out on DVD. Due to the fact that they are doing this just to get more money makes me not want to go at all. I was always disappointed when they took out the best part of the books anyways. Of your gonna base it off a book, maybe you should read the book. Well thanks to yourself WB you lost me seeing it in movie thearte.

  5. As a potter fan i can’t understand this latest movie by WB. I’m tying to understand there trail of thought here. They want to move the biggest movie of 2008 to the summer of 2009 where it is going to have a shed load more competition in the box office because May, June and July are alwys months when all the other studios bring out there big films? If they had brought it out on schedule they would have had a more of a concentrated audience.

  6. so sad:( i was so excited when i first heard and see that the half-blood prince will be showing on november of this year. got disappointed and sad when i learned that it was moved next year july2009.isn’t it too long for the wait.:(sigh..but i will still watch the movie.im a huge harry potter fan and saw the teasers of the movie and i love it..harry potter rocks..

  7. i think this is totally unfair i was sooooooooo looking forward to it i can not believe it i got to wait another year til my birthday its always good at christmas im so hacked off atm i love hp sooooo much ve read all the books about 10 times i was looking forward i always get the dvd 4 christmas load of pooo :(:(

  8. Alls I know is that it probably got delayed because a) Warner thought that since The Dark Knight did so well, that Harry Potter 6 can’t beat it, or b) Quantum of Solace. Perhaps they didn’t want to go against MGM’s bad boy.

  9. I don’t completely understand why they made that decision because I’m pretty sure that no matter when they release the movie, the people would still go. I just hope that it’s worth the waiting because it will be very disappointing if the movie isn’t up to the expectations.

    Mabel
    Outsourcing Solution

  10. This is probably the real reason for the delay. I got this from The Huffington Post:

    Warner Bros. has announced moving its sixth Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” from Nov. 21, 2008, to July 17, 2009. The reason? Officially, there is no reason, except that “a spot opened on the summer schedule.”

    That’s not much of a reason. The real story? Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe will be right in the middle of his sensational, highly publicized run on Broadway in the play, “Equus.” Radcliffe appears naked in the play, on stage, and has sex in it was well. That’s not the image Warner Bros. wants associated with bespectacled Harry, who remains chaste and virginal.

    Indeed, posters for Equus are up all over New York, of Radcliffe’s naked torso superimposed on a horse’s head. This is not the sort of thing that’s taught at Hogwarts. For the movie to open on Nov. 21, Radcliffe would have to do publicity entailing answering questions about blinding horses and having sex with them vs. flying around and making potions.

  11. What I don’t understand is the promotion of Harry Potter. Yesterday I watched Star Wars Clone Wars It had an attached trailer for Harry Potter on it. For those of you who don’t know what a attached trailer is: an attached trailer is a trailer that is attached to reel one place there by the distributor telling the audience what the next big movie from that company. The attached trailer is the last trailer before the movie starts and is usually the place on the film the cue is put to make the lights dim in the theater. Well any who this trailer was the one that leaked out not to long ago online, the one with young Voldemort. The trailer said coming out November. The audio poster as Doug put it, that came out in front of the IMAX The Dark Knight, also said November. My real questions are: One, if you are a persistent of a major studio like WB wouldn’t you want to talk over the possibly of of a release date move before putting out a trailer. Two, after making the switch to a new release date how would you go about the promotion of Harry Potter? Do you keep the old trailer that state November pissing off the fan even more or do make a new on with July ending? Three, after the switch do yo try switching back to the old releasing dated to please the fans known that other movies have switch their movies because you original switched your film to a later date.

  12. (Type your comment here. Make sure you’ve read the commenting rules before doing so)I cannot tell you have livid we are!! WB, you have made a HUGE greed driven mistake. My family and friends go to he movies a lot. Well we won’t be seeing anymore of WB movies. We sincerely hope you have enjoyed our money as you will not be getting anymore. You have underestimated HP fans!!

