There was quite a backlash from the rabid fans of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince being delayed to next summer.
I think that the same number of Harry Potter fans would go to a Harry Potter movie if it was in the summer or winter. At this point it doesn’t really matter. The fans will go to this movie in droves. They will even carpool now that the core fanbase is now old enough to drive.
So when the movie was delayed we, as well as MANY other news sites all called bullshit on this move claiming they were abusing fan loyalty in an attempt to get more money. Well WB’s Alan Horn made a statement to try and explain in better detail why the film was delayed.
In that announcement, Warner Bros. President and Chief Operating Officer Alan Horn stated the studio’s reasons for moving the film. He said the reasons are twofold: “we know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent pole release… [and] 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.”
So let me translate this media fertilizer for the International Friends.
“Money. Money money money. Take advantage of money. Vague reference to writers strike that didn’t affect this film, and money.
So the fans can relax because its just about money. You have it, we want more of it. Money.”
And they figured this announcement was going to easy the tidal wave of complaints they are getting from their loyal fans?
I guess it is better news than saying “It sucks and we have to fix it” but it seems they will blow the dust off this finished and ready movie next summer just to dig deeper in your pockets.