  13. It’s too bad that the movie is being delayed. I hope it’s for the publicly stated reasons and not because the film is in trouble. And BIGSAMPSON – please get a dictionary and a grammar guide. If you’re going to ridicule others in your posts, at least try to sound as superior as you apparently think you are.

  14. I seriously hate Warners right now….it’s completely annoying on every single level. Having to wait 11 months for a finished film …sigh…there are no words.

  15. @wxph8r: 2008 has been a great year and would’ve been even more great if the new Harry Potter-movie and the new Star Trek-movie would have been released this year. 2008 is better than 2007 which I still think was a good year and better than 2006.

  16. :( I’m so damn tired of all these stupid greedy people!!! Fire the damn fools that makes this kind of decision!!! It was the same thing with the new Star Trek-movie; it was gonna be released this year but now it’s opening summer 2009. Paramount-assholes!!! May you burn in Bollywood!!

    I feel sorry for us and the action figure-dealers!!

  17. Campea your hatred of the third film is absolutely deluded. It is easily the best of the series. Massively imaginative and a fantastic film on its own right rather than just being part of a series.

  18. 5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

    4 June 2004
    Domestic: $249,541,069
    Foreign: $546,000,000
    Worldwide: $795,541,069

    3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

    18 November 2005

    Domestic: $290,013,036
    Foreign: $606,003,123
    Worldwide: $896,016,159

    2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

    11 July 2007
    Domestic: $292,004,738
    Foreign: $646,464,126
    Worldwide: $938,468,864

  19. is anyone going to skip it because of this though? I highly doubt it.

    seriously, is anyone not going to go and see this film because of a delay?

    boycott warners all you want….they will just sooth themselves with all the dark knight money they will be bathing in…..I highly doubt a boycott of warners is going to do anything.

  20. I am so disgusted with the Warner Bros. As the devoted Harry Potter fan I am, I have been waiting for the release of the Half Blood Prince since the release of the Order of the Pheonix. That was over a year ago! And I have to wait yet another year now, making the total time between the two movies two years. The change to the summer doesn’t make sense because the original date of the release was over the holidays, which is the other ideal date for movie releases. I am joining the other fans’ boycotts of Warner Bros. productions.

  21. Not to sound so optimistic about this, but this 2008 movie season has been one of the best in recent memory for me. Even without Harry Potter since its been pushed back, I have seen more movies at the theater this year than I can remember in such a long time.

    2007 was a very sad movie year, I maybe went to the theater 3 times in total, if a movie in my estimation is just mediocre I will just wait for DVD Release. So I at least applaud Hollywood for having such a successful movie year for me! What are your thoughts on this?

  22. Okay, this is bullshit, i have been waiting for the movie since December! alsmost a year! i cant belive this!
    Other Potter movies were realesed in Novmeber and still
    made a shitload of money.
    fuckeing greedy warner bros!

  23. Can I just say to anyone who thinks WB has screwed them, I usually steer clear of this kind of thing but I have to speak my mind.

    Is it not enough that WB has adapted each book pretty faithfully instead of bastardizing them in any way?

    Is it not enough that they cast it with an all British cast and made sure Rosie O’ Donnell or Drew Barrymore couldn’t get in them?

    Is it not enough that they have spent more than $120 million on each movie?

    Is it not enough that there have been no stupid cartoon spin offs or any deviation from the books?

    Is it not enough that you have never had to wait any longer than a year and half for the next movie until now?

    Is it not enough that Deathly Hallows is going to be split into two films rather than squeezed into one and will probably have the biggest film budget of all time so that the series ends on a real epic high?

    Apparently, it isn’t. They make a simple business descision (with their money, not yours) which makes all the sense in the world and boycotts are being planned. It’s just silly folks, very short minded and silly.

  24. Companies will always disrespect the fans that feed them. Well, all I can say is I’m bad for not seeing any Harry Potter movie in full much less reading any other Harry Potter novel in full, cover to cover. I’m going to take a long study into the world of Harry Potter when I start reading the book AND seeing the movie.

  25. this sucks, i was really looking forward to the new HP movie. its pretty sad that the only reason theyre delaying it is to make money….
    it would be ok if they were doing it because they were trying to polish it up if it just wasnt ready, but no…. its purely money….

    didnt WB just make a bunch of money of TDK? isnt the HP movie series one of the top 10 most successful movie franchises?

    i hate it when companys disrespect the fans that feed them…

  26. I think the third film is the best hands down. Alfonso Cuaron did such a great job on it. It made the least money of all the films. Goblet of fire was a crappy movie in my opinion. I was shocked that it would come out this Nov so shortly after the last film. I am mad because the 2 Deathly Hallows films will be pushed back even more due to this.

  27. I’m not happy about this at all! It’s bad enough that I have to wait to see The Watchmen and Terminator:Salvation in 2009. I had at least the comfort of knowing that I would be able to see HBP THIS YEAR!

    Now it’s been taken away too!

  28. Oh sorry, forgot another thing. This mid July release date has obviously become some kind of lucky charm for WB. They used it for Potter 5 and it was the second highest grossing film in the franchise and they used it for TDK which is the highest grossing film in the studio’s history. They’re not letting anyone else have that date.

  29. It became crystal clear to me the minute I read it. The writers strike was always going to affect the summer 2009 slate in some way. One is that studios who haven’t been able to get enough movies into production and certainly not enough sure fire hits.

    WB only had ‘Terminator: Salvation’ for summer 09 and that is NOT a sure fire big hit. Personally, i think some might still be so burned by Terminator 3 that they might stay away and the film will only be modestly successful (kind of like what happened to Batman Begins). Potter is the sure thing they need for next year and thanks to the success of TDK (despite Speed Racer) flopping, they are quite content to let it fill their coffers in 2009. It might seem like WB are shtting on fans of the series but it just feels like the smart thing to do as a business.

    I will agree though that they should have announced the move much earlier than this. I can’t think of another movie that was so close to release and then got pushed back this much.

    It’s also great news for the other family flicks coming out this winter (like Bolt and Madagascar 2) and for Quantum of Solace of course……….unless that friggin moves too.

    I wonder if, with Potter out of the way, they’ll just keep TDK on the IMAX all the way till Christmas. That would be so wonderful. I might finally be able to book a good seat for it:)

  30. Bad Idea, the Potter franchise is slowing winding down and as far as movies go, you should strike while the iron is hot. There is still interest in potter of course but not as much as there once was. I myself have lost interest in Potter, do the right thing and dont drag this out.

  31. The weird thing is, I’ve read the news elsewhere, and they mention that the highest grossing of the franchise was the first one, the second being Order of the Phoenix. Now the interesting thing is Phoenix was released in July…but Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone was released in November…and that’s with LoTR coming in december.

  32. Bloody idiots. I for one am a big fan of the books and have been eagerly waiting for the new film (especially as the trailer looked good). Thought this was going to be the icing on the cake that was 2008. Now Warner Bros has just said “screw you all”.

    Not good enough

  33. maybe Potter fans should think of it this way “now that means less time to wait between this one and the NEXT potter film!”

    ….or something, I dunno, I gave up on Potter after book 2.

  34. I agree, this is a horrible move because they just released the trailer to get everyone excited and now pushing it back makes everyone wonder what’s wrong with it. I think this might hurt them in the long run.

  35. The way I see it there are two possibilities.

    1) The movie sucks so badly to warrant a 7 month push back

    2) Warner Bros are being the greedy bastards that they are and releasing it in the summer to get more money. all the potters released in november have made at least 260 million.

    FUCK YOU WARNER BROS!!!! YOUR GREEDY WAYS AND OR YOUR SHITTY FILMMAKING HAVE MADE US WAIT UNDER 7 FUCKING MONTHS!!!!

  36. The way I see it there are two possibilities.

    1) The movie sucks so badly to warrant a 7 month push back

    2) Warner Bros are being the greedy bastards that they are and releasing it in the summer to get more money. all the potters released in november have made at least 260 million.

    FUCK YOU WARNER BROS!!!! YOUR GREEDY WAYS HAVE MADE US WAIT UNDER 7 FUCKING MONTHS!!!!

  37. The way I see it there are two possibilities.

    1) The movie sucks so badly to warrant a 7 month push back

    2) Warner Bros are being the greedy bastards that they are and releasing it in the summer to get more money. all the potters released in november have made at least 260 million.

    FUCK YOU WARNER BROS!!!! YOUR GREEDY WAYS HAVE MADE US WAIT UNDER & FUCKING MONTHS!!!!

  38. Much ado about nothing, methinks.

    Like Paramount moving ST XI to next May, it’s a balancing issue to have an equitable distribution of product out on an annual basis.

  39. ya people in india are going to to be pissed…..for 40% of them can not read and the movie is there best form to entertain themselves….and no im not knocking india this is the truth.. check it out on wikipidiea….and for the action figure dealer…how the hell do your kids eat when your broke from a crummy job….wait who the heck did u boink to have kids hahaha…any ways who cares that they pushed the date….maybe its cause there filming other harry potter films at the same time to release them both in the same year to rule the box office…..this is just a website that gets random info ( wether its right or wrong) and puts it out there for people to discuss….we really dont no there reasons….but probley there crooked haha

  40. Those horrible, horrible people. This movie’s going to make shitloads of money no matter when they release it and that still isn’t good enough for them.

    How can they have better numbers in the summer with all that competition? The worst they have to deal with in November is James Bond the week before and then they’re clear for the next several weeks.

    Must a Christmas thing. After a big summer box office, they just want to eat up the holiday profits when they release it on DVD. Those dicks.

  41. Wow, that’s pretty lame. I’d have been better with it if they had admitted they were going to shoot more but to delay it just for “better numbers” for such a long time is ridiculous. Especially since they are splitting the last film into two films.

    By the time this film series wraps up it’ll be like 2015 and no one will care anymore.

  42. So they are delaying it PURELY to make more money off a better timeslot?

    Do they think MORE people will see it then? I think there will be just as many potter fans alive in the winter as in the summer.

    Or just hoping to double dip and have that cushy summer hit AND get the DVD out in time for Christmas instead of a Christmas Boxoffice hit and a DVD coming out at March Break.

  43. That sucks. I’m a fan and I’ve been looking forward to Half Blood Prince. Especially after the trailer. I think this is a mistake. What competition does Harry Potter have for Christmas? It could have largely dominated for a week or two.

    Very disappointing. They should’ve decided on the release date earlier rather than making this decision too late in the game when fans are already feeling the excitement.

  44. Not trying to be negative, or what’s that word for the opposite of optimistic, but maybe – just maybe – they just don’t like it.
    Maybe they’ve decided to change the movie. You know, shoot more scenes, edit some (and I wouldn’t even be suprised, considering all the material they’re dealing with), that kind of stuff.
    Or then they’re really just doing it because of the summer-season. Although I really do think it’s more of a lie.
    After five movies, I don’t think the fact When it’s going to be released, doesn’t matter. People already have a pretty strong sense of what the franchise is like, based on the previous films…

  45. Ohh, dissapointing for the Potter fans but they can wait if the movie can live upto their expectations when it comes out!
    Happy Independence Day to every Indian.

  46. feel sorry for me!

    as an action figure dealer this xmas was going to be a good one for harry potter figures and we had accounted for it!

    take the food from my childrens mouths WB damn you!

  47. John, I’m not a Potter fanboy too. But the fact that the movie got delayed sure will be a disappointment for the fans. And as far as I remember, Warner always released Potter movie at christmas time.

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